I was thinking back to an old devotional I read (and probably never finished), Holiness: Day by Day, by Jerry Bridges I really liked reading his works, and this was no different. He has a way of focusing everything on the Gospel and the cross, as well as God’s mercy and grace in such a way, I sometimes wonder if he isn’t snatching the thoughts right from my head so he can speak directly and exclusively to me. Continue reading “The Performance Trap!”
So, Father’s Day is here again.
I’m sorry, but I just can’t be excited about it. Maybe it’s because of all my faults. Maybe in a sea of screw ups, a few life preserver moments of manly clarity and wisdom doesn’t inspire me towards feeling accomplished as a husband or father. I just don’t think it’s necessarily something to relish in or put on a pedestal. It doesn’t seem like it’s something to be highly regarded from a fatherly point of view. I’m sorry, but I’m just not feeling it and frankly I never do. I am a father simply because and only because, my wife blessed me with two children. I am a father because that’s what my children call me. I feel more privileged and honored by that than by anything I’ve ever done in my role as a father. To be honest, if they still love me and if my wife still loves me and I think they do, then they have shown me the face of God and I have probably failed to adequately acknowledge it.
Continue reading “Just Another Father’s Day…”
Early on in my Christian walk, I was told exposing your sin is the only way it could be robbed of its power over you. So I did it. I told people. Lots of people. It was hard, and it hurt, and it was tough on my family, especially my wife. When the smoke cleared, I didn’t feel better, or freer, or more holy. The only thing I knew now was the people knew what a horrible sinner I was, and after the initial pats on the back, it seemed as if I hadn’t said a word. Continue reading “We Sin. God Forgives. Grace Reigns.”
One of the most regular, and familiar parts of the current contemporary mainstream evangelical church service is the altar call.
Whether for first time believers walking the aisle wanting to hand their lives over to Jesus, or old mainstays in the church that go up for prayer for some sin or struggle in their life. Inevitably, and without fail, there will always be those repeat offenders that return week after week. Those repeaters run the aisle after every service, needing prayer for the same thing again. Continue reading “We Need Forgiveness, ALL THE TIME!”
*This was written last winter, but it still applies… I hope you enjoy it.
While in the midst of cursing this winter that never seems to end, I was confronted in my mind with a particular insight as I watched the snow come down this morning. As snowfalls go, this has been one of my favorites. The giant drifting snowflakes gently coming down remind me of the manna falling from heaven to feed God’s own people. The flakes so large, look as if they’re of a greater, tangible substance and not just water that melts away in the warmth of your hands. There’s no wind blowing violently to turn it into an icy sheet and the weather is just warm enough for you to stand outside and enjoy it without having to rush back in. This is the kind of snow you want to see on Christmas Eve. It is “Postcard Perfect” in the way it falls and in the way it lies on ground before people go about the business of brushing it all aside. Continue reading “A New Snow, A Saving Grace*”
*I wrote this post last year. The lesson learned from it still stands today. Whether there is snow, sun, or rain.
It’s Saturday and I’m lazy. Instead of getting right to the morning devotional and prayers(Please don’t hear that like I normally do it well), I spent a quiet early morning fiddling around with Twitter, Facebook, and E-mail, with some candy crush thrown in. I take a look out the big bay window in the living room and see that the forecast was spot on. We’ve got a few inches of snow. It’s not the soft powdery kind, but the kind that’s mixed with rain. The heavy, “heart attack” type snow. So I finally get dressed, and prepare to attack the wet wintry mix when I decide to sit a few minutes more and complain to the fellow patrons of Twitter about how much I don’t want to do this. Continue reading “Snow Covered Grace*”
I got your life application right here!
First off, Happy New Year! It’s 2017 and there’s a sense of optimism floating about in the air. Now, please allow me to continue that, and bring you more good feelings of gum drops and cherry licorice.
How would you feel if someone you knew suddenly died?
How’s that for warm and fuzzy? I know, I know, you’re quite welcome really. Continue reading “Move… Before Death Comes…”
A friend obtain these letters at extreme danger to himself. He then passed them on to me, and I hereby submit them to my entire blogging audience for the purpose of hopefully grasping the idea of God’s Grace as displayed by Bob, the father of this wayward son. The names, have of course, been changed to protect the parties.* Continue reading “Letters To Bob…”
This has been quite the week. I’ve seen, and at times, been in the middle of what seemed to be a christian social media “superstorm.” It all revolved around the mounting allegations against this already disgraced former pastor. It seems that new stories continue to pour out on an almost daily basis from a variety of sources across the internet. A number of minor bloggers and podcasters are helping to tell the stories of people manipulated and hurt, by what seems to be, this unrepentant man. It’s unfortunate that as many of this stories come forth, we have to admit that they paint a picture that’s hard to argue against their legitimacies. Continue reading “The Leaning Church of Grace”
Did you every have that moment? You know the one where just one idea uttered from someone’s lips or some cutesy comment made on Facebook or Twitter makes you think you might just go off the rails?
“Faith is a process”, did it for me. Continue reading “Faith: God’s Gift”
