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As a group we are incredibly gullible people; we are also lazy with short attention spans. I could go on but I’ve already depressed myself. Just a year ago, millions thought, “Now it’s going to be different. Now it’s gonna change. A savior is here” Now, a very different group is saying the same thing. A wise man once said,  “As a group we are incredibly gullible people; we are also lazy with short attention spans.” Oh, yea, that was me. When Group 1 was all aglow a year ago, Group 2 (the ones that are aglow now) were saying, “Government is not your savior.” Don’t forget your own words, Group 2. “Look unto Me” and – not “you will be saved,” but “you are saved.” These words don’t apply to Obama or Brown or to your Daddy, your boy friend or your cat. They apply to Jesus and if you apply them to anyone else you will prove the wisdom of that wise one who said, “As a group we are incredibly gullible people; we are also lazy with short attention spans.” Although that might be great for me, not so good for you. It’s a good thing […]

We are emotional beings. Emotion is an essential part of our make up. We respond emotionally to events past and present. Emotion is not reason; and is not rational. For that reason, we sometimes minimize it’s importance. We can conclude that it’s also not spiritual; but that’s not true. God made ever part of us: our bodies, our minds, our reason, our emotions, our soul and our spirit. For me there is a song that evokes extreme emotion. Okay, let me admit it; it brings tears to my eyes on nearly every hearing. I can’t tell you what it’s about. I don’t know most of the words or the “story” behind it. I catch only brief phrases but those phrases have incredible emotional impact. The song is Held by Natalie Grant.  Here are some snatches of the lyrics: Who told us we’d be rescued?Why should we be saved? This is what it means to be heldHow it feels, when the sacred is torn from your lifeAnd you surviveThis is what it is to be loved and to knowThat the promise was when everything fellWe’d be held. Today, OC calls us to recall what God remembers and he quotes, “I […]

I understand that some people are not morning people. I don’t understand such people. The morning is so fresh. To me there is a daily cycle that begins with the freshness of morning and ends with the satisfied exhaustion of evening –  ideally after having served Him well during the day. “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,  for his compassions never fail.They are new every morning;great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:21-23 There is such consolation in these words; because no day is perfect. No morning is perfectly fresh; no evening reveals complete satisfaction in the work accomplished. In fact, for me some mornings are still stale and some evenings disappointing. But I know that the new day will bring another chance, a fresh start.  Some of this cycle is just natural; but for born again children of God it is also evidence of the continuing work of the Holy Spirit. For us, the freshness/exhaustion cycle operates on a spiitual as well as a natural level. O. C. starts with a practical truth: “Sometimes we are fresh for a prayer meeting but not fresh for cleaning […]

We’ve needed a new bed for quite a while. My wife has hinted for years. The spots where we sleep are molded to the forms of our bodies. Okay maybe that last one is an exaggeration but we need a new bed. A couple of weeks ago; we selected the bed and delivery was scheduled for January 15. We were told; it will probably come before then. On the 14th I was told the bed would be delivered between 3 and 6 p.m. At the assigned time, we stripped the old bed cleared a path for the delivery men from front door to bedroom and waited. The bed never showed up. Because of the long weekend, the salesman has not been able to find the warehouseman to tell us why we don’t have a bed. It is now 5 days late and there is talk of canceling the order. We waited years before making the move to get the bed, but this five day delay is intolerable.That’s how it was for Abraham. God promised he and his wife children. The promise was delayed. Sarai couldn’t wait and well the rest is Ishmael, Arabs and centuries of conflict. Check it […]

Relationships are so hard that we sometimes do strange things to avoid developing them. Our love leads, as we have discussed, into wanting to do for someone. But we can get so immersed in the doing that we neglect the person we are doing it for. We are all familiar with the image of the breadwinner whose dedication to earning a living for his family detracts from his relationship with that family. But what about the mom who is so caught up in the activities of mothering that they “neglect” the very children they are serving. Things that are true of our earthly relationships are true about our relationships with our Lord. Sometimes, maybe most of the time, you can’t say it any better than OC does: ‘Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him. It is easier to serve than to be drunk to the dregs. (with Him) The one aim of the call of God is the satisfaction of God, not a call to do something for Him. We are not sent to battle for God, but to be used by God in His […]

I was greatly blessed yesterday by the Saints. Oh, the New Orleans Saints beat the St. Louis Cardinals and that was cool; but it’s not what I’m talking about. I spent the day being blessed by the saints of God. Early in the morning I drove to Baton Rouge with Saint Joe, whose testimony and fresh excitement about his life with Jesus is a great blessing. Then I boarded a bus with over 40 saints and road to Angola. Just being in the presence of excited, happy saints was a blessing. We toured Angola. One highlight was being led in prayer by a saint who has been incarcerated for (I believe he said) 37 years; but whose joy in being a saint of God was contagious and inspiring. Then we moved into the death chamber where just days ago Gerald Bordelon died, executed for killing his 12 year old step daughter.  In that room, the saint who was Gerald’s family’s pastor and now serves as chaplain at the State Penitentiary, tearfully shared the details of his part in the execution and the “rest of the story” of the family tragedy surrounding Courtney Leblanc’s murder. The presence of God in […]

I don’t understand God. When I think I begin to understand Him something like Haiti happens. While others suffer and die in situations beyond my imagining, I am surrounding by signs of His blessings in my life and trying to decide whether to wear Black and Gold today.There isn’t any comfort in knowing that I am not alone in my confusion. Some of the things I have heard this week rank among the dumbest statements of all time. Try this one, “Well, that’s the best place for something like this to happen, because those people don’t have anything anyway, so this doesn’t really change much.” That from a Christian. Or the reminder from a prominent Christian that Haiti was dedicated to Satan years ago and has been suffering ever since. The truth of that aside, how about a sense of timing? Or the worry about the handful of Americans there? As if their inconvience is of a higher order than the suffering of some, not American, laying in a pile of rubble for days. Or the political infighting about how fast we are responding?Of course, there are positive responses of great concern and generosity. Already there is a problem […]

I’ve got a new truck. It’s a Honda Ridgeline, like the one pictured. I love my new truck. It’s well…new. I had my old truck for seven years. It had lots of miles and it was…well old. Old is bad; new is good. Right?We can get excited about things new; like new life. Things like “old” and “death” we’re not so excited about.When OC talks about “white funeral” today we don’t get excited. In fact, I got a little creeped. What is he talking about? As Christians, the concept of being “born again” is well known. And although a bit of a strange concept to us and Nicodemus, it’s essentially a good thing to our minds. But birth implies death.  Verses about seeds dying so an eventual harvest can take place are not so popular. But as usual OC has a point. Sometimes we translate “born again” to “second change.” We’re fine with getting a new life; but not so willing for our old self to die and to leave our old life behind. Most of us can point to the day we “accepted Christ” or talk about our 2nd birthday. OC notes we should be able to specifically […]