The word love is just one
of those
words that has somehow lost its meaning over the years. We can love everything all at the same time but with different kinds of love. We’ve Hallmarked the word love to be flowery and well girly. Perhaps it’s time to take back the word love. Continue reading
Tag: Faith (Page 23 of 24)
If you’ve been married for any length of time, you’ve undoubtedly run into some sort of struggle or disagreement with your spouse. Whether he doesn’t keep the house as clean as you want him to keep it, or she doesn’t fix the food the way you want it fixed – we’ve undoubtedly had our moments. For some it’s a sign that we didn’t do our homework before getting married. For others it is an indication that we are just flat weak when it comes to relationships. And for still others it’s a demonstration of our selfishness. Continue reading
There’s a lot of talk these days about safe places. These are places where people are free to be themselves. They are places that lack judgment and allow the freedom to be accepted no matter the person’s preferences, history, or genetic make-up. Continue reading
Last week the moon here was truly amazing. 
It was big, bright, and full. I’m certainly not a guru on scientific matters, but I do remember from my childhood science class that the moon absorbs the light from the sun and reflects it back. This is why the moon shines at night. It’s more of a glow or reflection than shining its own light.
As I was driving home the other night, I started thinking about this whole reflection business. The moon has nothing to offer but simply reflects everything that the sun shines on it. It got me thinking about my life as a pastor, and if you’re not a pastor just as a follower of Jesus. How much of my life is spent trying to shine my own light? How much of my time is devoted to casting some light of my own?
I find it all too often the case that well-meaning followers of Jesus try to be the best at something so as to make a name for themselves. It’s disheartening to listen to pastors and churchgoers talk about my church and our focus is on growing our own church by any means possible.
I honestly think we can learn something from the moon. It does exactly what it was created to do – reflect the light of the sun. It does exactly what Jesus did in His ministry – it only reflects what’s given to it. Jesus taught a lot of powerful things. He was put in some pretty tricky situations and even was bombarded by temptations from a very powerful enemy. But in the midst of all of this He never did anything on His own. He only reflected what the Father gave him. It says in John 5:19 the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing.
What a powerful thought! Jesus, the very Son of God who had all the power of God at his disposal didn’t do anything that wasn’t a reflection of the Father’s will and action. This means that Jesus’ death and resurrection were a reflection of the Father’s love for us.
Now as followers of Jesus we’re not called to come up with some bright and witty statement of faith or some great tactic to share who Jesus is with those around us. We’re just called to be a reflection of his presence where we live, work and play. This is the Jesus in me. We’re called to reflect the presence of the Son of God into our everyday situations.
Today don’t try to be your own light. Don’t push to come up with your own presence and power. Instead, today try reflecting the Son into your daily relationships. As you reflect Jesus’ love, people will get a glimpse of the power of God in normal, everyday situations.
Have you ever watched one of those home rehab shows? You know the kind of show where someone buys a house that is rundown and falling apart. Then they sink some serious cash into fixing it up. And when it’s all said and done, you can’t even tell the house was run down in the first place. I do love watching shows like this. I love to watch old things made new. It’s very rewarding to be able take something that is broken and fix it, making it good as new. Continue reading
Have you ever felt like you didn’t have what it took to accomplish a job? Like the burdens of your day were too much for you to handle? Like you were under qualified for a task? This is a scary thing for many people. When we don’t feel confident for the task at hand it’s as if we’re wearing someone else’s armor.
In the movie Men of Honor a young diver goes through intense pressure to become a Naval Diving Officer. After an accident, he loses his leg and needs a prosthetic to allow him to walk. After a period of recovery, he attempts to finish his officer training only to find out that the regulations have changed and the armor is now heavier. The climax of the movie comes when he is called to walk 12 steps carrying this new armor’s weight using his prosthetic limb. Continue reading
Just about everyone carries a smart phone now.And even if you don’t chances are you have a method of connecting with people quickly at your home. With the enormous uptick in the use of social media and instant message methods, there is virtually no one who can’t be reached. 
Perhaps you’ve heard some of the church people in 
your life referring to something called Epiphany lately. Maybe you are a little cloudy on its meaning. Don’t worry you’re definitely not alone. I would venture to guess that many followers of Jesus don’t even know what it really is all about.
Here’s a quick look – Epiphany – We use the word to describe the moment when we finally understand something. It’s like the whole lightbulb going on moment.
Epiphany is actually an event in the history of the bible. It’s the event known by the church as the visit of the wisemen, or more accurately the Magi. These were men who weren’t part of the Jewish heritage. They were outsiders or what the bible calls Gentiles. The word Gentile is a description of people from other nations.
Epiphany is the day when the church celebrates the visit of the wisemen to the place where Jesus was living. They saw the star (a light in the sky) and it revealed to them a new thing. Much like an idea is marked by a lightbulb today!
So all in all this day known as Epiphany is a day of a new idea or a new thing coming to the world. This new thing was Jesus. Epiphany is the marker for the time when God revealed himself to people outside of the Jewish tradition. It was God intervening in the history of the world in his son Jesus.
Whether you are a churched person or not, Epiphany is for you! You see Jesus came to the world to show you a new way of living. He came to show you a new thought, idea, life. Perhaps today you can turn on a light and be reminded of the light of Jesus that came to the world to show you his love. If you’re a Jesus follower, then you are a light to the people around you.
So there it is, Epiphany. Today take a moment and relish the new idea!
C
ounting down the days to Christmas can be a difficult task for parents and children alike. All the little ones want is to get to Christmas morning, and the parents just want the waiting to be over. The children grow increasingly less patient as the decorations come out of storage and the tree is lit in the evenings.
In our house we’ve had a tradition of using an Advent calendar to lead us to Christmas morning. These are pretty cool little things and very simple. Each day our children will open a new door in the calendar to receive a piece of chocolate. Continue reading
My
family loves to go to Disney world for vacation. I’ve been going there since I was a small child. While the Disney corporation is constantly trying to be on the cutting edge of technology and products, there is something about their Orlando-based park that is a staple to say the least. Every time we go to the Magic Kingdom theme park we absolutely have to ride It’s a Small World. That ride has been there for as long as I’ve been going and it hasn’t changed in all those years. But why? Why is it a staple, and why hasn’t it changed?
