My Online Faith Journal

1 John 1:5 "This is the message we have heard from him, and declare to you; God is light; in him there is no darkness at all."    Have you ever thought about why John would start his little letter called 1 John by telling those he was writing to that God is light?  Light implies perfection, no ignorance, no sinfulness on God's part in this illustration.  It speaks to me about how God can be trusted and that there are no dark places in the existense of God.  Many people who have died and returned have described God as being a great "light" and experiencing peace and joy in His presence.  John is trying to tell us that God can be trusted.   Many of us have trusted in someone only to find that trust misplaced.  When I was a summer missionary in 1988, I went to Nevada. On that trip, I was partnered with a guy from Mississippi.  We would regularly go out and visit church members at each town we would go to of the churches we were serving.  I was diagnosed that sp

  I was thinking today of Paul's letter to Timothy known as 2 Timothy.  He wrote it knowing that his time on earth was short and that he would soon be martyred for his faith.  Paul described himself as a "drink offering being poured out before the Lord." (2 Timothy 4:6)  In this final letter that we have, Paul wanted to remind Timothy to be strong and to remind him that the spirit within him was one of power and not of fear. "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7   Paul knew something of fear.  He speaks about it several times and speaks of times of trembling and challenge.  (See for example 1 Corinthians 2:3)  He speaks of times of being beyond exhausted and sick.  He talked of scars on his body and being shipwrecked and in prison and beaten with rods.  ( 2 Corinthians 6:4-10)  Paul didn't do all that without fear.  Faith is not the absence of fear, it is working despite fear.

  For whatever reason, I seem to be focused these days on passages from Isaiah.  Some may look at this book of prophecy and wonder why and how it could hold relevance today.  It is a bit hard to understand if you don't know the history behind the passages in them.  But, a deeper look at the history and background will reveal that we have a lot in common with the times, both political and historic to Isaiah.  Even more important than that, it is easy to see that some of their struggles then were some of the same things we struggle with today.  In Isaiah 7, the primary issue seems to be one of trust and misplaced trust.  Isaiah was told to go out to the water system that King Ahaz was overseeing.  Ahaz was worried about the threat from the north from the kingdoms of Syria and Ephraim.  We are told in this chapter that Ahaz's heart was shaking like trees shaking in the wind (Isaiah 7:2).  If I can put it in modern language, Ahaz was having a full fledged panic attack over the id

  Recently, I went to Texas to celebrate with my family my parents 50th wedding anniversary.  I found myself pointing to different landmarks as I drove with my family through the neighborhood I grew up in.  Pointing out where someone lived or where I went to school or remarking "This road wasn't here when I was a kid."  We also got to watch some slides of my parents and family that my sister and I have saved.  It was great to get caught up with people and hear what is happening in their lives.  One of the men who pastored my parents church was at the annivesary party.  It was his last Sunday at the church before going on to work as a chaplain and administrator at a hospital.  He happened to be the associate pastor when I was a teenager at that same church.  I reminded him of some things we both took part in.  It was great to see him and hear what was happening in his life.   I also got to see a friend who I hadn't see since 1987 when I was in college.  Her husband

  I was thinking today of the passage where Jesus tells his disciples that they must take up their cross and follow him.   I was specifically wondering what the disciples thought that that meant before they knew that Jesus would die on the cross.  Keeping in mind that the only crosses they had seen were the Roman crosses that were used to torture and slowly kill people.  People would sometimes stay on a cross for a week or more, slowly going mad from the dehydration and blood loss. The thief and Jesus were the exceptions when it comes to those who died within a few hours of the start of the crucifixion.    One of the things it most likely meant was the idea of surrender and sacrifice.  It means putting God's will first and my own last.  It means loving my enemies and praying for those who hate us.  It seems to mean, at least in part, in doing some things that my flesh is rebellious of, like not immediately getting even with those who make me angry or not gossiping about those I d

  So, this may surprise you since it says that I am an ordained minister and deacon, but I have not been to church in a month or two.  I was sitting here thinking about trying to go to a nondenominational church in Lexington sometime soon, but not sure if I will.  I am just not sure where I fit in anymore.  The times that I have gone to church lately, I have preoccupied with what my kids were doing or misbehaving or having a difficult time concentrating on what the pastor was saying.  It seems like I am using more energy than it is worth.  I also wonder if what I am doing in church would even really be considered worship since I seem so preoccupied.   I think also that I am these days hungry for something authentic in my daily spiritual life.  Something that works.  It seems so much of the time I don't see much difference between those who don't go to church and those who do.  I fail to see any time in the Bible where a person encounters God and stays the same.  Maybe the pro

