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3/21/2012 0 Comments DunamisWhen we arrive in heaven will there be a Hall of Fame? Will we find an interactive display manned by select angels who share the stories of those living legends who served God exceedingly well? Conversely, will there be a Hall of Shame in hell for those who acted in the power of Satan? If Hitler was one of the worst men to walk the planet we might also find that his countryman Dietrich Bonhoefferwas an exceptional saint. This German Lutheran pastor and theologian could have successfully pastored in the United States or in Great Britain. Instead, he chose to go back to his country and preach and teach knowing that his life was in jeopardy.
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2/11/2012 0 Comments Undercover BossThere is an insightful television program called Undercover Boss. Each episode, the owner or CEO of a company is disguised and then works for several days with different employees with differing responsibilities. Often the boss is inept at the tasks the employee is to teach him which puts pressure on him to do better. As he works with each selected person he also finds out what life is like in their shoes. Some are struggling financially or dealing with challenges that make life difficult.
8/14/2009 0 Comments SavonarolaRoman Catholic monk Girolamo Savonarola, (September 21, 1452 – May 23, 1498), was shocked by the immorality in Italy and by the corruption he observed within the church. As a teenager, he walked beside the River Po where he sang to God and wept over the condition of the people. At the age of 22, he wrote “Contempt of the World,” comparing the sins of his time to Sodom and Gomorrah. Years later, while praying, the Holy Spirit gave him a vision in which he was told to announce to the people that hard times were coming to the church.
8/25/2008 0 Comments EthicsA home improvement con artist swindled a 100 year-old blind woman. He rang the woman's bell, unsolicited, to offer to do any repair work needed. The woman told him that for years she had struggled with a door that was difficult to open because it rubbed against the rug. To fix the problem, she agreed to pay the man $8,000, to jack up her house.[1]
4/8/2008 0 Comments Truth IIMeditation
2 John 1-4--The Elder: To the elect lady and her children: I love all of you in the truth—and not only I, but also all who have come to know the truth—because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us forever. Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I was very glad to find some of your children walking in the truth, in keeping with a command we have received from the Father. 10/12/2007 GroundThere are two kinds of ground in this world, holy and unholy ground. The former is found wherever God’s presence abides. We see this most clearly when Moses, seeing the burning bush approached to determine why it was not consumed only to be met by the voice of the Lord.
12/7/2006 0 Comments FilledImagine you were stranded in a desert for a week eventually exhausting all supplies. Around the wadi comes a camel-striding stranger who sees your plight and says, “Here, let me help you.” He then pulls out a canteen and hands it to you. Grateful, you place the container on your lips and wait for life-renewing water. But the canteen is empty. “What kind of cruel joke is this!” you ask. The stranger smiles and says, “Ah, it is not the liquid but the thought of liquid that is sufficient.”
3/17/2006 0 Comments DuplicityRecently I needed to set up DSL over a phone line for a ministry I serve. When I called the phone company, (which will go unnamed), to set up the service, the line was answered by a voice-automated machine. The options I was presented did not help me so I repeatedly stated that I wanted to speak with an operator. Finally, the emotionless computer relented and patched me to a real voice. I set up the service thinking I would receive the special discount the company offered. But the price quoted to me was different and much higher. The salesperson explained that we would receive a substantial rebate, but in fact, we would over time lose much money because the contractual cost was too high.
1/14/2006 ImageI’m working on a CD cover for my latest music project titled “Evidence.” The image that Misha, the graphics designer, is working with is a lightning bolt across a dark sky which reflects vividly off a placid water surface. We labored for a long time in looking for the right picture. Without an amazing cover many people won’t pick up a CD. With respect to marketing, the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” doesn’t apply.
7/29/2004 EssentialsWhat in life truly matters? Imagine if God placed you in a huge glass pot in the middle of a giant plaza where hundreds of thousands of people walk by you. He turns a dial that sets in motion transforming heat from coils underneath the container on which you stand. All that you have and represent on earth, as a Christian, is about to be melted down into the pure essentials which define and determine your worth. What crystalline object will the world see? All you have lived for and what characterizes you is about to emerge in some distinctive shape.
