Following The Son

My dear friend Autumn has returned. She brought her cooler temps with her, along with her wonderful fragrances and flavors. I've heard it said that Fall is a second Spring where every leaf is a flower. Perhaps your Summer was hard. Work was difficult, decisions taxing, and relationships strained. There's a promise found in Psalm 125 that I hope will encourage you. " Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them." Psalm 125:5-6. I grew up in "the sticks." Most folks where I live don't know what the sticks are like. We weren't farmers, but there were farms all around us. My brothers, friends, and I would pick up work in the Fall loading bales of hay and picking vegetables. Harvest time is joyous for the Farmer. The sweat and backbreaking work of Summer is over, and now he gets to reap what he has sown. The Scriptural promise ...

Leave it to a preacher to say they have one more thing to say, and then say two things. We learned it from Paul. In his epistles to the church he would work words like "finally" when he wasn't really finished. Then there's my favorite where he says he does one thing, but lists more than one. It's found here, " Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14. I love it! Some of Paul's writings seem almost unattainable. Oh, I know that's not the case. We keep growing throughout our lives and become more and more of who God created us to be. Still there are times when Paul almost seems like Super Christian. I think that's why I like this confession so much. It's like Paul slips in, "Oh, and by the ...

Ever seen something amazing that you couldn't wait to tell someone about?  Or maybe you tried a new restaurant and loved it so you couldn't wait to tell your friends. My nephew recently purchased a 1983 red Chevrolet Camaro. It's a head turner. The day he brought it home he passed by my house to show it off. He couldn't wait to show it off, and I couldn't wait to see it (and drive it). It's something we do. We tell everyone when our favorite team plays well, post pictures of things that catch our eye, and spread the word about things we love. Some of us can't keep secrets at Christmas. We just get to excited. The disciples were that way with the things they had seen Jesus do. They couldn't wait to tell everyone. Not everyone thought that was a good idea, and it got them into trouble.  That happened to me and some of my friends in high school. We were so excited about our new faith in Jesus we couldn't wait to tell someone. The school ad...

Disclaimer: I was out this morning at 4:00 am and didn't write a new blog. Sorry! But this was one of my early ones when no one was reading it yet, so hopefully you'll enjoy it now. 😁 "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life," II Peter 1:3 "Someone's here!?" A knock came at our door unexpectedly. I went down to be handed a note that read, "cup of sugar." My neighbor was deaf and her writing skills were limited which always made communication a bit challenging. Adding to the difficulty was the fact that English wasn't even her first language. I went to the kitchen to fetch a cup of sugar. I wondered what she was making, but didn't ask. Ever started to prepare a meal only to realize you're missing a necessary ingredient? It can be pretty frustrating. It's true in every area of life. To be expected to complete a goal without being given what is necessary to accomplish the task is demoralizing. ...

"Siri, what's my name?"  "Your name is James, but you asked me to call you, Mighty Warrior." If you have an iPhone then you probably speak to Siri from time to time. You may not have known that you can tell her what to call you. Yes, I went with, "Mighty Warrior." It's the same name I give when I order my coffee at Starbucks. I love hearing the barista shout out, "Mighty Warrior," and then I step forward for my Venti Triple Skinny Pumpkin Latte. (It's what we mighty warriors drink in the Fall). I didn't come up with the name on my own. An angel gave it to Gideon, and I laid claim to it for myself. Gideon was hiding from the Midianites at the time. Doesn't really sound too mighty.  Check it out: "When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." Judges 6:12. I think the angel learned this from God. He saw the good in Gideon, and saw what he could b...

" If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them." Luke 6:32. These are tough days in our nation. Battle lines are being drawn and many are taking sides. One of the great things about being an American is that you're given the right to have an opinion, and to express how you feel. Our founders wrote it into the constitution, and although our history is tainted the truths of liberty remain. Just like the rest of America, believers disagree with one another over whether it's appropriate to sit, kneel, or stand during the anthem. Apparently those who support standing are boycotting the NFL, but those who support kneeling were already boycotting the NFL so I'm guessing that only those who hop on one foot or spin in circles during the anthem were watching yesterday. My personal belief is that men and women fought to give you the right to express yourself. Whether I agree with your expression or not isn't ...

I like coffee.  Here's a few coffee quotes for you to get us started. "A day without coffee is like...just kidding, I have no idea." "Ways to win my heart: Buy me coffee. Make me coffee. Be coffee." "Behind every successful person is a substantial amount of coffee." "First I drink the coffee. Then I do the things." "Did you ever stop to think that maybe coffee is addicted to me?" Those are fun, but back to our title question. Is coffee in the Bible?  Well, if you know the story of Job you know he experienced incredible loss. Family, business, his health, and more. In the end the tables were turned, the devil saw both God's and Job's faithfulness, and Job experienced incredible restoration. During his time of loss though, he expresses some long poetic laments. In one of them we find this verse. "They don't return to visit their families; never again will friends drop in for coffee." ...

