Mission Faithwalk

The  Lord  is my shepherd… He makes me lie down in green pastures,  he leads me beside quiet waters, (Psalm 23:1a & 2)           Ah, peace, quiet, green pastures and still waters. This is the life! Yep, you gotta love a shepherd who provides such luxuries. But the passage doesn’t say provides . It says makes and leads . Now if we happen to want to go in the direction of those green pastures or quiet waters it’s in freedom that we follow Him there, but that’s not what it says, either. It says He makes and leads. So it doesn’t matter whether we want to go or not. If we do not go willingly, we go against our will.           That’s where a lot of us are today. We don’t want to lie down in these pastures, whether they’re green or not. We don’t want to be beside quiet waters. We want to do what we want to do. Sure, the green pasture might be fun for a little while, but day after day?        ...

          The  Lord  is my shepherd; I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1 KJV)           There’s something about this verse, and maybe about the whole Psalm that demands to be shared in the King James Version. The explanation is probably simple. Because I learned it that way as a kid, it’s comfort food for the soul in a way that the more modern translations can’t quite touch. Another bit of housekeeping: there is an excellent book on shepherds, sheep, and their relationship called A Shepherd Looks At The Twenty-Third Psalm , by W. Phillip Keller. It looks like it’s available in PDF format online. I don’t plan to plagiarize it by telling you what he says. If you don’t have it, you might find it useful to get and read.            The Wuhan virus has us all on edge. Some are on the precipice of fear, some of frustration, others of anger, and still others of grief. This means we feel in want of, or i...

          This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. (Romans 13:6-7)              On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,     and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,   while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, (I Corinthians 12:22-24)            Remember the scene in Beauty and the Beast, where Belle does something Beast doesn’t like, and he points at her and glares at his servants with a look that says, “See, didn’t I say s...

          I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.           I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.           Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. (Psalm 34:1-9)           This morning, this passage was one of the ones Biblegateway.com included ...

           Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies,  it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds . (John 12:24)           Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.     It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.   Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.   It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.   Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. (I Corinthians 13:4-8)           I’ve told the story before of a pastor I know who said that he would gladly go out and slay dragons for his lady-love, but...

God called  the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”  And there was evening, and there was morning —the first day. (Genesis 1:5)           At that time the  Lord  said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.”   So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth. Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt—all the men of military age—died in the wilderness on the way after leaving Egypt.   All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness during the journey from Egypt had not.   The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the  Lord . For the  Lord  had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their a...

          And  he  said to them, “Do  not  be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified.  He  has risen;  He   is   not   he re; behold,  here is  the place where they laid Him. (Mark 16:6)           Today’s the day we celebrate the most amazing, most critical event in all of history. Yeah, the creation itself was pretty spectacular, and it demonstrated God’s love. After all, He didn’t have to create the universe. The great flood, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah were pretty impressive. People squirm a little about those. They were destructive. Should we celebrate destruction? Good question. Do we celebrate the destruction of English colonial oppression over the United States? Do we celebrate the destruction of slavery? Do we celebrate the destruction of Hitler’s regime? I don’t know that it’s good to celebrate the destruction p...