Words on a Page

During the early 2000’s, our pastor asked our church family something important. He asked, “Do we want to be a church that reaches people for Christ or a club entertaining one another?” Twenty-five years later, the question is even more important.  Are Christians running a hospital for lost souls or a country club that shuts others out?  It’s a simple question.  What does my attitude reflect? Am I like Jesus with arms wide opened seeking to embrace those He brings my way? Or is my stance relaying judgement and disdain? I love Jesus. I know Jesus loves me. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world….” The verse is not merely talking about the earth. More importantly, the teaching refers to the earth’s inhabitants.  I’d rather rejoice with the sinner in the gutter than get caught up in a church’s religious clutter. How about you?

An American Senator went on national TV and said that protestors are “goofy.” He reminded us, “Sometimes we have to accept what the majority of American people want without complaining.” I have one word and one digit for this Senator: January 6.  Going after political opponents - goofy.  Villainizing TV comedians - goofy.  It’s goofy for an elderly man to make speeches where he goes off the rails into mindless rambling using junior highesh lingo like, “Stupid,” or “dumbest person ever.”  My favorite is, “He’s just a bad, bad person.” It’s goofy to rationalize the choices of a sex trafficker while claiming to reduce crime in our nation. Does Goofy read the statistics concerning gun deaths in America?  The land he claims to care about? The land he claims to run? Goofs invade their own cities while “making peace” around the world. It’s goofy to run an election with the promise to reduce the cost of living despite prices continuing to rise on everythi...

What do you think of when you hear the word, “institution?” I’m not necessarily talking about the dictionary’s definition. I’m asking what the word means to you? How does it make you feel? Our social institutions are under attack. Opposition isn’t always a bad thing. Our willingness to ask difficult questions often refines the institution itself. Mental institutions of the past needed to be questioned. A dangerous, abusive institution needs a serious makeover. What’s scary is the institutions that create the framework of our society are being demeaned and attacked. Remember, I said questions aren’t necessarily bad. Lies, on the other hand, are detrimental to civility and societal health. Our government, our healthcare systems, a press free from governmental oversight, cultures, public schools, higher education, law enforcement, etc., etc., etc. The list is never ending. Ungrateful hearts and rebellious arrogance seem to be strangling the life out of our country. I often wonder if we ar...

“ Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!” As I reread Psalm 34, this verse sticks out. It’s timely. It’s relevant. I focus on the phrase, “magnify the Lord with me,” and the word, “together.” Our world is so divided. Outside forces encourage us to focus on our differences instead of carrying out His will. In a world that God’s name is often abused and His existence is questioned, it is imperative that His children magnify Him. We aren’t called, as Christians, to magnify a philosophy, rhetoric, personality, or opinion. It is our responsibility to uplift Him above anyone or anything else. If we, as Christians, fulfilled our calling to magnify Him in all circumstances and to do it together , the division would not disappear. It would, however, decrease. Wouldn’t it be nice if the world saw us as peacemakers, witnesses, salt, and light? If we believe the Bible, we cannot ignore that we are called to be all of that and more. Magnify Him. Let’s get Hi...

Women are constantly misled regarding biblical femininity and Godly female behavior. For far too long, insecure men wanted to translate scripture based on their own predetermined idea of femininity while steering clear of secular feminism.  The biggest myth is that women must be “nice” to please God (and society). Buzzer sound: “Naaaaaaaa!” Wrong answer.  Both sexes are called to be kind, not nice. Barry Corey of Eternal Perspective Ministries explains it this way, “You won’t find niceness in the Bible once—nor the word nice, for that matter. Kindness is fierce, brave and daring. It’s fearless and selfless, never to be mistaken for niceness. They’re not the same and never were. Kindness is neither timid nor frail. Niceness is kindness minus conviction.” Read that again. How would the world change if we focused on biblical kindness as opposed to surface niceness? Thank you, Barry Corey. Powerful stuff. The only Person who says it better is Christ. The Bible continually teaches...

I’ve shared this story before. I’m choosing to share it again. First, because it’s such an interesting story.  Mainly because the older I get the more I realize this story is the perfect illustration to help us recognize the danger of our hang-ups.  Most of us become obsessively concerned about a topic that causes a great deal of personal pain. I’m not talking about finding a spiritual calling based on individual tragedy. I’m talking about taking it upon ourselves to set the entire world straight when we feel we were harmed by misinformation or have been misled.  The story I’ve shared before, that I’m going to share again, is about a former pastor‘s wife. She was in a denomination that required people walk an aisle to accept Christ as Savior before they could be baptized into the church. She walked the aisle as an elementary-aged child and was baptized within the same year.  As she aged and matured, physically, spiritually, and emotionally, she felt her church a...