Reveration Blog
8/7/2003 0 Comments ImitationMeditation
Ephesians 5:1,2--Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.
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7/31/2003 HonorHonor seems to be a lost concept in these decaying days. As she declines cynicism ascends to ravage our land. People watch their heroes fall to lust, haughtiness and hypocrisy to the point that scandal has become ho-hum. Of course, this makes sense for honor cannot be owned long by anything infected by sin. When people conclude it is hopeless to live a virtuous life they must find some means to justify their tainted tastes. Rather than fight an insatiable flesh some condone it as natural and reinvent virtue in defiled ways. "They devise crimes and say, “We have perfected a secret plan.” The inner man and the heart are mysterious" (Psalm 64:6). Whenever evil is called good understand that honor is despised as intolerant. Thus, the mother who decries the neighborhood pedophile is labeled by sexual deviants as hateful.
5/30/2003 0 Comments LeakageSometimes for relaxation, I will sit down and watch the fish in our aquarium. Their territorial battles, peculiar habits, and beautiful coloring make for interesting (albeit slow) entertainment. We purchased our 60-gallon tank in San Diego and had it for over 12 years. Then one morning I awoke to find the water level had dropped. Horror of horrors, the glass zoo had sprung a leak. Now it sits in our backyard and holds plants and the occasional frog we happen to catch.
2/5/2003 0 Comments Trust IIIIt started when my good friends Rob and Glenn realized they had to install a handicapped accessible restroom in their San Diego church. The molehill they faced turned into a mountain. At a cost of $50,000 a ramp had to be built, doors had to be widened, and handicap accessible doors with electronic openers installed. During the construction the carpet was ruined. Beneath the tiles underneath the carpet they found asbestos requiring them to call in a removal team. Finally, after much time and expense, the renovations were complete.
4/19/2002 0 Comments Self-ControlBefore I write about self-control I must share a disclaimer. I struggle with this area personally. I wrestle against impure thoughts. I don’t always use my time wisely. I say or do things I shouldn’t. In short, I have a long way to go to be like my hero—Jesus. It is recklessly foolish to think I can control myself by my own doing. My sin nature guarantees the impossibility of self-earned perfection. What is a fallible man to do?
11/16/2001 PastorsMeditation
Acts 20:28--Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock that the Holy Spirit has appointed you to as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. 9/15/2001 0 Comments WarSo this is war. All airline flights were cancelled—an unprecedented occurrence. For days I couldn’t leave Georgia. The worst terrorist strike America has ever experienced induces bewilderment, anger, sadness, vulnerability, fear and a host of other emotions.
September 11, 2001 is our new day of infamy. Across the continent my wife explained to our three children the significance of what they observed on television. This is not some historical aberration, some freakish blow in a new millennium. This is not the isolated work of a depraved band of people. This is the calculated fist of evil and freedom is just one of its targets. 3/22/2001 0 Comments FreedomJust because we live in a free country does not mean we have freedom. In fact there are many indicators that suggest that all kinds of cords entwine us. A graph of the stock market looks like some anchor tossed in water that only grows deeper. Wearing sweaters of worry, whose fortunes are tied to investments, face the chill of anxiety. Companies lay off employees to keep their profits. Lights go out from city to city across the state whose economy may be the sixth largest in the world, but who cannot create the energy to prevent brownouts. If our hopes are based on the strength of a nation our dreams will one day be nightmares. The prevalence of fear is a sure sign of the absence of freedom.
1/9/2001 0 Comments SimplicityLeaning against the gymnasium wall, Bob and I talked about our children and their involvement in sports. Between carting his kids to Cub Scouts, his work and everything else, his life sounded complex. Life in our land is like walking into Circuit City and seeing 15 different channels at the same time in the television section, while we talk on our cellular phones and wave at the sales clerk we know across the room. Isn’t it comforting that no matter how fast the globe spins, no matter what level of activity we engage in, Jesus remains the same!
