Posts

Tuesday; October 15

When most of us read the conversion story involving Cornielius we think about one of the early Gentile believers.  Up to this point in the history of the Christian church, most of the disciples came from a Jewish background, Cornielius blew open the gates to all types of believers.  While this is a cool story, I think there is another “conversion story” in this account.  The Apostle Peter had grown up with a Jewish mindset that probably extended beyond his dietary restrictions, but as God was preparing Cornielus to accept Jesus, He was also preparing Peter to accept Cornielus by giving him a vision.  We learn of Peter’s change when Luke reports Peter’s interaction with the Romans, “ And he said to them, ‘You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.’” (Acts 10:28).  Not only was Peter changed, so were many of the attitude of the early Christian leade
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Monday; October 14

What used to be known as Columbus Day has gotten very confusing.   While some states still recognize the day, others have shifted the emphasis to something else.   Some states call it “Native American Day” and others refer to it as “Indigenous People’s Day”.   Quite frankly, I don’t get as wound up about what we call it as long as we are willing to see the potential in the day.   I know there are some who take the name very seriously; but I believe that even in this confusion we can find some common ground.   Rather than condemning someone else’s perspective why not use it as a time to honor diversity?   Maybe you are inspired by the Native American people who lived here before the European influence – cool.   Maybe the courage it took for explorers from across the ocean challenges you to reach beyond what you can see – excellent!   Folks, we don’t have to all agree to see things the same way as long as we agree to work with each other to respect one another.   There are a lot of neat
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Friday; October 11

What do you have planned for this weekend?   Are you pretty booked?   What about next week … or next month … or next year?   Do you already feel overwhelmed about 2025 and we haven’t even made it through October?   Someone, somewhere convinced us that to be successful, we have to make plans.   While there is some value to this observation, I am not sure that being overly concerned about the future is actually a blessing – sometimes it could turn out to be a curse.   We are so focused on what’s out there that we fail to appreciate what’s here.   I recently came across a quote by Bill Watterson (of Calvin And Hobbes fame) who said, “We’re so busy watching out for what is just ahead of us that we don’t take time enjoy where we are.”.   As I consider the value of making plans, I have to remember to balance that with making the most of the present.   We can benefit from looking into the future, but we shortchange ourselves when we try to live there.     I am not saying we need to get rid
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Thursday; October 10

What do we do when we feel like people are giving us a hard time because of our religion?  Do we give up and complain that those who are anti-religious get all the breaks?  Do we retaliate against them and call them names (after all, we have to defend ourselves, don’t we)?  Interestingly, this question is not something new in the 21st century.  Since its inception, there have been people opposed to Christianity so there should be some good training about how we should react to persecution and opposition.  Interestingly, the people in the 1 st Century may provide the most effective ways to deal with it.  First of all, they kept teaching.  Even if it meant that their detractors kept running them out of town.  An early Christian historian describes the persecution of the original believers then remarks, “Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.” (Acts 8:4).  Yet, there is another bit of advice given to the early Christians is, “… but sanctify Christ as Lord
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Wednesday; October 9

Living as close as I do to our nation’s capital, I have a love/hate with Washington D. C.  On one hand, I really enjoy the architecture and buildings found in the city – on the other hand driving in D. C. is crazy! Whenever I go into the city one of the first things I try to locate is the Washington Monument.  To me, this edifice to our Founding Father, symbolizes the city.  I recently learned that it took 50 years to complete the project that opened on October 9, 1885.  Interestingly, the obelisk has had it up-and-downs throughout the years (including some damage that needed to be repaired and maintenance that needed to be done); but it still stands as a beacon of the city.   As I think about the monument, I am reminded of what Jesus told His disciples, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in su
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Tuesday; October 8

I have always had a fascination with weather.  I not only enjoy the changes of season, I also enjoy playing along with those who forecast it.  I don’t have near the education of a beginning meteorologist, but I do know a little bit about climate, so I tend to analyze their forecasts.  Years ago, predicting the weather seemed to be more art than science and it was kind of fun to make sport of the forecasters when they missed on their prediction.  Now that we have so many tools at our disposal, forecasting has gotten more precise.  Using the tools available to those in the profession, the future is less uncertain.  Oh, they still miss sometimes, but their predictions are usually spot on.  We can have a good idea of how to prepare for the elements.   As I thought about the human prognosticators, I got to thinking about spiritual prophets.  You see, the difference between them and modern weather people is that those who were led by the Spirit of God aren’t going to miss.  They are speaking
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Monday; October 7

I got to experience my first in-person NHL game over the weekend.   Thanks to my daughter and son-in-law, I got to watch the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins.   Even though it was a preseason game, it was pretty cool – literally!     As I sat and watched these professional athletes it was easy to spot the mistakes they made.   I saw missed shots, people go sprawling along the ice and even a few rules violations.   Even as a neophyte, I could see the mistakes they were making; then it dawned on me that they were doing this at full speed on skates on ice.   Honestly, I couldn’t do what they were doing in tennis shoes on dry ground, so I quickly gained an even greater respect for these guys.   Have you noticed how easy it is to criticize people when they make mistakes?   Whether it is a misstep, using the wrong word or just making a bad decision, it is pretty easy to spot another person’s errors.   Yet, when we do that do we reflect on ourselves and think about how many times we
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