It was the Fall of 1989. I was driving to the Bronx each weekend from Pennsylvania to visit Sarai. We were already planning to get married the following Summer, but then something happened. Sarai was staying with her brother, and he decided to move back to Puerto Rico. In response, we moved our wedding date up to December 24th and the wedding planning went into overdrive.  The Bible says that, " He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord," Proverbs 18:22. When I found my wife, I found a good thing. Marriage can be a lot of work. Especially if you marry someone like me. Oh I try, but when it comes to being romantic I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. But I sure do love and appreciate my wife, and I love knowing that she loves and appreciates me. Turns out my brother in law didn't move back to Puerto Rico, and we got married early anyway. That's ok though, because it gave me an extra 6 months with a woman I'd marry a...

"A Pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself." A.W. Tozer I won't write as much on my own this morning. Rather I want to share Jesus' parable of two men who went to the temple to pray.  I've heard it said that we judge others in life by their actions, but we judge ourselves by our intentions. Since we know we meant well even if we don't come through in a situation we easily justify ourselves. Yet, one day we will all give an account for life on earth. On that day we won't be evaluating others. It will simply be a one on one with our Father. Thank God for grace or none of us would stand a chance on that day. Still, let's keep growing between now and then. " Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood ...

Ever whisper so someone doesn't hear what you're saying? Perhaps you've spelled something to your spouse so your children wouldn't understand? Sometimes we don't want others around to hear what we're saying. We can do this with people, but God always hears what we say. If you're saying good things that's really good news. Check out what the prophet Malachi said happens when God listens in on us. " Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name." Malachi 3:16-17. Did you catch that?  *Those who fear God are talking to each other. *God is listening in on the conversation. *A scroll of remembrance is then written. You get to make contributions to this book. You get to have conversations with others while God eavesdrops on your conversation and records the things you say in a b...

"Can I ask you a question?" Sure. "How many Advil do you take a day?" That's the start of a conversation I had this week with a neighbor. I've been helping my brother in law replace a concrete retaining wall and install a fence. It hasn't been easy work, and for 2 days my primary task was to swing a sledge hammer breaking rocks and cinderblocks to backfill the hole. My everything hurts.  Sometimes life really hurts. Not stub your toe, burn your finger, sore muscle type of hurt. You get over those things quickly. I'm talking about broken relationship, lost your job, loss of a loved one hurt. Sometimes life really hurts. And then we get this verse. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28. In some ways that verse is so encouraging, but in other ways it's confusing. Life isn't always good. There are times when life...

" In the days when the judges ruled." Ruth 1:1. Have you ever read Judges? How about a quick refresher? In the days when the Judges ruled , ...unlikely heroes were raised up to conquer the enemy. People like Ehud, the lefty. Being left handed was thought of as a defect in his day. People like Deborah. No one would have thought a woman could lead an army into battle in this day. People like Gideon, who described himself as the least of his tribe. In the days when the Judges ruled , ...miracles and miraculous powers were given to people. Samson would know supernatural strength, and lift a city's gates. He would defeat an army with a donkey's jawbone as a weapon. An entire army would be thrown into disarray and defeat itself when some lamps broke and horns blew in Gideon's day. His tiny army of 300 would defeat thousands through the supernatural power of God. In the days when the Judges ruled , ...signs and wonders occurred. A sheep's fleece wa...

You've been in a tight spot before. You may be in one right now. That's where Hezekiah was when he received an unwelcome letter. His city was under siege and he was trusting for God to deliver his people. Things looked bad though, and then the mail came. In it was a message from his enemy declaring that he shouldn't trust in God to deliver him. No other nation had been delivered by their gods. It was time to surrender.  The letter comes in different forms today. It's from a bill collector stating you're out of time. It's a medical report noting things don't look good. It's from your employer saying your services won't be needed anymore, and the list goes on. Oh, it may not be a written letter, but the message gets through. It's an email, a text, a voicemail, or a face to face conversation that brings anxiety to your heart. What do you do? Look at what Hezekiah did. " Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Th...

I had the great privilege of spending a couple of weeks in India a few years back. We flew into Kolkata and then traveled north. The tea fields were beautiful. If you order a tea in Kolkata it is served to you in a small clay cup that is disposable. There were areas where I would see piles of broken cups that had been tossed after use. The practice reminded me of an Old Testament practice regarding the sin offering. Not all meat was burned in a sin offering, some was cooked. There were specific instructions then given for what was to be done with the pot the meat was cooked in. " The clay pot the meat is cooked in must be broken; but if it is cooked in a bronze pot, the pot is to be scoured and rinsed with water." Leviticus 6:28. Because the pots contained sin they had to be cleansed, but you can't really cleanse a clay pot. It absorbs what is put into it so once used the pot had to be tossed out. Since a bronze pot could be cleansed you could clean it and us...

