I love Jesus. I appreciate personally knowing the transcendent Creator of the universe (one of my books, A Passionate Pursuit of God, focuses on this). I realize the need to nurture this relationship regularly. Not once a week, not even once a day, but moment by moment. And I’ve tried just about every method suggested by those who know. Daily devotion books. Christian living books. Study guides. Practicing the presence. And they have all worked. Until…
Read MoreAmerica's Greatest Idol
OK, true confession time. I watched “American Idol.” Not recently, mostly in the early years. Some performers caused me to cringe and almost resurrected my desire to be a rock star—almost. Others I grew to appreciate, and enjoy hearing their music on the radio or Pandora. However, the premise of the show stimulated some thoughts. If an idol represents ultimate value, then what is America’s idol? Or, more specifically, might the American church, at times, have an idol we value more than God?
Read MoreYour Spiritual Target
If you aim at nothing, you’re bound to hit it. But if you aim at a target, nail it dead center, yet choose the wrong target, you hit the same thing—nothing. Think of the above target, all of it, as faith. What’s the bull’s eye at the center? What’s the core of following Jesus? Some state verbal assent will do it, saying Jesus is Savior. That’s certainly a ring—confessing Jesus. Others proclaim the importance of being a good person. That’s another ring—obedience. Yet more will tell you that believing the right things hits the bull’s eye. That’s another ring—correct doctrine.
But while good, these all miss the core, which Jesus gave...
Read MoreFoundations to Code
We purchased our three year old Temecula house back in ’88, with a pathetic patio cover put in the back yard by the previous owner. A landscape guy, not a builder. Oh, it looked nice, but the 4x4 posts soon rotted from being in contact with the dirt, and the header and rafters were much too flimsy and far apart to support anything. Insert “hammock” here. So when we replaced it we had a contractor build a covered patio, to code, and I watched how he did it. Our next step—put in a lattice patio cover and pavers for the ground level in the front for evening sunsets. So I checked out ...
Read MoreA Holy Consumption
This shouldn’t happen at 68, but the fresh result of combining existing concepts still amazes me. One word from this week’s sermon and taking the Lord’s Supper combined with my mind’s semi-misuse of a word to amaze me. Here’s what happened. Our pastor used the word “holy,” fairly briefly, that we all should be set apart for God. My mind then transposed that word “holy” into a completely different word, “whole,” which is the meaning of the word “salvation.” Soon after ...
Read MoreWho Is This Jesus?
This last Sunday, we celebrated a baby’s birth. We love the baby, who has a touching story. That’s Christmas, and it’s true. We also love that first aspect of his nature—grace. Forgiveness, healing, restoration, and hope that our pasts won’t be held against us. That also is true. Yet we sometimes struggle with another truth...
Read MoreHow Big is Your God?
Each bike trip seems to develop its own spiritual impact. One year my prayer and worship led to some conclusions about doing ministry. Another astounded me with the beauty of the northwest and Glacier National Park. Some deliver great times with long time friends and fellow followers of Jesus. This year changed the pattern. We rode 3800 miles in eight states, from near sea level to over 10,000 ft. What most struck me was what creation reveals about the Creator, and I still struggle to integrate it. Here’s why...
Read MorePrayer Changes Things? What Things?
A cheap plaster of Paris plaque, much like the one above, imprinted on my values early one. Just 2” X 3” at most, dark brown. But I believed it, tried to live it, and certainly saw it occur. Then yesterday a friend Donna posted a quote from Mother Teresa, “I used to believe that prayer changes things. Now I know that prayer changes us and we change things.”A nice discussion followed with diverging ideas, where ...
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