Year: 2013

Rosemary pointed out to me this week how she has had a lighter feeling at church. I agreed and noticed some other things that represent the presence of the Holy Spirit at work. It’s a good thing when the Spirit is active and moving. He is always present, but is sometimes restricted by blocks we throw up and our unwillingness to be moved. Here are some signs that He’s in action: 1. The Spirit convicts; the enemy condemns. You can tell the Holy Spirit is around when you become aware of the ways you fall short and are motivated to become more like the Savior. Satan only condemns and acts like there is no solution or way out. 2. The skys are blue. When the Spirit is moving things seem great, even when there are challenges. The Spirit is always a positive force, an encourager and a mover and a shaker. He excites us about today and encourages us about tomorrow. 3. You hear Him talking. I notice that when the Spirit is active folks around are praying in the Spirit. I’m not sure which comes first. I guess it’s kind of a chicken or the egg thing. But […]

Rose and I love British television. She records the shows on the television in the bedroom and we watch them when I come to bed at night. The only problem is that by the time I come to bed I’m close to wanting to go to sleep. I, therefore, tend to fall asleep on the programs. She dutifully stops the tape at the point I go to sleep and we pick it up at that point the next day.  Last night we were watching a murder mystery. A “psychic” had been killed. He took money from folks who wanted to hear from their deceased relatives. He passed messages and made them feel better about their loss. The police investigating the crime all thought this was terrible, to take advantage of the unsophisticated. None of them believed in the afterlife and thought those who did were a bit weak in the head. There is a real crisis of faith in Europe, including Britain, these days. They view it as “sophistication” and believe their American cousins, at least those who still have some faith, as back woods hicks. The loss of faith is a terrible thing. It begins with a failure […]

I was poor growing up. I mean I was the poorest kid I knew. We had enough to eat and wear but our poverty showed up in other ways. Television. We were the last kids I knew growing up to have a television. I remember going home after school and going to a neighbor’s house and watching TV on their porch. We would go home with screen mesh traces on our noses. What kind of neighbor makes the kids next door watch TV from the porch and not invite them in? The Projects. When our poverty was at worse we lived in the housing projects. The bad thing was it was one of the nicer houses we lived in. It was also within sight of the high school I attended at the time. Super.  A Car. We didn’t have a car until I was well into high school. What made all of this worse was that my mother taught at the local Catholic school. So I got to attend there for free where all the rich kids went to school. Kids that had everything we didn’t and more. You can imagine what kind of social superstar I was, no […]

To all those fathers who do their best to be all they can be to their children, “Thank you.” Know that I pray for  you. You live in a society that doesn’t appreciate your effort or understand the value of your calling. You are the butt of jokes and the easy one to blame.  You are making a difference. Don’t give up. To all those who try to fill the shoes of fathers who are absent, “Thank You.” You too perform a vital function. Your efforts are often not recognized, sometimes spurned, sometimes misunderstood. Your calling is as real and important as that of the natural fathers who are absent. Carry on. You are desperately needed. To all those whose father is absent, physically, spiritually, or emotionally. “Be blessed.” Know that you are prayed for by many and loved by the Lord and Father of all. Be willing to turn to Him. He can fill every missing spot. Be especially blessed this day when you feel you have no one to thank or to honor. To my own special father, now gone too many years. I am so sorry I never recognized the great job you did while you […]

Football season is less than ninety days away. The sports stations are already abuzz with talk of the coming season. I am, of course, a Saints fan. This season I will also be a New England Patriots fan. I will follow the Patriots for the same reason I followed the Jets last year and the Broncos the year before: Tim Tebow. I love Tebow because he is a former Florida Gator, but even more because he is an outspoken Christian. Sadly he will be a third string quarterback so I don’t guess I’ll have much opportunity to cheer. We don’t have a lot of Christian heros to cheer on. It’s not that Christians aren’t doing heroic things. Christians in China and Africa are dying and landing in jail for their faith. They just aren’t prominent in the news. I personally know several Christians who have been very heroic this year, but again their exploits aren’t commonly known.  It seems those whom we consider heros often have a dark side or very negative personal traits. Watch a few hours of television, fiction programming or the sports or the news. We don’t see a lot of folks to admire, to cheer […]

Monday was not a great day. It wasn’t a jump off a bridge, cut your wrists kind of day; but it wasn’t good. I didn’t make it to prayer Monday night, but I did ask for prayer relating to how my day had not been great. My normal inclination would have been just to say I couldn’t make it and not to admit that I was struggling.  I was prayed for on Monday night, and Tuesday was much better. For example, one of my toughest cases, in which I represent a friend, made a turn in our direction and will now likely be resolved exactly as we hoped. It was better in other ways as well.  It’s interesting that when I met people who had been at the Monday night prayer, they asked if I was feeling better and assumed that I had been sick. I guess in our society it’s okay to admit you are ill, but not so much to discuss being under spiritual attack or emotionally strained. These admissions make us vulnerable and that’s something we avoid. Nonetheless, I am convinced that our willingness and ability to become vulnerable to one another is critical to our […]

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain,[a] who will go before 2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings cast in the shape of a calf,

I didn’t play team sports as a kid. In fact, I didn’t play sports at all. I was a geek or a nerd. If Big Bang Theory had been popular when I was growing up I could have been a star. I missed a lot of important lessons by not being familiar with team work.  I have a solo law practice and that’s no accident, but we can’t do everything alone.  So much we do as adults, we do in groups. The same is true of Christianity. Although we talk about a “personal” savior and we take up our individual crosses and face individual judgment, Jesus taught us to pray in plural: Give us this day… forgive us… we forgive. He also spoke extensively about the body and the importance of it’s individual parts. If we look around the church today, it’s pretty clear that I’m not the only one lacking in knowledge of team work. There are benefits in working together.  Problem solving: When we put our heads together we are more likely to come up with solutions to problems.  Accomplish tasks faster: A single person taking on multiple tasks will not be able to perform at a […]