Following The Son

Perhaps you remember the Sesame Street song;  "Oh, the postman is a person in your neighborhood." The song went on to name the people you meet on the street each day. After 9/11 then Attorney General John Ashcroft announced if we saw anyone who looked unusual or strange to report them. Those of us in NY didn't know what to make of that. I had seen a man walking down the street clothed in black garbage bags. Should I report him? I didn't. He seemed harmless, and it's not like it was the first time I had seen that. I thought about the old Sesame Street song today and reflected on who I meet on the street each day. Over the past couple days I recall; A man with purple hair hand stitching a glove at the airport. Countless women wearing hijabs. A man sleeping on the sidewalk outside of C-Town supermarket. A stock clerk who spoke no English, but was so pleased with himself when he figured out I wanted a brownie pan and located it for me. A man dres...

I love Christmas movies. Well not the cheesy Hallmark channel ones, but ones that quickly become a part of your Christmas traditions. If you're a Christmas movie fan you'll identify these rather easily: Scott Calvin putting on the suit. Clarence getting his wings. Fred coming through as the best big brother ever. Buddy dancing in the mailroom. Kevin asking if the toothbrush is approved by the American Dental Association. When my son's were growing up I was busy most evenings of the week. This meant having to purposeful target family times where we could be together uninterrupted. This time of year this often included brownies in the oven or popcorn popping, a board game, and a fun Christmas movie. To this day they recall those evenings as favorites from their youth. Establishing traditions to make memories with your children is of great importance. Having times your children look forward to creates the opportunity to not simply have fun (although that...

Deciding what to name your child is both exciting and challenging. We use names to honor others, but also choose them based on how they sound to us. When Mary first found out she was having a baby she knew this was no ordinary child. Virgins don't have babies. When she let Joseph in on what the angel had told her he decided to call everything off. Until he had an unusual dream. Joseph laid down with a lot in his mind, but finally drifted off to sleep. An angel then appeared to him  in a dream and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife.  " She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21 I was watching Monday Night Football last night when the Houston Texans sent their kicker out on the field. He comes from Hawaii and goes by the name, Ka'imi. That's not his actual name though. His parents named him,  John Christian Ka’iminoeauloameka’ikeokekumupa’a Fai...

You don't have to be much of a basketball fan to know the object of the game is to get the ball in the basket. Do that more than your opponent, and you win the game. Yet, there's more to the game than that. A couple nights ago the NY Knicks faced off against the Houston Rockets. When the night was done the Knicks made a higher percentage of their shots than the Rockets. Nonetheless, when the game was finished it was the Rockets who finished as winners. How? The Rockets out rebounded the Knicks. " And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil." II Timothy 2:26 Everybody misses some shots. The only way to not miss would be to not shoot. What do you do when you miss? You crash the boards and get the rebound. That's important in sports, but more important in life.  People won't always give you the chance to rise again. For some your shortcoming is how they'll label you forever. Get the rebound anyway.  It was the his...

Yesterday I had the joy of introducing my little grandson to Autumn leaves. There was a great deal of laughter and excitement as we took turns burying each other, and tossing them into the air. Fall is my favorite season, but it's also a reminder that Winter will soon be upon us. I have a friend who moved to NY from Guyana in the winter. Not long after his arrival he asked someone why no one cuts down all the dead trees. The leafless trees of Winter were a new sight for him coming from a tropical climate, and he had to be taught that life would return. Even in a tropical climate there are seasons, and crops are harvested at certain times of year. This won't always be the case though. In Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation we find that things will be different in eternity. " Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail." Ezekiel 47:12 As beautiful as Fall can be, it reminds us that a c...

Kate McClure thought she could make it on the gas she had, but she didn't. Traveling on Interstate 95 last month through Philadelphia she ran out of gas. If you've ever run out of gas you know it's already an insecure feeling. Kate said she got out of her vehicle both scared and nervous as she began to walk to find a gas station. That's when she met a homeless veteran named Johnny Bobbitt Jr. If you've ever had a homeless person walk up to you it's often for the same thing. You are about to be asked for money. She didn't have any, he didn't ask. Instead he told her to return to her vehicle and lock the doors. Johnny used the only $20.00 he had to his name to purchase fuel for her car, and sent her on her way. This would already be a great story if it ended right there. It doesn't. Kate would return over the next couple of weeks to give Bobbitt a jacket, gloves, hat, and socks. He was grateful, but she wanted to do more. She had a conversat...

Do you have any Cabbage Patch dolls? I worked in retailing when the dolls first came out. Customers would line up and wait for hours for a truck to arrive. It was Christmas time, and this was the must have item of the season. Absurd amounts of money were being exchanged for a toy that would later be discarded by many. We didn't mind. It's a great time of year when you're a retailer. There are some slow days in the market place. Days when your sales don't match your cost of operation. Those times often put retailers "in the red." This is where the term "Black Friday," came from. Retailers will often record as much as 50% of all their annual sales between the day after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. This offsets for the lean months, and helps you to finish the year, "in the black." There's nothing wrong with shopping on Black Friday, or Cyber Monday, or any day between now and Christmas. There will often be some great de...

