Looking ahead, my spiritual vision is maybe 20/400. But looking back, it may approach 20/40. Maybe you’ve experienced the same—the past has more clarity than the future. Looking back, I see my bad decisions, my good ones. The times that God has gently nudged me in ways I didn’t comprehend until later. The times he took a figurative 2 x 4 to me. We can all benefit from looking back to gain a better insight into…
Read MoreFree Will?
Let’s flip the coin. Last week, we began to explore God’s role in daily life with a story of how he overwhelmingly directed a major change in moving me to Taos. One repeated response by readers dealt with the rarity of such clear direction. Though seldom for many of us, it does happen. But my time in Taos ended in a radically opposite form. I’d spent a year in youth ministry a few years earlier, and upon getting fired, declared I’d rather…
Read More
“Vega Alta” by Brad Howe
Just One Bite...
Back in December, I visited the Elena Bulatova Fine Art Gallery in Palm Desert and saw this kinetic art, titled Vega Alta by Brad Howe. No one around to say no, and not a single “Do Not Touch” sign in sight, so I gently touched one of the paddles. As it moved it touched another, that one brushed another, and pretty soon the entire piece gently swayed. All from one small touch.
Life can be like that! One act, seemingly safe, triggers downstream consequences we never imagined. I suspect Eve felt the same when tempted with the proverbial apple. She was told it was safe. She liked the aroma. She tried just a small bite. She liked the taste; she finished it. And we all bear the results. Just a small bite that changed life. The solution may lie…
Read More
Time to Quit?
Knowing when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em only comes not only from a lot of fishing but a lot of living, a lot of analyzing, and even then mistakes occur. I wish I’d learned this principle of life earlier. As pastor of one church, I …
Read More
Unexpected Consequences
The pic above of a debate trophy represents a hasty decision I made, one motivated by fear and done without knowledge, one that changed the course of my life. Here’s the backstory. Back in junior high, with knees knocking to produce more sound than my voice, I gave an oral report. It...
Read More