Worthy Words

Two friends expressed their views on traveling through West Texas .  After coming home from recent trips, they both described their time in West Texas quite differently.  The first friend thought the drive was pretty boring – nothing to see or to do on the road in that part of the state.  He found the sole purpose of the drive to be getting through as quick as you can, to arrive where you really want to be. The second friend saw her drive quite differently, noting the jackrabbits and armadillos, mesas, cactus and canyons, dry riverbeds and underground caverns, to name a few treasures along the way.  This friend saw West Texas as a place where one can think, hear God’s voice, and there’s enough room to stretch out and not worry so much about what you’re wearing or driving. These reports on West Texas reminded me that God has created hidden treasures for His people to find and experience.  Just like these hidden splendors of West Texas , there are ...

Most of us don't like something about ourselves—usually something we had nothing to do with or can do nothing about. Such as: "Why can't I be taller, skinnier, better-looking? Why couldn't I have been born rich? Why couldn't I have been born in another place, or another time? Why couldn't I have a more pleasant singing voice or a better jump shot?"  You might be dissatisfied with the raw material you were given to work with, but the Bible says that God made you just as you are, and he specifically had you in mind at the time. Here's how David expressed it. “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it.   You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God!” (Psalm ...

As I get older and my metabolism slows, I am starting to pay the price for not paying attention to what is known as “empty calories.”  Empty calories are foods that offer little to no nutritional value.  While I try to make arguments about the dairy found in ice cream or the protein found in the nuts of a bag of M&M’s, for the most part those foods offer nothing of nutritional value for the healthy maintenance of my body (although, I must say, at times, I do think they help my mental state! LOL!).   Empty calories leave us feeling full, but eventually they turn to fat and can lead to our depriving ourselves of the minerals we truly need.  At times, we must admit we are guilty of this even in our spiritual lives.  We go through the motions, skim off the top of a sermon, pray only when we need something, or simply sit and wait to be fed instead of seeking truth, digesting sermons and small group interaction, and spending quiet times with God in order...

John 3:16 is one of the most famous of all Bible verses.  It owes its recognition partly to a fanatic sports fan that spent over a decade holding huge John 3:16 posters at hundreds of sporting events.  Due to the crazy colored wig and colorful personality, he was called the “Rainbow Man”.  His mission was simple.  He wanted to reach the masses with the saving message of Jesus Christ.  He was the most famous sports fan through the 80’s, even appearing on Saturday Night Live.  The question, however, is did he send the right message?   On September 22, 1992 the Rainbow Man’s sports days came to an end when he held a maid hostage in a hotel room in LA.  When asked why he held the woman hostage his answer was simple.  He wanted camera time to share his message of Jesus Christ on the national news.  His act landed him in jail convicted with three counts of hostage taking—each one of those counts carried a life sentence as the consequenc...

The day after Thanksgiving —also known as Black Friday— marks the official start to another Christmas shopping season. Many a valiant soul will venture out to local malls, fighting the crowds to find good deals as they work through their Christmas shopping lists. In fact this year many retailers have jumped the gun and are advertising their Black Friday is already in progress. There is a lot of competition for the money in our pockets. Some time ago, I read a newspaper article that referred to the opening of a new mall with this statement: “… a pastor was so moved by the retail magnificence around, that he quoted Scripture, ‘Jesus said, I came that you may have life and have that life abundantly… and what do you suppose abundance means? All of this, of course!’”   That’s a troubling notion that somehow our material prosperity is directly related to our relationship with Jesus. Does the abundant life really mean that Jesus came to help us shop ‘til we drop? I don’t think s...

A recent home project that I thought would be rather simple turned out to be an education in “trial and error” — a phrase used countless times — and it suddenly occurred to me what the second half of that equation actually means. It means that in the learning process there will be errors: mistakes, mishaps, shortfalls, unmet projections, and disappointing outcomes. You might be thinking, "Duh"; I guess the statement really is obvious. But it occurred to me that I have a tendency to want to learn by trial and success.  I want things to work the first time I try so that I can be done with it and move on. Think about it: How much more productive you could be if everything worked as planned. How much more efficient your life would be if nothing ever backfired. However, this is not how God set it up. His plan is that you learn through a process that isn't always easy and is rarely painless. But the results are always worth it. David wrote, "My troubles turned...

A concerned husband goes to see the family doctor: "I think my wife has a hearing problem. I often have to repeat things again and again before she hears me."   "Well," the doctor replies, "When you go home tonight, stand about 15 feet from her and say something. If she doesn't reply, move about five feet closer and say it again. Keep doing this so we can get an idea of the severity of her problem." So the husband goes home and does exactly as instructed. He stands about 15 feet from his wife, who is standing in the kitchen, chopping some vegetables. "Honey, what's for dinner?" He gets no response, so he moves about five feet closer and asks again. "Honey, what's for dinner?" No reply. He moves five feet closer, and still no reply. He gets fed up and moves right behind her, about an inch away, and asks one final time, "Honey, what's for dinner?"   She says, "For the fourth time, vegetable stew!...