Psalm 60
The Message (MSG)
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Parenting is tough. Most of the time, it feels like you're rushing around trying to keep your kid from hurting themselves. Sometimes, though, life happens and they're soon screaming at the top of their lungs, wailing about how their toe hurts and is about to fall off.
Rachel has a tendency to sweep up Caleb into her arms and make everything better. Me? I'm the guy who is telling Caleb that this is what happens when he doesn't listen to Mom & Dad. And you wonder why he runs to Mom when he gets hurt...
But we sometimes suffer the consequences of our choices. Sometimes, God lets us do the same. Our sin snowballs and wreaks havoc in our lives. Poor choices have effects on relationships. God has promised that our sin will not condemn us if we are in Christ, but he does sometimes allow us to suffer the consequences of our poor choices, in the hopes that we will see our need for repentance and go running back to his marvelous mercy and wondrous grace.
So when we are struggling under the weight of bad choices, may we turn to the Spirit for wisdom and give thanks that God is a loving parent who wants us to grow closer to him.
May you trust in God's wisdom
Friday, July 11, 2014
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Psalm 59:11-17
Psalm 59:11-17
English Standard Version (ESV)
It's always easier to focus on ourselves. When we're hurt or suffering, we focus on our pain. When all is well, we start to be prideful, thinking about how awesome we are. When we're somewhere in the middle, we're often thinking about how much we have to do.
Here, the Psalmist chooses the wiser route--he focuses on God's steadfast love and strength. Rather than think about ourselves, we can make the choice to focus our minds on God and his great love for us, we can focus on God and his faithfulness. When we focus on God, we have no choice but to be in awe of who God is and how richly he loves us, and then we live out of gratitude, rather than selfishness.
May you be inspired by the selfless love of God today
English Standard Version (ESV)
It's always easier to focus on ourselves. When we're hurt or suffering, we focus on our pain. When all is well, we start to be prideful, thinking about how awesome we are. When we're somewhere in the middle, we're often thinking about how much we have to do.
Here, the Psalmist chooses the wiser route--he focuses on God's steadfast love and strength. Rather than think about ourselves, we can make the choice to focus our minds on God and his great love for us, we can focus on God and his faithfulness. When we focus on God, we have no choice but to be in awe of who God is and how richly he loves us, and then we live out of gratitude, rather than selfishness.
May you be inspired by the selfless love of God today
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Psalm 59:6-10
Psalm 59:6-10
(Click here for link to full text)
Living as though there is no God can be easy, for a while. After some time, people can even convince themselves they are God. This was what made early Christians' claim that 'Jesus is Lord' so controversial--Caesar, and only Caesar, was Lord. Believing there is no God, some people can believe that they are the ultimate power and that all authority runs through them.
Those of us who know and believe that God alone is all-powerful can take comfort in the fact that God will one day set things right. We can take confidence in the power of God to conquer those who oppose him or claim his place on the throne. (The scene is almost funny--some small human trying to ascend and claim the throne where God dwells in in unapproachable light.) In God alone, our confidence is in the right place, and he will welcome us into his glory, for God loves to share his glory, mercy and love with those who pledge their lives to him.
May you stand firm in the confidence of God
(Click here for link to full text)
Living as though there is no God can be easy, for a while. After some time, people can even convince themselves they are God. This was what made early Christians' claim that 'Jesus is Lord' so controversial--Caesar, and only Caesar, was Lord. Believing there is no God, some people can believe that they are the ultimate power and that all authority runs through them.
Those of us who know and believe that God alone is all-powerful can take comfort in the fact that God will one day set things right. We can take confidence in the power of God to conquer those who oppose him or claim his place on the throne. (The scene is almost funny--some small human trying to ascend and claim the throne where God dwells in in unapproachable light.) In God alone, our confidence is in the right place, and he will welcome us into his glory, for God loves to share his glory, mercy and love with those who pledge their lives to him.
May you stand firm in the confidence of God
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Wasn't I supposed to have all this time?
An interesting thing happened on the way to Columbus, Ohio.
On the bright side, Caleb now knows how to spell Ohio, which will serve most useful this fall. (We have football tickets!!)
So I'm no longer an installed pastor. I'm still a pastor--that's part of who I am, and I don't know that you can remove that any more than you can take away any other part of my identity. I won't stop being a pastor.