"Well-being is a full stomach, a time for prayer, and a bamboo platform to sleep on." -A poor woman in Bangladesh Happy Thanksgiving to all! I love Thanksgiving, and it's definitely my favorite holiday. This year we downsized considerably. This meant having to take time to evaluate most of our possessions as we decided what to keep and what had to go. A lot was given away, a lot was sold, and a lot was simply discarded. Even after this I recognize we still possess far more than most of earth's inhabitants. One of the challenging things of living in a western culture is that we are constantly presented with the fallacy we need more stuff. We're marketed to by being told we need things we don't need at all, or simply that we deserve it. If we aren't careful we fall for the lie that if we don't possess what most of the world would consider to be absolute luxury we're somehow missing out. Such an attitude creates a spirit of discontentment ...

I've never made stuffing in my life. Growing up I never even liked it. Somehow it's a part of most Thanksgiving dinners, ours included. My wife makes a great stuffing. It has meat in it. I never knew stuffing could have meat, but it's a real game changer. Normally on Thanksgiving she's up early cooking while I'm cleaning and enjoying listening to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the radio. (Not really. Who ever made the decision to put a parade on the radio?) Anyway, she cooks and I clean. We keep a relatively clean home, but my wife can walk into a room that I feel is fine and declare it filthy, so I know I have to be on my "A Game." Finally, she'll race to get ready for our guests, and it's my job to sort of monitor the food. This requires extensive taste testing and then repositioning the food so as to not reveal my nibbling. None of this will happen tomorrow. My wife is in Puerto Rico working with Convoy of Hope's disas...

Today's post comes from Pastor Gregg Johnson, who I've known and respected for many years. I asked him if I could repost something he wrote on the subject of sexual harassment. Although he primarily directs his comments toward men, there are some helpful tips in here for women as well. There seems to be no end to the amount of women coming forward with tragic accounts of sexual harassment and assault from bosses and coworkers. It reveals just how pervasive this issue is in our culture. Here's a few common sense points for us men to keep in mind as we seek to promote a workplace free of sexual harassment and abuse. (Feel free to add more in the comments.) 1. Be an example. If you're a leader, you must take the lead in creating a culture that honors, respects and values the opposite sex. Vulgar talk and inappropriate conduct should never be a part of your character. 2. Promote policies that ensure a healthy work environment. Talk about sexual harassment, offer tr...

Ebenezer is a name you'll hear as the Christmas season approaches. Most of us are familiar with the Charles Dickens' classic, "A Christmas Carol," where we encountered the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge. Although Scrooge would become known for his, "Bah Humbug," attitude toward Christmas, the name Ebenezer actually has a great meaning. The prophet Samuel named a location Ebenezer declaring, "Thus far the LORD has helped us." I Samuel 7:12 Samuel set up a memorial stone to help them to never forget how far God had brought them. The location is mentioned in a different passage when Israel was facing their enemies, the Philistines, in an upcoming battle. The Philistines would win a mighty victory over God's chosen people, and tragically 4,000 soldiers would lose their lives. The setting for that battle is found in this passage. "The Israelite army was camped near Ebenezer," I Samuel 4:1 I don't know if you caught that,...

"What do you say when you talk to yourself?"  I first heard Dr. Richard Dobbins ask that question. It's a pretty important one. As believers we are hopefully growing more and more into the people God created us to be. That means becoming more and more like God as we are transformed into his image. When God speaks to us he speaks to our potential and who we are in him. Becoming like him should mean that this is how we speak over ourselves and others as well. This is illustrated for us when God sends an angel to speak to Gideon. He's in hiding at the time in fear of his enemies. An angel shows up in the room with him and speaks some unexpected words. " When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior'." Judges 6:12 Gideon may not have been acting like a mighty warrior at the time, but God saw Gideon walking in who he was made to be. Remember he's, " the God who gives life to th...

The first time I ever went to a prayer meeting I didn't really know what to expect. I gathered with some believers in a classroom with some chairs in a circle. After some small talk it was time to pray. I had been a follower of Jesus for a few weeks at this point so I was already praying. Yet, this would be my first group prayer other than brief prayers in church services, or some times around the altar. A few folks stayed seated, some stood, and others turned around and knelt in front of their seats. I went with the posture of kneeling, and along with everyone in the room began to pray. I prayed and I prayed and I prayed. I prayed for everything I could think of, and probably went back and doubled up on a few things to be sure I had them covered. After about 10 minutes or so I turned around and sat back in my seat. I couldn't think of anything else to pray for, but my  new friends were just getting started.   It was in this setting that I would begin to learn abou...

" Rejoice always." I Thessalonians 5:16 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4: "I think we all sin by needlessly disobeying the apostolic injunction to 'rejoice'." C.S. Lewis Perhaps you haven't really thought of rejoicing as something you were commanded by God to do, but there it is. Alongside the major, well known calls in Scripture comes a rather unexpected one. God wants us rejoicing all the time. Life doesn't really limit itself to joyful experiences though. So if rejoicing is a command that tells us a few things about it. Rejoicing is an act of obedience. Ultimately we rejoice because we're the children of God. His Word is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path (Psalm 119:105), and His Word calls us to rejoice. In James we even read to " count it all joy when (we) fall into various trials. " We can obey God in this when we have a right perspective...

There was this one time when God's word used two unexpected things to illustrate unity in the body of Christ. It's found in Psalm 133. " How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore." Psalm 133:1-3 There you have it. Oil running down Aaron's beard and the dew on a mountain. What's that all about? Well, God wants his people to work together. He knows we won't always see things eye to eye, and at times we will rub each other wrong, but we can still seek to live and work in unity. What's awesome about the Psalm is the bestowed blessing. That means God has set up a blessing in advance. It's a conditional promise. When we walk in unity we receive what's prom...