Living in light of eternity

This summer I had the privilege of visiting with an old friend.   It was mid-morning around coffee as we reminisced over years gone by.   She reminded me of something I said to her back in the day, "Don't underestimate the goodness of God." Frankly, neither of us could remember the context of that statement, but we ruminated over it's meaning and application to our lives. It's so easy to underestimate God's goodness.   Maybe it's because we lack the basic goodness to be a fair judge of God's goodness.   Goodness, like holiness and other attributes of God are particularly hard for us to recognize because of the damage sin has done to our perceptions. Fortunately the Scriptures helps us because God's goodness is explained in a variety of settings: We can perceive God's goodness in His creation. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; (1 Ti 4:4, NASB95) The beauty ...

Most of civilized society has historically seen the world through the lenses of "Honor/Shame". The Greeks, Romans, Jews and early Christians all regarded honor/dishonor as the primary axis of value for their culture.   Each had their own definitions of what constituted true honor.   The Christians, in particular, relied on the Scriptures, the example of Jesus Christ, and the leadership of the Apostles.   Today much of the world continues to live by this axis of honor/dishonor and considers honor has one of the, if not THE primary virtues. “Without integrity and honor, having everything means nothing.”   Robin Sharma Research  reveals that during marital conflict a husband most often reacts when feeling disrespected and a wife reacts when feeling unloved.  7,000 people were asked this question: When you are in a conflict with your spouse or significant other, do you feel unloved or disrespected? 83% of the men said "disrespected..." In his ...

“Wherever you are, be all there, live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.”- Jim Elliott, 1927-1956. Philip James "Jim" Elliott was an evangelical Christian who was one of five missionaries killed while participating in Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador. My wife and I served in youth ministry for thirty-three years. I must admit there were times where I had trouble following Jim Elliott's advise.   I didn't want to be there. Whether it was a conference or retreat, a small group discussion, or a one-on-one discipleship appointment, there were times when I just wanted to go home. Sometimes I just wanted to be somewhere else. I’m not proud of this. I'm just being real. Maybe it was burn out, or just the boredom that comes with repetition.   Maybe it was my flesh fighting against the Spirit. Maybe I was tired.   It really doesn't matter what the cause.   What matters was the solution....

God was certainly at work on campus back in the 70's.   There were many Christian groups springing up.   As a    young believer in Christ, I soon noticed that not all Christians looked the same.  Most were similar, but one looked very different.   I called this group "the Kumbaya Christians".     They liked to meet and sing and share Scripture with each other. There was nothing wrong with that, but they seemed so passive.   There was very little action.   They seldom shared their faith or reached out to others. They were sleepy Christians , I called them "Kumbaya Christians". Peter, Paul, and Mary popularized the song, "Kumbaya" in the late 60's.   The lyrics are quite interesting: Kumbaya my Lord , kumbaya Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya Oh Lord, kumbaya Someone's singing Lord, kumbaya Someone's singing Lord, kumbaya Someone's singing Lord, kumbaya Oh Lord, kumbayah Someone's la...

The Book of Ecclesiastes gives wonderful words of wisdom but also raises many unanswered questions.   Solomon reflects on life "under the sun".   This seems to indicate life in the human sphere of existence.   He rarely comments on what is right or wrong, but only tells about what actually happens.   He also brings a grand perspective and looks at life from beginning to end. One of the most interesting little stories he tells is of "The Poor Wise Man".           13        Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and it impressed me.           14       There was a small city with few men in it and a great king came to it, surrounded it and constructed large siegeworks against it.           15       But there was found in it a poor wi...

The biblical story of Gideon found in Judges has always been on of my favorites.   There is his unusual encounter with The Angel of the Lord, "The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior." Gideon seems far from valiant at this stage of his life- hiding from the Midianites as he threshes out the wheat in the wine press.   He obeys the Angel and tears down his father's altar to Baal. He only had the courage to do it at night, but still shows determination to follow the Angel's leading. That's impressive.   Of course we also have Gideon's fleece, possibly the most well-known aspect of the story. Gideon seems willing to obey, but wants to make sure he is hearing from the Lord.   We can all relate to that.   What leaped out at me this last time I looked at Gideon was the great extent to which the Lord took to diminish the size of his army.   Gideon as able to gather 32,000 men from the Abiezrites, Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali.   That army ...

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant ( Phil 2:5-7) This term "bond-servant" literally means "slave" in the original Greek.   Rather a strong term isn't it?   The Apostle Paul took this challenge seriously and often called himself a "slave of Jesus Christ". ( Rom 1:1; 2 Cor 4:5; Gal 1:10; Phil 1:1; Titus 1:1) How many of us have taken Paul's exhortation to heart?   How many have adopted the attitude of Jesus when He took the form of a bond-servant?   I would imagine quite a few of us.   There was probably a time when we said to Christ, "I want You to be Lord of my life.   I am willing for You to be my Master, and I your servant." It's one thing to declare Christ as Lord, ourselves and His servant.   It's quite another thing to actually live li...