But it's going to look differently than it does now. I won't be in an office serving as pastor for a particular group of people. I don't know whose pastor I'll be... and it's hard to be a pastor without people to pastor, just like it's hard to be a shepherd without any sheep. (Fortunately, my sheep didn't all flee from my presence! It was my decision to move forward into a new stage, and it was not an easy one, but I believe that ultimately it will prove to be the right now. Again, as a disclaimer, I also believe that navy blue and black are the same color. I'm not always right.)
Ministry is evolving in this country, and I think more churches are going to be forced to look at part time ministry and bi-vocational ministry as necessary options. Church attendance and church budgets are shrinking, and the churches that were built upon and sustained by an older generation will have to evolve as we face challenges with new generations. I do not for a moment believe the church is in trouble--Christ assures us of that. I even am bold enough to believe that the church will thrive in this country, as it is already thriving in others. But there may be a challenging time of adaptation as mainline churches struggle to find their footing. I hope to be a figure able to help with the process of stabilization with a business degree and theological training. I believe God will use it all for his glory.
The kids, well, they're doing great. It's been wonderful to have so much time to play with them lately, although it can be exhausting and trying. More good than bad, though, as we've run through the aquarium and climbed through the children's museum and slid down the slip-n-slide. We've discovered that Caleb has seemingly endless energy reserves, except when he doesn't, and even then there is always an hour of energy he holds back for when it's time to nap or go to bed at night. On the days when he seems the most tired, those are the days when he's still singing 'Happy Birthday' to himself an hour after we've put him to bed.
Kids... what an adventure.
We've talked to the kids about moving, and Caleb knows the big concept of it... but I think the actual change is going to be hard. New place to call home, new school, new church, new friends--it's a lot to take in. Rachel and I struggle with it, so I expect he will, too. But kids are also tougher than I tend to give them credit for, and so I have a hunch he'll fall right in line, moving ever forward, as Rachel and I watch in wonder as he and Danielle grow and change before our every eyes, and we drink in the gift that God has poured out upon us.
On the bright side, Caleb now knows how to spell Ohio, which will serve most useful this fall. (We have football tickets!!)
So I'm no longer an installed pastor. I'm still a pastor--that's part of who I am, and I don't know that you can remove that any more than you can take away any other part of my identity. I won't stop being a pastor.
But it's going to look differently than it does now. I won't be in an office serving as pastor for a particular group of people. I don't know whose pastor I'll be... and it's hard to be a pastor without people to pastor, just like it's hard to be a shepherd without any sheep. (Fortunately, my sheep didn't all flee from my presence! It was my decision to move forward into a new stage, and it was not an easy one, but I believe that ultimately it will prove to be the right now. Again, as a disclaimer, I also believe that navy blue and black are the same color. I'm not always right.)
Ministry is evolving in this country, and I think more churches are going to be forced to look at part time ministry and bi-vocational ministry as necessary options. Church attendance and church budgets are shrinking, and the churches that were built upon and sustained by an older generation will have to evolve as we face challenges with new generations. I do not for a moment believe the church is in trouble--Christ assures us of that. I even am bold enough to believe that the church will thrive in this country, as it is already thriving in others. But there may be a challenging time of adaptation as mainline churches struggle to find their footing. I hope to be a figure able to help with the process of stabilization with a business degree and theological training. I believe God will use it all for his glory.
The kids, well, they're doing great. It's been wonderful to have so much time to play with them lately, although it can be exhausting and trying. More good than bad, though, as we've run through the aquarium and climbed through the children's museum and slid down the slip-n-slide. We've discovered that Caleb has seemingly endless energy reserves, except when he doesn't, and even then there is always an hour of energy he holds back for when it's time to nap or go to bed at night. On the days when he seems the most tired, those are the days when he's still singing 'Happy Birthday' to himself an hour after we've put him to bed.Kids... what an adventure.
We've talked to the kids about moving, and Caleb knows the big concept of it... but I think the actual change is going to be hard. New place to call home, new school, new church, new friends--it's a lot to take in. Rachel and I struggle with it, so I expect he will, too. But kids are also tougher than I tend to give them credit for, and so I have a hunch he'll fall right in line, moving ever forward, as Rachel and I watch in wonder as he and Danielle grow and change before our every eyes, and we drink in the gift that God has poured out upon us.
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