The House You're Building

                                             When I was a kid optical illusion books were a fad one year.  It seemed like a novelty gift you received at a white elephant gift exchange or read while waiting for the dentist.  The trick was to blur your eyes, shift your focus to behind the page and an image, that at the surface looked like dots, would appear as a solid object in 3D.  It was really hard for me to see them.  I had had eye therapy as a kid and just to focus normally was challenging.  Unlike me, friends could pick up the book and see the hidden image instantly.  I know those books really did work, as once I saw it too and I was really excited but I lost focus and the image was gone.    The same can be said for suffering.  You can see the issue multiple ways and to behold it with a divi...

Why are you a Christian?     What would you say if someone asked you that?    Recently I heard a message where the teacher asked the congregation this same question.    Answers varied, but all responses fit within these 4 categories:   ·        Jesus changed my life; I used to to A, B, and C, but now I do X, Y, and Z ·        I was raised that way ·        I believe the holy scriptures ·        I had a person experience that convinced me     After outlining these common responses, and noting that our group’s answers fell into those those same catagories,  he explained that these same reasons can be applied to any religion.  What makes Christianity different than other religions  is the gospel. If you take the four statements above, for example change Jesus to Allah, you could really ma...

To say life is challenging would be an understatement.  And the year 2020 has been a year of upheaval.  What do you turn to when you wake up to the fact that you need something to get by?  What we turn to to cope differs from each person but usually lies within the same broad categories:  food, entertainment, hobbies, exercise, substances, sex, work…Though I find myself reaching for the same things when life is too much, I’m trying to starting leaning into a who, not a what.    Though life is completely different than it was this same time last year, there are some good things that have come from it.  For me, it’s redefining community.  Like most people, I have a variety of connections in my life and was living at such a fast pace, that I didn’t really think how I was investing my time and which relationships mattered most.  Though I spent time with those who shared my Christian worldview, I missing out on f...

  Tough choices.  There is nothing like being in a situation where you have to really weigh things.  I’m not talking about a pro-con list.  That is usually what people do when the decision they have before them is not emotionally based.  I’m talking about being in a situation where the heart is involved.  Where you feel like you might lose-lose.  There doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of a tunnel of apprehensive feelings.    I’m living in one right now.  I have a big decision to make.  It’s not big from the world’s perspective, like a move or a job change, but it’s big for my heart.  My counselor recommended this week that I approach it from a spirit of curiosity, not make decisions but just notice my feelings and why I was having them.     This advice has been super helpful.  For me noticing the why became determining the origin and it led me down the...

    Who wants to live a good life?  I think every hand in the room would go up.  If you asked the average American, the good life would have to do with a certain set of circumstances: happy marriage, sprawling home, new cars, satisfying job, thriving children, tropical vacations, restaurant dining, and a padded 401k.  But God’s instruction for us on how to achieve the good life has nothing to do with our salary.   It has to do with controlling our words.    Our mouth can get us into trouble, it can even show we aren’t taking advantage of living a life of faith.    If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. - James 1:26   When I read the phrase  keeps his tongue from evil,  it makes me think of using words to create plans to harm or making false accusations.  Yet humanity has a track record of mislabeling thi...

    Family.  It is a word that stirs feelings of affection to some and memories of pain for others.  One of the reasons I love the church is that God has always provided spiritual mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers.  There is a kinship among the gathered body that transcends blood--a bonding that comes when people house the Spirit inside them.  The outside world looking in doesn’t understand why the church must meet, as those who have found joy in fellowship understand the connection that occurs in the physical presence of those who have the same Father.     Unfortunately, just like our families of origin are the cause of heartache, the church can duplicate the experience.  So much division would be avoided if we would live out Peter’s words to the church in chapter 3 verse 8 as we interact with each other.     Unity of Mind To have unity of mind means to be focused on the same goal, be around ...

    When you study the bible verse-by-verse you don’t get to skip the tricky parts.  For ladies, who make up the majority of my blog following, the group of verses in this section of 1 st  Peter [1]  are a counter-cultural revolution. I was fascinated by this passage and have so much I can say about it, but I’m going to try and boil my points down to one clear theme.  Beauty is vulnerability.  When I first studied this in the ESV translation, I came across verse 3:6 and the wording of it was very strange….  Don’t fear anything that is frightening .  In our humanity, a common response to things that are frightening is fear. That seems pretty intuitive and people who don’t respond in fear might not be living in reality.  And that my friends is the key!  It is not in our nature to confront what the world fears and display a different response.  It is other-worldly, of the divine nature, the cultural p...