3/5/2004 RighteousnessDan kicked the ball away from the goalie and was trying to break free when the enraged keeper threw him to the ground injuring his shoulder and neck. Dan said it was all he could do to keep from jumping to his feet and punching the guy. Sports have a way of revealing a nature inside of us we don’t like to admit exists. Jesus wrestled against sin and pinned it to the mat in triumph. How? He completely trusted and obeyed His Father. He did not succumb to the world (a place and system associated with sin and ruled by Satan). John wrote, “You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him. Everyone who remains in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him” (1 John 3:5,6). If we want to be righteous we have to be like Jesus.
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. 7/11/2003 FundamentalsMajor General T.K. Moffett walked back and forth in front of the assembled soldiers. The new boss from Mississippi had just finished his first day commanding the 104th Division and he elected to share with his soldiers his leadership philosophy:
#1. Do the right thing #2. Treat others the way you would like to be treated #3. Do your best. 5/8/2003 ReligionWhen I typed in the word religion on Google's search engine, it gave 1,570,000,000listings. Assuming that 15% of those were repeat entries, if I were to spend just five seconds visiting each site with no break, it would take 13,083,000 days (over 35,000 years) just to visit them all! Sometimes I wonder if people have the same sense when they approach this subject. Everyone has an opinion about religion—but who is right?
2/27/2003 0 Comments JustificationI want to be good and I suspect the same is true for you. Yet, despite my best intentions, I cannot live a perfect life. The deeper I get to know my Lord the more aware I am of my shortcomings. For this reason I find the concept of justification to be somewhat overwhelming. God in His profound holiness did not have to go to any length to rescue me from sin. He does not need me and most certainly I have offended Him time and again. Yet, inexplicably through His vast love, He chose a horrific path to blaze a terrific salvation.
1/3/2003 0 Comments DisfavorHow it started I don’t know. Perhaps in the course of conversation God gave the idea to Adam’s family. Nothing is stated in Genesis 1-3 about God asking anyone to bring Him offerings. Yet, for some reason, Cain brought to the Lord some of the fruits of his land. His brother Able presented fat portions from the firstborn of his flock. “And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent” (Gen. 4:4,5).
10/10/2002 DefensiveMorning comes and Chris is tired. He spent a restless night battling the accusations of people who disagree with him. His character has been questioned. His actions are constantly scrutinized. His leadership is eroding and he feels angry. So, he contemplates how he should defend himself. Rather than talk to God about His pain, Chris reviews the weaknesses of his detractors and how he can prove them wrong. No longer can he minister effectively for his motives are based on a personal agenda.
10/3/2002 Knowing God II--Kaka and ApotheoOnce upon a time two young boys Apotheo and Popinjay lived in a small village near the foot of giant mountain. One day while the ten-year olds fished by a blue stream, a large carriage came down the road and stopped near them. A man climbed out and walked down to them.
“Have you any caught anything,” he asked. “No,” Popinjay answered. “Would you like to fish?” Apotheo asked him. “Why certainly!” So the small boy offered him his pole. 9/4/2000 0 Comments SowingHave you ever considered the notion that what you and I say is a form of planting? For example, if I whine constantly I create an environment of dissatisfaction and I reveal an inner discontent with life. If I have a critical spirit and am harsh in the way I feel towards others I create an atmosphere of distrust and rob my surroundings of joy. If I talk only of myself I establish a place of pride and self-centeredness that leaves others with no desire to linger. If I speak of others with unflattering terms or negatively I produce gossip or slander and cause the reputations of those of whom I’ve spoken to wilt. At the same time I’ve created the perception in the listener “I wonder if he talks about me like this when I’m not around.”
5/5/2000 0 Comments JustI’m making a wall. It is astounding how much work is involved in putting a wall together correctly. Home Depot sells a very nice antique-red cottage stone. I figured it would be a simple matter of piling stones across the front of my lawn for aesthetic and practical value. Ah yes, the engineers are laughing again!
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