  In some churches these days you hear a lot about the "baptism of the Spirit" or the "filling of the Spirit".  Some people view these as different events, but I never did.  One role that you hardly ever hear talked about when it comes to the Spirit however is that He is our deposit.  Notice what it says in Ephesians 1:13-14 "Having believed,you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory."    So, what is a deposit or a guarantee?  If I make a earnest money deposit on a house, I am saying to the seller, I intend to buy this house.  I am serious about this one.  If you sealed something, like Pilate did with Jesus tomb on Friday, you are claiming rights over.  The seal bears the mark or insignia of the one who owns the seal.  So, that is what Paul is saying here, we are being claimed as belonging to God.  Our ad

  I'm started reading again through Isaiah.  One thing I have been struck by in reading this book of prophecy is how many times it foretells the coming of Jesus.  In Isaiah 4 Jesus is the Branch.  The other thing, as it is in Isaiah 6, is what a strong relationship Isaiah had with God.  Yet, when Isaiah sees God in this chapter, the first thing he realizes is his own sinfulness.  It made we think what questions would be on my mind or what I would be thinking if I were to have an encounter with God like this?  I think, would I be afraid?  Would I feel loved?  Would I want to run and hide like Moses did?  Would I go completely out of my mind?  What would you even be able to say?  I think Isaiah response was a pretty good one considering everything.  Because it seems that this is the message that God wanted to get across- "I am holy."  Isaiah also got the second message which is that he is not holy.  For as good as we may think we are, when we look into the light of God

  Having worked both as a pastor and now in mental health, I have dealt with my fair share of difficult people.  I recently started reading a book about dealing with people like this called "Since Strangling Isn't An Option" by Sandra Crowe.  Great title!  I thought about some of the things that the difficult people I have run across have in common. 1. Black and white thinking- there is no gray area for a lot of people who are difficult.  Thus, there is no room for compromise.  This can make these people extremely difficult to deal with.  For them, every hill is worth dying on.  Every mole hill is a mountain for them.  When you notice that the issue they are fighting about seems more serious that it should be, usually that means the issue really isn't the issue.  There is something at stake that is a bigger deal for them than it should be.  For me, as I get older, I realize there is more gray area than I thought. 2. Lack of self-esteem.  Every hill has to be worth d

  I was thinking about how when Jesus began his earthly ministry, before going public, it says that the Spirit led Jesus to the wilderness.  I was thinking about why and what the results were for being led into the wilderness.  Some questions that run through my mind are:  Was it even possible for Jesus to give in to Satan's temptations?  Why would the Spirit lead Jesus into that situation?  What lessons can be learned here?   The first question is the hardest to answer. Along with the partner question: If Jesus had given in to temptation, what would our world be like now?  At least in theory, I think it is possible if you assume that Jesus was fully man as he was also fully God.  But, Jesus had the benefit of seeing what happened to Adam when Adam and Eve sinned and seeing the consequences.  It at least appears on the surface, that Satan was appealing to the same kinds of things, pride, lust, power, that Adam and Eve had given into.   The second question is why Jesus was led i

  Years ago, when Bill Clinton was president, it seemed like a scandal was erupting at least monthly.  Whether it was Monica Lewinsky or shady land deals, it seemed like this man who seemed so good at dealing with the economy couldn't control himself or take care of his personal life.  I remember watching Congress voting to impeach him and the preacher of the church I was at at the time loved to blast away at his moral decisions.   It was a popular thing to do to make fun of a man or at least to be critical of a man who had so many moral failures.  So, I wonder what most modern preachers would do at this point in the story in Matthew 9:9, when we see Jesus come face to face with the author of this gospel, Matthew at a tax collectors booth.  Knowing that it would have been the popular or easy thing to do to call Matthew a scoundrel and rail against him the way Jesus did against the Pharisees.  So, I wonder if there wasn't a collective gasp when Jesus said to Matthew "foll