Cohen's first shower. Guess what he said when I told him it was time to get out?
My oldest grandson turns two this week.
I think he’s already been practicing.
Cohen has been staying with Papa and Grammy for the last few days because his six-week-old baby brother is in the hospital with a bad case of RSV.
For the most part everybody is weathering the temporary adjustment. But “the most part” wasn’t around at 7:00 yesterday morning.
Typically when he wakes up at first, he can be, um, “encouraged” to go back to sleep by putting him in our bed. Only this morning a certain somebody decided to turn over and douse my side of the bed with 20 gallons of soak-through.
Awesome.
So… changed diaper in place… You want to watch cartoons?
No.
No, Cohen, don’t touch that. Want some milk?
No.
No, Cohen, don’t throw the pillows. Want some banana?
No.
No, don’t throw your food on the floor. Want some apple? [click to continue…]
It’s a common church house scene.
In baskets, bags, plates or boxes, churches collect money for something they call an offering.
The functional reality: congregations can’t offer what they haven’t first collected.
Same goes for individuals. [click to continue…]
We don’t wear veils much anymore – certainly not in this culture. Unless, of course, “we” are a bride on her wedding day. Nobody from Paris or New York sends skinny models down the runway wearing the latest veil fashions. And chances are, you won’t find them in Macy’s or Chico’s or that fabulously French discounter Target either.
But make no mistake about it. We still wear them – sometimes for good reason, sometimes not.
Veils are for hiding. For creating boundaries and secret spaces. And sometimes that’s a good idea. Ever meet somebody at a bus stop or party and ask the customary “How are you?” and they tell you? In detail? Sorta makes you wish you had a veil (or a gag) in your back pocket.
At other times veils are symbols or expressions of something else. They are reminders of how broken, how sinful, how messed up we are. The veil dresses up on the outside what is ugly or painful on the inside. [click to continue…]
Tucked inside a rapid-fire to-do list in the Bible is a simply-carved roadmap into the hearts of other people. After Paul suggests how believers can get along with their persecutors, and before he suggests how we can get along with other believers (that’s a much longer suggestion), he gives this encouragement:
“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep”(Romans 12:15).
A simple phrase. But a world of meaning packed in these simple instructions. [click to continue…]
I know what you’re thinking right now.
You’re thinking, “No you don’t!”
I know… scary isn’t it?
Know what’s even scarier? Anybody who knows you at all can follow you around for a week and know what you’ve been thinking for the past year. That’s based, of course, on the biblical principle, “As he thinks within himself, so he is” (Proverbs 23:7).
Your life today is the result of your thinking. It may not always affect your circumstances, but it always affects your character. Your disposition. Your emotions. Your perceptions. Yes, your faith.
If you have any intention of designing a compelling future, it’s time to accept responsibility for the role your thoughts play in creating it. After all, your thoughts have produced the person you are right now.
That’s why the Bible gives such attention to your thoughts. Jesus said to love God with all your mind. Paul talks about renewing your mind, and not thinking of yourself more highly than you ought, but thinking soberly.
Recently I reread a familiar old verse and it rocked my world a little. [click to continue…]
It was a new day at Grace Church. A new pastor was coming, and this would be his first weekend. People were excited, and they needed to be. Grace had gone through an ugly split that had left a lot of angry, hurt, and confused people in its wake. A pretty solid plug of people had started Faith Church down the road and had contacted the outgoing pastor from Grace to help them get started. Some people had left for other churches. Some people had quit attending anywhere.
One of the walking wounded was a former associate pastor – Chris Naylor. Chris had received “the right foot of fellowship” from the previous administration. Though he had found other opportunities for Kingdom service, Chris was still a member – at least on paper – at Grace.
That’s why I was a little surprised when I asked Chris and his wife Rachael if they were going to hear the new guy that weekend, and both immediately, categorically said, “No.”
Ooh. Sorry I asked.
“My friends think I’m bitter,” Chris added.
“Are you?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied honesty. “How do you balance the fact that on the one hand I love the church and wish nothing but the best for them, but on the other hand, have absolutely no respect for their system of leadership or the choices they have made?”
“I don’t know.”
Chris was just getting warmed up as Rachael was tearing up. [click to continue…]
If you just read the title of this and are still reading, you don’t have time for cute stories or complicated formulas, so I’ll just get to the point, if that’s OK.
If you are in a situation where you are at a complete loss as to what to do, it’s because you need to reset your glance and your gaze. You have allowed your gaze – your long-term focus – to become set on your circumstances, your prayer request, your frustration, your pain, your desperate desire for change, or something other than the Lord. You’re glancing at God, asking Him to fix whatever you’re gazing at.
Nice try. I understand why. But it doesn’t work that way. Reset your gaze on God, and your glance on the world around you.
That’s what it means to wait on the Lord.
That’s what it means to praise, or to worship
Yes, that’s in the Bible. [click to continue…]
As long as people have searched for direction, worshipped their Creator, and looked for language to express their passion and warmth, we have returned again and again to stand by the fire.
The fire was an agent of God’s guidance and an ongoing expression of worship in the days of the tabernacle. And we kept returning to stand by the fire.
A refiner and cleansing agent of the hearts of men, the fire was a symbol of God’s hatred for sin and an affirmation for the prophets who spoke His truth. And again and again, we kept returning to stand by the fire.
The fire was a weapon of God’s voice, a light in the darkness, and an expression of hospitality and welcome. And from the dark places and lonely spaces, still we kept coming to stand by the fire.
The fire revealed a passion for God’s word in our bones, the baptism of the believer, the instrument of God’s testing, and the piercing gaze of the risen Christ. And out of desperation or terror, love or longing, still we kept coming to stand by the fire.
And even today the Spirit and Bride invite you to come. To be warmed and convicted and cleansed and restored and pure as you stand by the fire. [click to continue…]
They called their hangout at Chip’s place the Land of O.Z. Not because there were witches, wizards, or munchkins there, but because whenever Chip, Blake and Tony got together, the ideas would start flying. And they were living in the Opportunity Zone.
The three friends met in the dorm at their university, and were all business majors. And they were dreamers. Entrepreneurial types, always looking for the next big idea or opportunity.
In the Land of O.Z., no idea was considered taboo. These friends would dream and scheme, design and research, test and toss away ideas before breakfast was done. They even tried one or two, mostly for fun. Not much happened.
Their big opportunity came when they anticipated the emergence of smart phones and the apps that drove them. This would be their surefire thing – what the Internet boom (and bust) had meant to the 1990s. They would establish a software design company that specialized in apps for iPhones.
A year later, Wizard of Apps was more or less history, and the friends-for-life had moved on.
Why? [click to continue…]
Have you ever woken up first thing in the morning and realized you were in a museum?
And you were what was on display?
You may not have recognized the location at first because everything seemed so real. You were traveling through one mental display after another of your past life.
Names.
Faces.
Feelings.
Friends.
Sometimes the scenes are wistful and happy reminders of people and days gone by. Sometimes you’re reliving the glory days. But sometimes it plays out more like a horror movie or a disaster cleanup. It’s ugly – and you’re the reason.
It may be a new day on the outside, but in here you’re trapped in the old ones. [click to continue…]
