We are not designed for timidity, but for courage. Continue reading

In this morning's Advent readings, I saw people being challenged to change their thinking. Jesus asked questions that upset the mental lethargy of his detractors. John, in the Revelation has to adjust his eyes to a new way of seeing Jesus. Amos the prophet is called upon to step out of the comfort zone of his own self-concept and do something different. You and I are always being encouraged and required to reorder our old thinking as well. We must do so to meet new challenges and face new perplexities. Sometimes, we need a complete overhaul. You may not be... Continue reading

In a tiny bundle of newborn humanity is the sum total of all truth and meaning. In that crude cradle of creation lay the Creator of the universe. Continue reading

Photo by Aliyah Jamous on Unsplash Show me your pain and I will show you your passion. It is the same and it is transforming, first, by transforming itself ... into joy! Without the pain, there is no passion, Without the passion, there is no joy. Without the joy ... Without the JOY!?!? You must be kidding me! Without the joy, I'll go back to bed. But with joy, I'm going out there to passionately, make a difference today. And let me never forget, Oh One Who came to suffer and to serve, that it was through pain that You... Continue reading

And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire …. - Jude 1:23 When John Wesley was a very young child, the rectory at Epworth ... Continue reading

God give me hands and eyes for others. "For it is in giving that we receive ..." Yes, it is. Only with an open had can I do either ... And the same hand that gives, receives. Lord, guide my intentions to give today. At the moment, my hand is empty, But I hold it out so that You might place in it ... What my neighbor needs and that I May not grasp it as my own. Amen. Continue reading

Photo by Daria Nepriakhina on Unsplash I was honored to speak with yesterday at the Mentoring group of a local college seven years ago and I spoke from this outline: It was from my napkin ... some "P" words for starting a new business or non-profit venture (or any bold initiative): A Purposeful Product - What are you bringing to the table and is there a real and perceived need with the right timing? Let me say this as the veteran of many excellent presentations and promising ventures. If there is not a compelling, useful, reliable, and needed product, it... Continue reading

It is a party, a Kingdom Party! It is the greatest party ever, not to be treated with contempt or indifference. If we do that, we don't need to be thrown out, we've failed to really enter at all. We don't need to be judged; we have judged ourselves and excluded ourselves. Continue reading

"Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' "... Continue reading

Rahab (center) in James Tissot's The Harlot of Jericho and the Two Spies. What do Ruth, the Moabite, Rahab, the prostitute of Jericho, . Bathsheba, the adulteress, Tamar the accused, Mary, the young unmarried pregnant girl have in common? Disrepute and shame. Great faith and resilience. Listing in the genealogy of Jesus What they were was this: remarkable women who were used of God in a specific moment with timeless repercussions. They created ripples of influence that have impacted generations. They joined their sisters Sarah, Naomi, Esther, Mary Magdalene, and others in leading the way of commitment to God;s ways.... Continue reading

We need to be remembering that a thousand years is nothing to God and, someday, will seem as nothing to us. A blessed Advent to you and to yours. Continue reading

Temple worship had become a big business and collaboration with illegitimate powers such as Herod had overwhelmed the meaning of the worship that the people were coming to the temple to bring. In fact, sincere worshipers were being oppressed. Continue reading

Who is it interrupting the execution of the adulterous woman? Raising the dead? Giving sight to the blind? Touching lepers with a healing hand? Eating with sinners? Calling tax collectors? Who is it? Continue reading

"Where there is sadness, let me sow joy." I do not know every sadness of humanity, Lord. "Man of Sorrows, what a name for the Son of God, who came ..." I do not know. Thou knowest. Each heart knows its own sadness, you have told us ... And I believe for I have received the gits of sadness ... In the dark, In the night, In the bitter cold and chilly wind. And I have sat and stood and walked among to sad and lonely people ... As You have and do and will and so ... I know,... Continue reading

“Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.” - Psalm 7:9 The evil of the wicked will come to an end. It may seem out of control and all-pervasive, but it is really quite limited and terminal. God feels indignation every day and prepares for reckoning with the ready invitation and admonition to repentance. The psalmist says this with "matter-of-factness" and, a touch of glee. Why? Does he like the idea of judgment, justice, reckoning, and retribution? You bet he does. He is sick... Continue reading

Photo - On Amazon. Order the Tin Sign We are so sensitive, defensive, and aggressive about asserting that we are right and everyone else is wrong. Jesus never demonstrated any of that sort of insecurity. He just put it all out there and people could see the truth if they would. When challenged about his authority, he did not waste time arguing it. He knew where his authority came from. That was a fairly important issue for any rabbi. Rabbis were first, students of some master rabbi and derived authority from that person's credibility. Jesus knew that his credibility came... Continue reading

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Matthew 24:36 We knew she was coming sometime, just not when. We knew that every day brought the visit closer, but we were not certain exactly what day. We cleaned the house once, twice, and then again. Finally, we just got in the habit of keeping it clean. We’d stare out the window and watch, waiting for our great aunt to arrive with gifts and hugs. We were children. Our parents understood the calendar better than we could. We only knew... Continue reading

Hope, which lay at the bottom of the box, remained. Allegorical painting by George Frederic Watts, 1886 "Where there is despair, [let me sow] hope." - Prayer of St Francis Oh God, there is such despair in the world. Desp-AIR, taking the wind out of our sails, the bounce from our steps, The rhythm from our souls. Airless we gasp for something to breath ... Let us breath in hope, Oh God of hope. Let us, then, breathe it out into the world where we all ... Share the air >>>>> And out of despair, repair our own resolve to... Continue reading

Auschwitz, a rose expressing hope Hope. It comes from God and is well founded. However, scriptures remind us to be careful not to invest in false hopes. "Don't bank on the power brokers of this world" is what the compiler and editor of the psalms identifies as the core message of Psalm 146. They can neither make you nor break you. The powers of this world are temporal and finite. The best they can do is bestow upon you some fading glory or wealth. The worst they can do is kill you. They cannot destroy you. Nor can they preserve... Continue reading

Moses breaking the tablets with the Ten Commandments, from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle. I think this season is a time of exposure. It exposes a lot of good in the hearts of people. It exposes the evil around us, by contrast. In the marketplace and in our institutions, it exposes our idolatry. More important, it exposes an alternative to all of those which is a life lived by the example and command of Jesus to love our neighbors. I wanted a graphic for this blog about idolatry and, as I searched, I realized the word had been hijacked by popular... Continue reading

What is your "therefore" there for? Continue reading

Zephaniah describes a tale of two cities. One is oppressive and oppressing. Continue reading

Laugh at yourself. Do it with others. Grow a thick skin. Continue reading

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash "I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!" The psalmist is an idealist and a realist. He walks a middle road and is torn between extremes. Why would anyone hate peace? Do any actually hate peace? As we often say, we follow the benefit trail. If we perceive that we benefit more from animosity, violence, hatred, war, dissension, division, mistrust, and intimidation with oppression, we probably will be for war. The exploratory territory for me in this scripture today, is within my own soul. Am I for peace or am... Continue reading

All people and peoples matter in the scheme of things. All are part of the weaving God is weaving and has woven. All are part of the historic weave and the prophetic weave. Continue reading