Being Christian Without Losing Your Mind
Part company with every brother who bucks out of the harness. – 2 Thessalonians 3:6a (Cotton Patch Version of the New Testament) Way before tractors/trucks were horses/mules/oxen and plows/wagons. It was a popular image in Jesus’ day (Matthew 11:28-30; Luke 9:62). The sense is that if you follow Jesus, you have to be directed by …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: Bucking the Harness (November 30)
While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, Jesus said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” – Luke 24:41 (NRSV) One thing you can say about Jesus with pinpoint precision: He liked to eat. He’s eating with sinners at their parties. He’s eating with Pharisees in their homes. He’s hosting fish …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: “Have Anything to Eat?” (November 23)
God understands [wisdom]; he knows her place; for he looks to the ends of the earth and surveys everything beneath the heavens. – Job 28:23-24 The online encyclopedia, where people contribute articles, is amazing. There are over 3.5 million contributions, with about 7,000 new ones appearing each day. If you want to know about anything, …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: The Problem with Wikipedia (November 16)
“Whoever does God’s will is my brother, sister, and mother.” – Mark 3:35 We sometimes forget how inclusive Jesus was as he walked the earth. When told that his family had come to see him, he expanded the definition of family. “Whoever does God’s will.” I grew up in a culture that restricted who was …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: Celebrating the “Whoevers” (November 9)
Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us…Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church. – 3 John 9, 10b (NLT) This intimate scene from the …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: A Thought About Leadership (November 2)
Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. – Acts 4:46-47a (NRSV) I had the privilege of working for the U. S. Census Bureau in 2020. I …
“At that time, the Lord commanded me to teach you all the regulations and the case laws that you must keep in the land that you are entering to possess.” – Deuteronomy 4:14 It’s been well over a year since I retired. Occasionally I ask myself, “Isn’t there something important I should be doing? Teaching? Writing? Pastoring …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: Singles or Homeruns? (October 19)
Don’t do anything for selfish purposes, but with humility think of others as better than yourselves. – Philippians 2:3 Humiliation is an important precursor to humility. I once hit a ball over the fence for a homerun in a softball game. It was my first and last time ever to do that. I made a …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: Homeruns, Humiliation, and Humility (October 12)
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here is a genuine Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” – John 1:47 The comedian Jeff Foxworthy has made a career out of that redneck line. Being from the redneck genetic lineage, I can appreciate his humor. One of my favorites of his is, “If …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: “You Might Be a Redneck If…” (October 5)
[Love] isn’t rude, it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints. – 1 Corinthians 3:5 Paradoxically, while we’ve practiced social distancing during the Covid pandemic, we’ve also practiced lessening the distance between us and the ones we love. Children come home and stay home from school. Spouses …