12/18/2000 0 Comments RebelsI wonder if every church has them. Their profile is not hard to spot. They wear the cloth of disenchantment with authority. They chaff at rules or the appearance of any type of rigidity. They love to question the motives of those who make decisions. They take pride if the crowd goes left in going right. They wear their stubbornness as a badge of courage and refuse to bend. Don’t ever tell them they must do something for the word “must” is a dirty word.
11/15/2000 0 Comments EducationMoses was a highly educated man, taught by the finest scholars of Egypt. But with all his knowledge he tried to fix the injustices he observed through his own strength and God had to place him with shepherds, stripped of all that was familiar until a burning bush captured his eyes. Then he listened to God’s voice.
5/24/2000 0 Comments ChildrenIf love was a waterfall one would be thoroughly drenched by the Ferraros. In a small town in Illinois, this family radiates what happens when God permeates a household. What strikes me most about them is their commitment to live simply so as to give as generously as possible to support Christians on the frontlines for their faith-men and women who serve in organizations like Gospel For Asia and Voice of Martyrs.
9/23/1999 0 Comments HealthDelnora Erickson left earth on Monday morning. She was 91 years old when she completed her race to meet Jesus at the finish line. She was an inspiring example of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. This amazing woman never lost her thirst to grow closer to her Heavenly Father. Even as an octogenarian her creative mind would not find a hammock to gracefully swing on old lessons. She launched a fresh study of the Old Testament to identify every reference to Christ. Often she would gleefully share her findings oblivious to the fact she was repeating herself, and what did it matter she was excited! I recall many times talking with her and she would ask, “Do you think Jesus will return before we die?” Then with sparkling eyes she’d exclaim, “Oh, I think He’s coming soon!”
6/21/1999 0 Comments ReverenceReveration means reverent-adoration. It is a word I created after studying one of the most overlooked major themes of Scripture—the fear of God. If love for God is food than reverence for Him is water. We need both to nourish our relationship. Love devoid of respect is emotionally unstable causing people to perceive God as some sort of cosmic Genie. Respect without love is mechanically rigid such that people approach God from a sense of duty, concerned with failing, convinced that He is a harsh Judge.
11/25/1998 0 Comments MethodsMeditation
Judges 7:4--Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many people. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I say to you, ‘This one can go with you,’ he can go. But if I say about anyone, ‘This one cannot go with you,’ he cannot go. 8/14/1998 0 Comments PhilosophyPhilosophy, a word that comes from the Greek (philein, sophia), literally means “the love of wisdom”. Philosophy is cultivated by various means.
5/28/1998 0 Comments ComplexitiesHe was a stud. At least that’s what People magazine would probably write about him. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines. Even if they weren’t garrulous his life was out of control. It’s no wonder his harem led him wacky. That’s not hard to imagine! I totally miss what my wife is saying if the television is on, consider what it would be like with a 1000 women vying for attention. And we haven’t even discussed all the children yet!
3/23/1998 0 Comments PurityThere is a spur on the 11,239 ft. Mount Hood where a small rock shelter stands firm against the winds of time. Atop this small ridge is a spectacular view of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, hundreds of square miles of valleys, streams, lakes, and hills carpeted with green forests. I love the high ground. There are few things in life more beautiful than standing in thin air to watch the sun rise in silent majesty over a glacier-covered volcano and all that surrounds it. It is not hard to understand why Oregon and Washington are called “God’s country.”
2/23/1998 0 Comments CoursesMeditation
Joshua 24:14,15--Therefore, fear the Lord and worship Him in sincerity and truth. Get rid of the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and worship Yahweh. But if it doesn’t please you to worship Yahweh, choose for yourselves today the one you will worship: the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my family, we will worship Yahweh. 11/15/1997 0 Comments ComradeshipMeditation
Ecclesiastes 4:9,10--Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. |
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Photo from Rachel Maxey Miles