Worthy Words

“Don’t look at the troubles you can see now; rather, fix your gaze on things that cannot be seen” (adapted 2 Corinthians 4:18) . Christ-follower you are to be by nature forward looking and forward reaching. Your goal, by running the race of life, is a prize, a crown of righteousness, a crown of life, a crown of never-ending glory and honor all because your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, first wore a crown of thorns. It is clear that while we live in hope now for joy unspeakable inspired by Eternal love, the future is seen with a faith that is daily nourished by the present presence of the Spirit. What does the eye of daily nourished faith see when looking into the future? Sinless existence! We are made perfect to participate in the inheritance of the saints of God! All the misery of a life of sin gives way as we make our assent to the summit standing ready to enter heaven through those pearly gates—with arms open wide—to be crowned conquerors by Christ, the King of Glory. This ...

A father mourns the death of his teenage boy who was killed when a drunk driver hit the car he was driving. A police officer was shot and paralyzed from the neck down by teenagers he was questioning in a park. A woman was brutally beaten and raped by an unknown attacker. All of these people have suffered trauma from a wrong done to them. The wrong done was outside of their control. Still, in all three cases, the people who suffered also made a conscious decision to forgive the people who caused the trauma. It amazes me that people who suffer such extreme wrongs can work through the pain in order to forgive.  There is no doubt that granting forgiveness can be difficult. But, most of us don’t have to deal with forgiving such huge sins against us. Most of us deal more on the level of forgiving a family member for taking our last slice of cake. Regardless of the extent of our hurt, to be sure, we all experience hurts from time to time. While forgetting is usually impossible, forgi...

Contained herein are some reflective thoughts, brought about by some personal study of Philippians 1:21, while looking forward to my 24 th year as pastor of Olive Place. The Apostle Paul states in the NLT; “For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.   “Live for Jesus” is a parting mantra I’ve used for almost twenty years. It was the phrase I used as my children exited the car on their way to school each morning. It has so motivated others that they have begun to repeat it back to me. My brother-in-law, Robert, has created a Facebook page branding “Live For Jesus” as its title. The page posts statements and real life stories about those who do in fact “Live for Jesus.” However, I have not always lived for Jesus. But, I started living for Christ when God the Holy Spirit convinced me of how vile my sin was and to see, by His grace, that His dying on the Cross provided appeasement for my shameful guilt. From the moment the new birth certificate from he...

Did you know that in order for muscles to get stronger, they first have to be weakened? If you have ever experienced sore muscles after a day of exercising or work, you’ve experienced this process. The muscle fibers tear down and then build themselves back up in order to be stronger than they were before.  The spiritual life so often works the same way.  To get stronger we must first get weaker. In his letter, James encourages believers to not be discouraged by the setbacks of struggles and trouble.  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything—James 1:2-4. He admits that difficulties will come “whenever you face trials.” Notice he said whenever, not if. Although he does not tell us to smile our way through these struggles, he challenges us to look at them as an opp...

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...