'Blog' Tagged Posts (Page 3)

There are two chores I’d like to give up in middle age – yard work and climbing on the roof to clear off debris. The latter because I’ve heard orthopedists say men my age experience falls with attending curses in large numbers. Yard work – well, with this week’s heat, isn’t that self-explanatory? I can’t seem to shake either chore, so I have a set of noise-cancelling earphones I wear out in the yard. Bluetooth technology and a stream of…

Imagine a man struggling. He knows the terror of God – His wrath, curses, justice, condemnation, holiness and his punishment of sinners. And these things torture him! He knows that sin overcomes his life each day, many times over. Little lies, self-worship, no prayer life, cursing others, rejection of his family, lustful thoughts, and the general sins of heart, speech and behavior. Each sin makes his pack heavier. Is there any rest? The hill gets steeper, the road seems longer,…

I participate in a monthly lunch discussion we call “hot topic”. Last week we tossed out Elon Musk’s desire to see human beings become multi-planetary species. A similar discussion took place a few weeks earlier with a group of high schoolers in a logic class I teach at a local Christian school. It’s a an interesting idea to run through the Christian world and life view. In Musk’s view, life on earth will become impossible due to the heat of…

Our Sanctuary Renovations have been underway since August 2024. TIMELINE AUGUST 2024 – REMOVAL OF FURNITURE, PEWS, CARPET, & ITEMS NOT PART OF FINISHED SANCTUARY. SEPTEMBER 2024 – REMOVAL OF 8,000 SQUARE FEET OF CEILING – 1/4 PLASTER & 3/4 ACOUSTICAL TILES. OLD INSULATION WAS REMOVED FROM ENTIRE ROOM. OCTOBER 2024 – ELECTRICAL WIRING INSTALLED & INSPECTED. NOVEMBER 2024 – SPRAY FOAM INSTALLED IN ENTIRE ROOF STRUCTURE CAVITY TO PREVENT INTRUSION OF HEAT & MOISTURE, AS WELL AS TO MAINTAIN…

I cruise through a couple of news and information websites weekly. Good articles help continue my education and a variety of commentary allows me to keep up with current issues. A few sites I read point out quirky things in the church world. One particular headline caught my attention a few months back. It was nothing new, however, a video of the whole thing iced the cake. A church somewhere had decided that saying “amen” was leaving out the fairer…

God is very clear at the end of the Bible (Revelation 22) that we should not add to or take away from the written word of God. Plagues are for those who add to the Bible, while the ones who take away from the sacred word lose their heavenly reward. What do we do with the Lord’s Prayer ending, “for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever”? Look it up! You won’t find it in Matthew…

I caught my first fish on a bamboo pole cut from the back of our neighbor’s privacy screening. As fish stories go, it was a whopper. Evidence from Dad’s Kodak Instamatic (the one with a flash cube on top) proved the giant to be about the size of Mom’s cast iron frying pan. I caught him on a rusty hook baited with leftover liver from the fridge at the family lake cabin. The great-grandparents stayed over the days before our…

A king wished to settle his accounts (Matthew 18). One of his subjects came before him owing $12,000,000. A zero percent interest thirty year mortgage would cost over $33,000 monthly. If he did not pay this impossible debt, his property and family would belong to the king. The National Debt Clock in New York City ticks rapidly upwards, calculating the current debt of our spendthrift government. Last I looked, the share of debt per taxpayer was more than most modest…

Twice I’ve travelled to Jordan, Israel, and Egypt to visit those places where biblical history unfolded. I was young, barely a teenager, when I tagged along on a couple of church trips to the Holy Land. Those journeys were action packed and I’d love to take them again with several more decades of appreciation and knowledge. For now, memories and Rick Steves will have to suffice! I recall the fun of visiting the Dead Sea and floating on the thick…

To obey or disobey, that is the question. King David says, “I will keep your law continually, forever and ever, and shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts. I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame, for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.” The…

Our prayer lists can be lengthy. Many names, several ailments, multiple causes, and endless spiritual desires may fill a paper with requests to make known to God. Our prayer lists include small and great items. Salvation to the ends of the earth to errant microscopic cells being eradicated from our body may bookend our lists. Our prayer list from Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11), contains a request with very few words but many concepts. “Thy kingdom come” is…

When your eyelids pop open each morning and you are conscious of the new day, what is your first priority? I have a few and coffee is among them! After you really wake and gain full consciousness, you should begin to think, “How can I glorify God?” Your consuming desire as a Christian should be to make God’s name glorious (Psalm 96). Every act of your being and life is to glorify God (John 12, 1 Corinthians 10, Colossians 3).…