We don’t commemorate Good Friday to try to enter a place of forced sadness, for we already know the rest of the story. Christ is risen! Our purpose for marking the day is to remember why we stand before God blameless and holy. Why there is no condemnation. Why we are the righteousness of God… Read More »

(Revelation 3:15-20) 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of My mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need… Read More »

“Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17). Of course what comes to mind when we consider these glorious words are great challenges, terrific obstacles, and overwhelming adversity.  And appropriately so.  But don’t forget to include yourself.… Read More »

I sat at my desk to try to capture the thoughts for this week’s meditation that were revolving in my mind like a carousel. Taped to my computer screen was a card from my wife, commemorating my 36th pastoral anniversary today. As it turned out, the words on the card were a perfect lead into… Read More »

“This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. (Isaiah 66:2) What does it mean to “tremble” at the Lord’s word?  It means holding His word in reverence.  It means believing what He says is true. It also means not seeing His word as either… Read More »

God’s goal in exposing us to truths that challenge us is not to shame us for the person we are, but to invite us into what He can make us. We don’t need to cower or hide or make excuses. Regardless of our “track record,” we can approach Him and say, “Lord, I want to… Read More »

One day, among a surging crowd, a blind beggar, sitting beside the road inquired of someone what all the commotion was about. When he heard that it was Jesus, he began shouting out to the Lord to have mercy on him. Many told him to be quiet but he shouted out all the more. Suddenly… Read More »

How well does the Lord know you? Imagine, when we run to our favorite hiding place and open the door, He is already there, eating a banana. Everywhere we turn He beats us to the spot. We can choose to withhold our hearts from Him but we cannot conceal them. So we might as well… Read More »

After reading a horrifying and heart-wrenching headline about a woman and her small child being gunned down, (I didn’t even want to read the rest of the story) my heart flirted with the question “Why do You not stop such things as this, Lord.”  There is no answer that will completely satisfy our human craving… Read More »

Never succumb to the idea that your life is on “hold.” There has not been one moment of your life when “nothing” was happening. Every second of your life complex operations have been executed by your body under the conscious and subconscious direction of your brain. You made that face you make. Debated about whether… Read More »