Category: The Spiritual

My last post was entitled “Know Your Enemy.” Although sometimes it seems nearly everyone is your enemy, eventually I came to the personal conclusion that just maybe my only enemy is Satan.  This got me wondering about friends.  I have done a bit of research and I discovered that problem one is that there isn’t much agreement on what a friend is. Can we all agree that it isn’t what Facebook says it is? According to those guys I have 485 “friends.” Just a quick look at the lists reveals there are people on the list I don’t know, couldn’t pick out in a crowd, and couldn’t id to the police if they assaulted me. Let’s agree “Facebook friend” does not always equal “friend.” I tried gathering some definitions. One dictionary says a friend is “a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of (1) sexual or (2) family relations.” Since I want to consider my wife a friend, and she is disqualified for two reasons, I have decided to try to find another definition. The Urban dictionary offers this: “A real friend is someone who: a)it’s okay to fart […]

Who is my enemy? An “enemy” is someone who seeks to do you harm. Doesn’t it seem wise to id these people, the ones who want us harmed? So whom can we name as an enemy? Well, let’s start with the obvious. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 So Peter tells us that Satan is an enemy. Kind of hard to argue with that. He wants to, and tries to, do me harm. I guess I would put him as number 1 on my enemy list. Obviously all of ISIS and the others out there who want to kill me because I’m Christian or just not a muslim. Not much doubt they go on the list. Some others who burn my country’s flag and protest against America. I would have to say they go on the list. Certainly all those of different political parties from mine are enemies. It’s pretty troubling, but I’m thinking maybe the whole government is my enemy. It certainly seems to be seeking to do me harm. It wants my money and wants to use it for purposes […]

On our recent trip to Branson, we hadn’t left Lafayette long when we moved into hill country. In hill country, driving is exciting. The road rises and falls and and seems to be one turn after the other. Around every turn and over every hill, there are surprises. You may come across a breathtaking vista or just another set of twists and turns, so much like life. These are really challenging days. It seems everyone I know is dealing with something. Not only that, but when one situation seems to settle down, another arises. Yesterday I finally was able to try a case in which I represent a friend. The case has been going on for five years. It’s been a real challenge. You always want to do a good job, but there is extra pressure when the client is a friend and there is much on the line. Just as I was approaching the top of the five-year old hill, I received a phone call that presented yet another troubling situation. I check the mail box every day for the next step in yet another challenge. Like the road to Branson, there are twists and turns, ups and […]

I haven’t posted since the theatre shooting. I’ve been busy and didn’t really know what to say. It seems almost everything has been said. Much of it I already knew. I knew that Lafayette is a great community that I’m proud to call home. I knew Lafayette people are different in a good and special way. I knew that every death is tragic and the violent death of young people, especially so. I knew there are disturbed people who can wreak havoc in their pathetic attempts to be significant or meaningful. I knew that the national media would flock to a story like this. So what could I add? I have chosen to speak about another death. One that will affect me more personally and that will stay with me longer. My friend Paul Landry died this week. His service will be the same day as that of at least one of the victims of the theatre shooting. It will not get nearly as much notice. That’s the way life is. Paul was a good man. Even as his health was failing he was faithful to his ministry. Every month he would call those of us over 55 in our […]

There are times I just need to shut up and listen. I experienced two of them yesterday. When someone else is talking. I guess this is the big one. I had prepared a great lesson for the folks at the Abbeville Nursing Home. The folks who are normally quiet, non-responsive, even comatose, just seemed to want to talk. I’d smile and let them talk and then try to get back to the lesson. It didn’t work. The lesson was on choices. I finally made the choice to shut up and listen. It was the right choice. When you are in a nursing home, no one listens. In fact, most of us feel that no one ever really listens. So when someone is talking, especially if they are normally quiet, give the greatest gift you have: just shut up and listen. When you are hurting. Yesterday was not a good day. It went down hill from the nursing home. At one point my daughter asked how things were and I made the mistake of answering honestly. I had just heard Joyce Meyers talking about not saying anything when we don’t have anything good to say. When we are hurting, we […]

Today someone commented on a post from three years ago. She said “That may be the most powerful article I have ever read in my life.  It definitely couldn’t be more timely. ” That made me think I should repost it. Here it is. Ephesians 6:12 New Living Translation (NLT) 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.   Satan uses people like a chess player uses pawns to carry out his schemes. There is no doubt about it. He tried to use Jesus. He will try to use us.    This leaves us with two challenges: 1. To recognize it’s a spiritual fight and see the real enemy. 2. Not be pawns ourselves.    The key to this is to recognize that satan uses folks when they are tired or hurt or discouraged or frightened, when they feel trapped, AND when they are not in Christ. When we are in Christ, people will see Jesus in us. It just happens. It’s not something we do. Jesus acts as our shield and our fortress.   […]

Check out the results of a recent survey: The question was — “What is the greatest struggle that Christians in their 20s and 30s face today?” Here were the top 10 answers that were repeated the most: We lack mentors and being mentored in the deeper things of God. We lack being connected with others who are serious about growing in Christ. We struggle with spiritual loneliness and lack of community. We long for connection and deep relationships with serious Christians. We lack understanding of the Bible and knowing how to read it with profit. We struggle with distractions and being free from the influences of the world. We struggle with compromising with the world’s false narratives because of fear of persecution, being labeled haters, bigots, intolerant, closed-minded, idiots, and losing friends. We struggle to find authentic friendships based on knowing Jesus, loving Him and serving Him. We struggle with finding our purpose in the world. We lack inspiration and motivation and get distracted and discouraged by the cares of this life. We really don’t Jesus that well, so we need true discipleship. So what do  you know, twenty and thirty somethings are just like the rest of us. […]

I have just completed the first of six weeks of nursing home ministry. I am filling in for my good friends who are taking a much-needed six-week break. The message I shared for the first week came pretty easily. Since turning sixty-five last year I have struggled with issues of aging. I have asked questions like, “Has my opportunity for ministry passed?” “Is this the beginning of the end?” “What’s left for me?” Okay so I can be a bit of a drama queen. It dawned on me that my struggles put me in a perfect place to minister to the mostly aging population of the nursing homes. Having struggled with the issues God had shown me some of the older folks he used in scripture like Moses who was eighty when he stood before the burning bush and Noah who had already passed 600 of his eventual 900 year life before the ark became an issue. It seems a mistake to look at our “talents” and the “highs” of our lives when considering ministry. Sure it makes a lot of sense to take a stock of our positives to decide what we have to offer to others. The […]