Ordinary Days
I remember during a very busy season of my life hearing someone say, “I’m bored!” and wishing I had time to be bored. For the record, I hate being bored.
Many of us have a “first world problem” (as opposed to someone living in a third world country) of possibly despising a simple ordinary day with nothing special happening. We need to appreciate ordinary days. I love simple, ordinary days.
It is wonderful to wake in the morning and have a few minutes to thank God for another day, to give a phrase of worship to Him, pray for my family, and pray for a few folks who I know are not having an ordinary day. Then staggering down the hallway to the smell of fresh brewed coffee, savoring the slow, unhurried sipping of brown liquid gold.
Continue reading “Ordinary Days”Don’t Let Crazy People Drive You Crazy
I recently heard someone opine that he thought that 15 percent of people are bad, 50 percent misguided, and 35 percent were good. Now whether you agree with that number or not, you must admit that there are some crazy people in this world. When I talk about crazy, I’m not talking about people with organic mental issues. Crazy is a term reserved for those who can do better but don’t. I believe some people who act crazy are demonically influenced. Now you may think I am crazy.
I am not a psychologist, but my life’s work has been in the people business from being an educator to a Christian minister. Furthermore, I think of myself as a somewhat positive person because I usually reserve an ounce of hope for everyone regardless of their craziness.
The truth of the matter is, everyone can change but not everyone will or want to change for the good.
Continue reading “Don’t Let Crazy People Drive You Crazy”Our Purpose in the Vastness of God
Consciously or unconsciously people struggle with their purpose in life. Though few may admit it, all people, unless they are consumed in narcissism, know deep down that they are less than they could be. As the scripture states, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23 NKJV).
God in the beginning made man in His image. We have the stamp of God on our lives. We have a purpose from God that originated before time began. That may be a far reach for some, but the scripture bears it out.
Continue reading “Our Purpose in the Vastness of God”If Tombs Could Talk!
So I began as a large outcropping of bedrock, just outside of the ancient city of Jerusalem near the place called Golgotha. As a huge rock, I often wondered what I would eventually become. Maybe I would be hewn into stones for a great building. Perhaps, I would become a monument for a great king. I could be cut into pieces and used as a fortress wall. My mass may be chipped into pavement for a king’s highway or perhaps small stones for a fancy garden wall.
Continue reading “If Tombs Could Talk!”The Executioner’s Dream
A Story of the Executioner at Golgotha by Harry L. Whitt
After their scourging, we herded the three men through the jeering streets to Golgotha. The citizens of Jerusalem hate us only a bit less than we hate them. Being assigned to the occupation force of Judea is a good point for a possible promotion but today the city is set on edge. One of the three is a popular prophet to the common people but hated by the elites of their counsel.
Finally, we are out of the bustle of the city streets and bring the three miserable souls to the top of the hill, the place of the skull. The rock outcropping resembles a skull, and today it is the place of execution for all to see.
The schemer who devised the crucifixion is to be congratulated. Nothing puts the fear and dread in occupied people as the crucifixion. It is an agonizing death to endure and to witness. I have killed countless men in warfare with sword and spear, but this is the most gruesome of all.
Continue reading “The Executioner’s Dream”What Voice Do I Trust?
The easy answer that even an eight-year-old Sunday school student would blurt out is “God.” Yes, that is true but how do you know if it is God or not? Even seasoned Christians struggle with this. I have heard the voice of God in my spirit so clear that it might as well have been audible. There are other times I question, “Is that God’s voice, my thoughts, or even the enemy’s voice trying to trick me?”
Listen to what the Bible says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1 NKJV).
A partial definition of discernment from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is: “comprehend what is obscure.” In the spiritual sense, it is not a revelation of specific knowledge but a discrimination between two opposing points such as good versus bad, righteous versus evil, or right versus wrong. The testing of spirits is discerning if they are to be trusted or not.
Discernment only reveals if it is good or bad. It does elaborate on the why. This makes discernment bewildering because we want to know why. It is like a mother telling her daughter to stay away from a certain boy and the daughter asks “Why?”. The mother counters with, “I just a have a feeling about him.” You can imagine the smirk on the daughter’s face at this point. By the way, mature women seem to have more discernment than men, so sons and daughters trust your mom and husbands trust your wife!
Continue reading “What Voice Do I Trust?”Stable Stool in a Wobbly World
I know you have eaten in a diner where the table was wobbly because one leg was a little short (and you probably put a wad of a napkin under it.) Do you know that a three-legged stool will never wobble? A carpenter puts a diagonal brace in a structure because he transforms a rectangular object into two triangles thus stabilizing the structure.
When rock climbing or climbing a ladder, the safest way is to always have three points of contact—move only one foot or hand at a time.
You see where I am going with this, right? Something of “threes” brings stability. A three-legged stool never wobbles.
“Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12 NKJV).
In the wobbly world we live in, let’s look at the three legs of stability. In a stable society, we need three points of contact to stay secure. We need faith, family, and community.
Continue reading “Stable Stool in a Wobbly World”What Has Changed? Times or People
Recently when I was preaching, I said something that really resonated with my audience. The statement I made was this: “Often people will say that times have changed. But that is not true. Times have not changed; it is people that have changed.”
The rural community I lived in as a boy was not perfect. We had a few rough folks living among us. The little farmhouse we lived in had a screen door and wood door with the top third being three panes of glass. It had a lock, but I never saw the key to it. We never locked the front door. We would sleep inside with an unlocked door. In the summertime every window would be raised and only a flimsy screen separated us from the boogey man outside.
Continue reading “What Has Changed? Times or People”Spoiled Brats
Jeremiah asked God why the wicked prospered while the good folks suffered. It is an age-old question that God has been asked perhaps zillion of times. God answers Jeremiah beginning with this statement:
“If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, In which you trusted, they wearied you, Then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?” (Jeremiah 12:5 NKJV).
If you are lost in the imagery and the history of God’s answer, let me simplify it for you. Basically, if you have struggled in good times, how will you fare when it really gets tough.
If you freak out when you forget to get your favorite coffee K-cups, how will you cope if there is no coffee?
There are many people in the United States who are suffering through terrible difficulties. I have friends right now who are going through their own hell. This post is not about those with legitimate difficulties. Bear with me, while I make the comfortable, uncomfortable.
Continue reading “Spoiled Brats”
Pathway Journey 