When I was a teenager, I had a paper route. I remember one occasion when there was a vicious looking dog – a doberman pinser, normally in the back yard behind a gate – sitting on the front step, watching me approach with teeth bared, a barely audible growl coming to my ear. I had…
seeking God, not just the gifts
A.B.Simpson wrote this hymn entitled “Himself”, which reveals the shift from seeking spiritual blessings to seeking the Blesser Himself, and the resulting blessing that comes from knowing and seeking Him. Sometimes I can get so busy, so focused on “spiritual things and activities”, that I lose sight of what they are all about, or where…
God is bigger, better than we think
January 4-5, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Exodus 32-40 OBSERVATIONS What is God like? How do you experience God? Can each person decide what God is like for themselves… “God as we understood Him.” (from AA Twelve Steps, Step 3). For centuries in Egypt, the Israelites were exposed to the worship of gods in the form of statues, including Apis…
what is the kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God is this world as God created it to be, with all it’s beauty and order and purpose. In the beginning, God entrusted this world to humans, His appointed rulers (kings and queens, princes and princesses). The bible begins with this picture of the kingdom of God, of humans male and female…
what really matters to God
January 3, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 12:1-8 OBSERVATIONS The Jewish Bible (what Christians call the Old Testament) is filled with religious symbols and rituals, and several of them are mentioned here: the Sabbath Day, the Law of Moses, the house of God/temple, the consecrated bread, and the priests. In addition David, the prototype of the coming Messiah…
what is ordinary spirituality?
Some people think that spirituality is a dimension of life outside of ordinary reality. We interrupt our normal activities to do something spiritual: pray, reads the bible, go to church, be still. But this is not true, not real; every part of life has a spiritual dimension. Walking, breathing, creating, imagining, copulating, parenting, conversing, eating,…
“this year with Jesus!”
January 2, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 11:25-30 OBSERVATIONS God seems to prefer the weak over the strong. He chooses to reveal Himself to little children (not the wise). He chooses to reveal Himself through a nobody from Nazareth, a weak leader that is eventually crucified. He chooses to help people who admit that they are weary and…
how will this year be different?
Do you make new year’s resolutions? If not, why not? Is it because you are honest enough to admit that you will not see it through? Or is it because you are content with how you are, you don’t need to make any changes? Is it because you are already working hard at self-improvement, and…
judgment year
January 1, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 11:20-24 OBSERVATIONS I’m not sure about you, but I was not hoping to spend the first day of 2013 thinking about Judgment Day. Jesus seems to be working with the idea that the kinds of miracles that He is performing ought to result in deep, life-altering repentance, and He is surprised…
heeding, not hiding from the truth
December 31, 2012 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 11:7-19 OBSERVATIONS Has anyone ever tried to challenge you on something? How did you react? I know for me, my gut level reaction is, who do you think you are, how dare you accuse me. We find reasons to dismiss, deny our ignore what they say. This is what people did…