One of the more powerful promises concerning prayer in the Bible is found in the letter James penned to the church. In it we find the words, " The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." James 5:16 . What an incredible declaration! Yet, how do we reconcile this truth with a passage like, " There is no one righteous, not even one," Romans 3:10? If no one is righteous then what good is the declaration that a righteous person's prayer is powerful and effective? It's a fair question. When I was a young believer people would try to encourage me with the truth from James, but in the end I simply found it discouraging. I sure didn't view myself as righteous. This led me to the wonder if my prayers were weak and ineffective. I was misunderstanding the truth that the righteous person in the passage was in fact me. No, not on my own. As we've seen, none of us are righteous on our own.  That's why Father sent Jesus. " God mad...

The Glory of God isn't all that easy to define. When Moses prays, "show me your glory," what was he really asking for? God's response helps us when He tells Moses that He will cause his goodness to pass before him. The glory of God isn't a bright shining light, or sparkly glitter. (Man I hate glitter. I can assure you there will be no glitter in the New Jerusalem. Glitter is of the devil.) Anyway, back on topic. To see God's glory is to see the manifestation of his goodness. It's to see His hand at work in a situation. We, like Moses, long to see this in our lives. What's difficult is that God operates in a realm where our eyes can't see. We live in the natural, God in the supernatural. Oh, it's just as real, and it's all around us. Once when Elisha was in trouble his servant was pretty stressed out over the situation. Elisha asked God to open his servant's eyes. He wasn't blind though. Elisha wanted him to be able to see wha...

Was the soil special?  Was the dirt unique?  Was the grass anointed? These questions may seem silly, but one day Moses was out tending sheep when God spoke these words to him, “ Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Exodus 3:5. What had changed? Surely Moses had walked here before. This was where he tended the sheep. His sheep had eaten this grass. He'd walked on this soil. He'd probably seen this bush. He never took his sandals off before. But today was like no other day. The presence of God was there. The presence of God made ordinary ground, holy ground.  The presence of God does this to everything, and more importantly...everyone. When I first came to faith in Christ my life was transformed. Old things passed away and all things became new. It happened in your life as well. Yet, I would find myself in church and we would sing songs that would call us to lift up holy hands...

Jesus was once traveling with his disciples through Samaria when he sat down to rest. The Samaritans and the Jewish people didn't get along too well, and generally avoided each other all together. Jesus, however, came as a Savior for the whole world. Tired from his journey he sat down to rest, and the disciples went to see if they could find something to eat. A Samaritan woman came along to draw water from a well where Jesus was resting, and he asked for some. This was shocking to her in itself due to the prejudice of the day, but the encounter would become even more shocking as he told her all about her life.  The story is a great one with many lessons, but the one I want us to catch today is Jesus' response to a question she asked. "Where should we worship?" She points out how they worship at a particular mountain, but the Jewish people worship in Jerusalem. So who's right?  We still ask these types of questions about worship. We ask questions about the ...

Moses was at work when God called him to go to Egypt to deliver his people. Peter was at work when God called him as a disciple and told him he would make him a fisher of men. David was at work when Samuel showed up to anoint the next king. Nehemiah is at work when he's set apart to rebuild the wall, the shepherds are working the graveyard shift when the angels show up, Gideon is threshing wheat when his call comes, and Ruth is working in the fields when her "chance" encounter with Boaz takes place. A lot of people encounter God at work in the Bible. Why is that important to get? Because we often think of church as where and when we'll meet God. If not a worship service then perhaps in our devotional time, but at work? God chooses not to remain in the boxes we attempt to place him in, and shows up whenever he desires. Throughout the Scriptures people do meet him at the Temple and in their prayer times, but God loves to show up when people are on the job...

(Today's blog is a little different than normal. Today is a unique day for all Americans and perhaps especially for those of us in the NY and DC areas. I'd like to share what I remember.) I remember standing on the roof of our church and watching the the smoke billowing out from the towers. There were sirens everywhere. We were afraid. I will always remember that day. I remember... I remember not with bitterness or hate.  I remember acts of heroism and love.  I remember how we raced to help one another.  I remember how we huddled together in prayer. I remember streets filled with shoes as those fleeing had literally run out of them, but I remember a shoe store owner who opened his doors and gave his shoes away to those same people passing his shop as they walked miles home. I remember first responders rushing into burning buildings to rescue those in need. I remember pastors and church leaders at police stations, fire houses, in funeral homes, ...