Category: Uncategorized

  I recently wrote an article on unity for an upcoming issue of Covenant Spotlight. It made me think about unity and division. The church is, in many ways, greatly divided. We have thousands of denominations and differ with each other on many theological points. I don’t think any of that reflects our most serious divide. I think the Great Divide in Christ’s church is the divide between clergy/laity, full-time/part-time, paid/unpaid, staff/congregation. This divide exists and is a problem in every fellowship. Don’t get me wrong. I love pastors. I especially love my pastors. I even think they, and all of our staff, are grossly underpaid. If we are going to have paid ministers, I think they should be adequately paid.  I just don’t think that was part of the original plan. It’s one of the many man-made elements of modern church. We are in the era of the priesthood of the believer. We are all called to follow and serve. The great divide does not foster that. When we have paid ministers, the rest of us expect them to do the ministry. After all, isn’t that what they get paid for? The paid feel an obligation to do most […]

It’s amazing to me how many roles we play in life; how they change through the years. We have spouse roles and child roles, parent roles, friend roles, and job roles. We are customers, fans, users and gamers. It’s also amazing how easily we forget that everyone has multiple roles. It’s easy to consider people only in the limited role they play in our lives. Our mailman has a family and a complex life outside of his job. Our physician’s sole focus in life is not our blood pressure, weight or cholesterol level.   Obviously we can’t, and probably shouldn’t, be involved in every aspect of the lives of all the people we know. Boundaries are important and we are limited. There should be exceptions. Shouldn’t we be aware of and appreciate all the roles our spouse has to play, for example. Even if we can’t fully participate, shouldn’t we be sympathetic to the struggles our spouse is going through as parent or employee or just as citizen of an increasingly confusing world? Shouldn’t we realize that there is more to our pastor than his Sunday sermon? Shouldn’t we consider that a grumpy word and sour face may come […]

So you have shut up and shut out. Your heart is steady and your question to God is open-ended and limited to today. Still nothing. It’s as if the sky were made of lead. You are hearing nothing. Maybe your problem is sin and sin residue. “Of course, that’s my problem. Isn’t it everyone’s problem?” You reply. Certainly, sin is the problem. Sin, however, doesn’t keep God from hearing us. It wasn’t God who hid Himself from Adam and Eve in the garden. They went to hide. If we don’t feel forgiven, if we can’t seem to forgive others, it can block out our communication with God. He hears us fine. We just can hear Him. The essence of sin is self focus. Sin is all about us. Hearing from God is all about God. Sin is about our control. Hearing from God is about believing that He has a better plan and control in his hands is the best idea. Even if we put sin aside, confess and accept forgiveness, sin can leave ear plug residue. Sin puts us off the path, damages our relationships, limits our potential. When I spend hours working outside, sitting down and resting […]

We have food stored all over our house. We have drawers of canned goods, buckets of dry goods, and a closet full of sweet goods. We never seem to have anything to eat. We make daily trips to the store “for something for supper.” We say things like, “I’ll go find something to eat” as we head for the kitchen, like we were on an island. What’s wrong with us? In the desert, Moses and his people got manna every day. It was only good for a day. It was all they needed. When His disciples asked Him how to pray, Jesus said, “Pray today for what you need today.” Bread is basic. It’s the bare essential to get through the day. Most of us don’t pray daily for our “daily bread” because it’s already been provided. It’s already in front of us. Instead of being thankful and enjoying it, we worry about tomorrow’s bread. It’s as if we were blind to the fact that we have our provision for today. It’s right there in front of us. If you’ve tried to hear from God, don’t expect Him to come back with a 5 year plan. In my experience, He […]

When things are tough and we finally decide it might be time to turn to God, we usually prefer to present Him with a multiple choice question. We have considered our options and can’t decide between a couple. The problem with this approach is that we probably haven’t considered all the possible options. We may have eliminated options as being too difficult or too risky. We may not be creative enough to think of the best option available. We are left with relatively safe imperfect alternatives. The God of the universe is infinitely creative with the power to make seemingly impossible alternatives work. When we are not hearing whether we should turn left or right, it might be because the best alternative is to go straight, to back up or to wait. We can’t limit God, but we can sure limit His ability to guide and lead us. At the beginning of this football season, Cardale Jones was the third string quarterback at Ohio State. The two guys ahead of him were potential player of the year candidates. I don’t know if he consulted with God, but Cardale decided to do the tough thing, keep working and stay at […]

“Steady My Heart” Kari Jobe Listen to the song Wish it could be easy Why is life so messy? Why is pain a part of us? There are days I feel like Nothing ever goes right Sometimes it just hurts so much But You’re here You’re real I know I can trust You Even when it hurts Even when it’s hard Even when it all just falls apart I will run to You ‘Cause I know that You are Lover of my soul Healer of my scars You steady my heart I’m not gonna worry I know that You’ve got me Right inside the palm of your hand Each and every moment What’s good and what gets broken Happens just the way You plan You are here You’re real I know I can trust You Even when it hurts Even when it’s hard Even when it all just falls apart I will run to You ‘Cause I know that You are Lover of my soul Healer of my scars You steady my heart When we have shut up and shut out distractions, don’t expect God to start dictating instructions. Certain things have to be established. When we come to […]

If we are trying to hear from God, it’s imperative that we shut up just to start. That’s pretty tough for most of us. The second step may be even tougher. We must shut out distractions. God has blessed us with the ability to filter out sights and sounds. We would all be insane if we recognized and had to process every sight and sound in our environment. We have natural filters which prevent that. It’s all about focus. Our environments are richer than ever with distractions. Further, many of us believe that we can “multi-task” that is doing more than one thing at a time. Right now I’m watching the national championship football game and writing the blog. Actually, there is a lot of dead time during a football game and I’m writing in those blanks. Focusing on God in our distraction rich environment isn’t easy. God is gracious to His creatures respecting their free will. He doesn’t display His power or glory. Though both shine through in the wonders of His creation. We need to know ourselves. If we are honest we know what operates as a weapon of mass distraction in our lives. It could be […]

If you are doing a prayer and fast or just, like me, trying to listen for direction from God. Step one is still the same. Please.  Just shut up. I know that sounds a bit rude, but you know you’ve been told nicely that you need to be quiet to hear from God and you just haven’t listened. It’s incredibly important, so, I believe, a little rudeness is completely justified. Don’t judge me. Please. Just shut up. You can’t hear from God with  your mouth open. Whatever you are saying isn’t as important as what God is trying to tell  you. It’s the problem I have with fasting. Fasting becomes the topic of conversation.  Folks talk about how hard it is, or how easy it is or how much they are getting out of it or how they have manipulated the “rules” to make it not really fasting at all. Please. Just shut up. Think about it this way. By your constant mouth movement, you are not just making too much noise for you to hear from God. You are causing the same problem for those around you. We feel obliged to at least pretend to be listening so […]