RUMINATIONS OF A REVEREND

 At times, I’ll read a verse that I memorized when I was younger and ignore the context. It’s not that I’m trying to do that or that I’m unaware of contextual importance. “Context is king” has been beaten into my brain since I was a youth. I get that and embrace that truth. Yet, when I have an isolated verse memorized, I can easily default into focusing just on that verse and missing the surrounding context. This morning in my bible app, such a verse popped up. It’s a wonderful verse with a powerful truth in and of itself. Philippians 4:9, “ What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. ” You don’t necessarily need much context to understand the truth of that verse. It’s a basic verse on discipleship. Paul challenged the believers in Philippi to put into practice the lessons he taught and the lessons he lived by example. We get that.   But having recently read through Philippians, I was famili...

 You’ve heard of Christmas in July, but have you heard of Thanksgiving in July? Well, if you haven’t, now you have. It’s sad to think that we need to be reminded to give thanks with a holiday in November; yet, we do. Our human tendency likes to focus on our problems and what we don’t have rather than give thanks for what we do have. One blogger suggested that tendency comes from our ancestors who were in simple survival mode, constantly on the lookout for dangers and their next meal. Whether that is the case or not, we do tend to focus on the negative. There aren’t many news outlets that make money simply sharing good news. They focus on stories to worry or disturb you, which does nothing to foster gratitude.   Over 100 references to thanksgiving You’ll find over one hundred references to giving thanks in the Bible. Many references are direct commands to give thanks. God, our Creator, understands the importance of gratitude for thriving so He repeatedly emphasized this vir...

Romans 12:9b, “ Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good .”   Holy Goodness. Not simply goodness, but Holy Goodness. Why can’t I just say “goodness” you might ask? Honestly, I wish I could, but trying to define goodness from our culture’s perspective is like trying to play baseball with a ball of slime. Goodness seems to morph into the morality of whoever happens to be defining the term. Using the term “holy” cements goodness in the character of God where it ultimately must rest. When we fail to define goodness based on the rock-solid character of a holy God, we twist it into the slimy forms our own fleshly desires. Goodness then becomes what we like, rather than what is truly good. Good Evil; Evil Good Isaiah 5 details the results of this shift in the people of Israel. God had cared for His people and they turned from His ways and followed their own desires. The people acted as their own gods and lived out their own morality. Throughout the chapter, God lists woe after woe ...

When Jesus stood before Pilate nearly 2000 years ago, He made this bold declaration to the Roman governor, “ You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin .”  John 19:11   Biblical scholars debate who Jesus is talking about when He says, “He who delivered me to you.” Many feel that this refers to Judas. The term “delivered” is used elsewhere in association with Judas’ betrayal. Technically speaking, Judas did not deliver Jesus to Pilate but to the chief priests, but certainly his act resulted in Jesus ending up on Pilate’s doorstep.  Others think that the chief priests were the one’s guilty of the greater sin. They delivered Jesus over to Pilate. The chief priests and Jewish leaders at the beginning of this passage in John even say, “If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you.” So, by their own admission, they delivered Jesus over to Pilate...

I woke up to the news that Vladimir Putin authorized “special military operations” in Ukraine. I am no geo-political expert but from my simple viewpoint that sounds like Russia invaded Ukraine.  The ramifications of this act are significant yet not fully known. I do know there are immediate consequences for border countries like Poland. Poland has already begun receiving refugees. I know some missionaries working in Poland, who will be housing those displaced because of the military action. They will need extra financial resources to provide for the refugees fleeing the chaos. I would encourage you to consider how you may help, and if you don’t know how you can help, message me and I’ll put you in touch with them.   But even before this invasion, I could have accurately written the same title to my blog. The news headlines sink deeper in slime every day. You read about a “four-year-old boy found dead in a freezer,” “Elderly Chicago couple are beaten senseless by a stranger i...

Anyone with children has likely heard the appeal, “Look at me!” Maybe the child is spinning in a circle or standing on one foot or throwing a ball in the air, but the petition begs for attention. He wants his mommy to focus on him and watch his antics, whatever they may be. “Look at me!” I remember such a plea booming from my lips while I practiced wheelies on my bicycle as a child. I had sped down our black top multiple times, yanking on the handlebars and elevating the front wheel off the pavement (even if only for a couple of seconds) and was ready to show off to mom. “Watch me, mom!” I implored. Mom graciously stopped in the yard and turned in my direction while I zoomed down the drive. Halfway down I yanked on the handlebars- lift off. The front tire rose from the ground for a couple of seconds and landed perfectly in front of fist-sized rock in the middle of the drive. My bike stopped immediately but my body embraced Newton’s first law of motion to the fullest. I soared over th...

You failed. Welcome to the human race! Spoiler alert: you will fail again. That’s the reality of being human in a broken world. The biblical list of people who failed would exceed the space I have in my blog. From Adam in Genesis 3 to John in Revelation 22 who fell down to worship at the feet of an angel you find scripture filled with people who failed. But that’s life as human beings. Our society, however, has conflated failing with being a failure. We rush to tag a person with that label once they fail. The result: paralyzing fear of failure. Such fear stifles drive and minimizes risk taking. In such a climate, nothing of great value is accomplished.  Heaven forbid we should fail! Imagine if the disciples decided they couldn’t pull off the whole “make disciples of all nations” thing so they didn’t even try. Maybe they could just stay in Jerusalem with the people they knew and pat each other on the back and that would be good enough. They could succeed at that endeavor. No nee...