As I was transitioning from my last position, I had the task of letting go of my files for the past forty-plus years. To see all of your working life disappear was somewhat disconcerting. As I was casting a file folder away, a group of unlined notecards fell onto the floor of my office. When I saw them, I immediately remembered them. Instead of throwing them out, I kept them…
Read MoreSearch me, not search others!
Search me O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24) It is quite easy to see the faults in others. They seem evident and obvious. In fact they are hard to miss and quite observable. It has become nearly a sport, finding the faults and inconsistencies in…
Read MoreWhen Things Don’t Go Well: What do I do?
We have all experienced disappointment. Setbacks, heartache, reversals, and just plain painful experiences. My neighbor is a United Methodist pastor, and the process of disaffiliation and separation they are experiencing is painful. Some have experienced painful circumstances visited upon them by their parents, children, trusted individuals, institutions, and so on. How do you move on? How do you get past all of the pain? How do you move forward while…
Read MoreLosing Control
These two stories take place on the water. Jesus and His disciples and lessons to be learned. Being a disciple of Jesus does not mean that you know all you need to know on day one. Trusting Christ and relying upon Him totally seems to be a process reinforced by the reality of life and our growing dependence on Christ. The disciples did not put their faith in Jesus all…
Read MoreWhat Do You See
Have you ever noticed that people have a tendency to see what they are looking for? Observation is not a neutral activity. There can be several witnesses to an event and each describes what happened differently. Yes, there are some similarities and much of what is described is identical. Yet at times, it seems they are describing different events. There are a lot of factors that go into this reality,…
Read MoreSignificant Places revisited!
Even though I retired last year, I am participating in events again, a cross between Groundhog day and deja vu. I am at the denominational leader’s conference in downtown Kansas City. I moved to Kansas City in 1978 upon graduation from college. From the summer of 1978 until late 1981, this place was home. I was a seminary student. Susanne and I got married in 1980; Kansas City was the…
Read MoreA Prayer that needs to be prayed!
Recently, I have been looking at the prayers of the Apostle Paul. One of my favorites is found in the book of Philippians: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes…
Read MoreDecisions and God’s Counsel
I was reading a passage from the Old Testament and I found the wording quite curious “The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord.” (Joshua 9:14) This verse is part of a longer story when the Gibeonites deceived the Israelites. To give the Israelites the idea that the Gibeonites lived far away they artificially aged their clothes and provisions. This way the leaders of Israel would…
Read MoreCommitment Over the last Forty Plus Years!
Nearly 42 years ago, I developed a habit of typing out Bible verses, quotes from books or thought that I wanted to read and look at daily. Fast forward to last summer when I had the painful duty of purging all of my files over the last 40 plus years. I could not take them with me, there were between 2000-3000 file folders with approximately 20 items in each folder.…
Read MoreWe have been waiting for you!
Yesterday Susanne and I went into a place just “looking” and as we entered the establishment we were met by a smiling young man, who greeted us with this statement: “We have been waiting for you!” He had no idea that we were coming, we barely knew we were coming. For whatever reason, it caught me off guard, and I not only smiled but laughed out loud. I told him…
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