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“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lamp stands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place. Revelation 2   Passion seemed to be the topic of my weekend. I watched a lot of baseball and softball. I watched with passion, teams playing passionately. Then on Sunday my pastor talked about passion. It has made me consider what it takes to have passion. I’m a passionate Florida Gator fan. That’s pretty easy to explain. I graduated from Florida Law School. My undergraduate degree was obtained from Pepperdine without ever attending class on that campus. So […]

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21: 2-4 NIV “I believe we and mainly you have an incredible opportunity to lead in shaping a new world order for the twenty-first century in a way consistent with American interests and common interests,” Vice Pres. Biden said this week to the 995 members of the Air Force Academy class of 2014. Biden and many others seem to believe that a New World Order is something man can create.  “New World Order” is an interesting phrase. Conspiracy theorist have for decades claimed that a secret group of powerful men are working toward a one world government that will be a “New World Order.”  The phrase strikes […]

“The truth is the more intimately you know someone, the more clearly you’ll see their faults.” I came across this quote on Facebook today. There are a lot of truths in this statement and flowing from it. It explains why so few marriages last, why family vacations are so tough, why you don’t want to get stuck in a crowded elevator, and why true love is so great. True love doesn’t grow out of a satisfactory evaluation of the good versus bad traits of the person loved. If that were true everyone would love the perfect people and no one would love you and me. True love seeks and relishes intimacy. It’s not turned off by the faults uncovered because it’s overcome by the goodness discovered. It’s not a goodness that was alway present,  but one that is created. Love marvels at how the power of grace can both forgive and then correct imperfection. True love can only exist in the presence of Christ, because only He brings the miracle of grace which makes intimate relationship not only possible but marvelous. True love is truly supernatural. Without Jesus and His grace, there can be acceptance and compromise. We can […]

While scanning Facebook for no particular reason, feeling pretty low and oppressed, I came across an obituary of a man I knew. I can’t say I knew him well. He was a lawyer I had dealings with. I knew he was a Christian. His obituary is written in part in the first person. Here are some quotes: “By God’s grace, I had a totally unexpected encounter with His love back in 1986. Life has never been the same since, for which I am deeply grateful. I’m a convert to Catholicism but first of all, a committed follower of the Risen King of Kings, Jesus Christ.  I spend a lot of time thinking, writing, and talking about how to introduce others to Jesus, the most important person they’ll ever meet! ” It’s very significant to me that I always knew Graham as a Christian. He was an accomplished lawyer and broadcaster, but I knew him as a Christian. I know his obituary to be true in that he did spend a lot of time thinking, writing and talking about how to introduce others to Jesus. If you knew Graham, you knew about his faith. He wasn’t shy about it; but he wasn’t obnoxious […]

My dad was a war hero. I didn’t really know that until a few weeks before he died. He never talked about the war during most of his life. On his death-bed, under the influence of pain medication, he spoke of it to me for the first time. When the flag was raised at Iwo Jima, the act which was captured in the most famous photo from World War II, my dad was at the base of the mountain. He told me the picture was actually a recreation. Guys were asked to volunteer to climb the hill again just so journalists could take the picture. There were not a lot of takers. There were still plenty of enemy around, still firing live rounds. My dad never won a bunch of medals. He talked about being scared to death as he did his job running telephone line from one fox hole to the next. He talked of his high school buddy from Abbeville who ran with him and who was killed in a fox hole next to him. He talked about getting his high school diploma, also in a fox hole. He talked about lying about his club foot to […]

18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. I came across a fascinating article by a nurse who took care of dying patients for many years. She listed five regrets that, she observed, were most common among her dying patients. I feel sure that the nurse accurately recorded the regrets as expressed by these patients. However, I really wonder if those patients really “got it” even after a long a full life, or if the nurse really correctly summarizes the basis for the “regrets” she observed. 1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. It’s truly sad to live a life trying to fulfill the expectations of others. It’s great to have dreams and try to live out at least some of them; but isn’t it most important to discover the purposes God has for our lives and strive to fulfill those purposes? On my death-bed I hope to feel that I spent enough time with God […]

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Psalm 91:4 We have had an interesting nature lesson this spring. A cardinal made a nest at the top of the umbrella over our patio table. We watched with interest as the baby birds grew. One day they were gone. We’re not sure if they matured and flew away or if one of the many creatures that haunt our back yard got them. One of the most difficult things for a parent is moving from having our children dependent on us to a point of independence. Many family problems can be traced to a failure to parents and children to execute this change from dependence to independence. With us as children of God the problem is different. Our proper place is a permanent point of dependence. As His prideful children, we struggle to be independent. Our safety and place of growth is under His wings, but we work to be free only to discover that the world is dangerous and we are ill-prepared to live safely on our own. I have found in life when I […]

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4 It’s a bit disturbing to look in the mirror these days. There’s skin where there used to be hair. The beard doesn’t really cover the wrinkles. That’s just looking in a face mirror; I avoid full length mirrors at all cost. As we age, we are certainly wasting away, even if the scale denies it. Spend a few minutes watching television or thumbing though a magazine and it will be clear to you that our biggest industry may be fighting the effects of aging. It’s an expensive fight and a losing battle. It’s easy to lose heart. What the young don’t understand and what is one of the great frustrations of aging, is that inwardly we are being renewed day by day. Our minds aren’t wasting away, at least not yet. We have the same […]