Saturday, March 31, 2012

Tomorrow we begin Holy Week.  It's time to clean out the crap that is left that blocks us from having a truly loving place for Jesus on Easter!  Walk the journey through the book of Mark and find where you are.  Are you singing Hallelujah on Palm Sunday?  Are you confused when Jesus overturns the tables in the temple?  Are you at dinner and angry when the woman annoints Jesus?  Are you running away when the guards come?  Are you standing in fear at the foot of the cross?  Where are you?

Today...find the joy of being broken.  Know God loves you where you are and pushes us to be better.  Breathe deeply of the breath of God and back in the hand that holds you.

Friday, March 30, 2012


This blog is a special place for me...it's one of those moments where I share my faith in a discipline.  I'm not usually disciplined about my spiritual journey except during Lent.  As we prepare for Holy Week I wanted the chance to say thanks to those of you who have hung in here with me.  I really appreciate you!

ARK DAY!

             Acts of Random Kindness.   Today is a day to do something kind for another person you DON’T live with.  Part of living out our faith is sharing it and one of the best ways to share faith is to be kind to another person.  How many ways can God use you today to be kind to other people?

This has been one of my favorite devotional expressions during Lent this year.  It's a simple thing, but it is so important.  It doesn't take much and it doesn't mean going out of our way.  A simple trip to the grocery and seeing where God leads, a drive down the street and listening for God's voice, a walk around the neighborhood hearing God's voice are simple ways to be in God's presence and find ways to be kind to others.




Thursday, March 29, 2012


The joy of receiving a handwritten note in the mail is a special treat in today’s world.  Take a moment and drop someone a note.  Maybe a home bound person, maybe a child, maybe a neighbor, maybe a sick friend or just the first name you think of for no reason what-so-ever.


Wednesday, March 28, 2012


Ephesians 3:14ff  (The Message)

14-19My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

20-21God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!


Tuesday, March 27, 2012


26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.27And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.28We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:26-28

Spend at least15-20 in silence.  Find a comfortable place with as few distractions as possible.  Work on clearing your mind.  Count your breathing if you need to, but clear your mind of the to do list.  Let your thoughts wander to a place of serenity and calm.  Let the Spirit intercede for you.


Monday, March 26, 2012


Psalm 134

1Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord!

2Lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the Lord.

3May the Lord, maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.


Sunday, March 25, 2012

2 weeks from today is Easter!  It's time to really reflect on that relationship with God.  Where are the spots that need tweaking?  What are the things that need let go and let grace fill the hole?

It's Sunday!  It's a day to be with God.  Be still and Know God.

Saturday, March 24, 2012


ARK DAY!

             Acts of Random Kindness.   Today is a day to do something kind for another person you DON’T live with.  Part of living out our faith is sharing it and one of the best ways to share faith is to be kind to another person.  How many ways can God use you today to be kind to other people?


Friday, March 23, 2012


March 23

“Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God.  Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer.  I find myself praying for you with a glad heart.” 

Philippians 1:3 (Message)

God is not a vending machine.  The purpose of prayer is not to force God into giving us what we want, but to align ourselves with what God is doing within us and in the world.  When we talk with God, the idea is to grow, that we might be changed by knowing that God hears us and loves us.  Sometimes this is the hardest thing about prayer.  We long for an answer to our prayers, and wonder whether God is there or if God really cares for us.  And yet, the very impulse to cry out to God is itself a gift from God to us.  And as we make others more the focus of our prayers than we are ourselves, we discover our hearts and ears are more open to hear God’s answers.  May the words of the hymn be true in our life:

“What a friend we have in Jesus, who will all our sorrows share; What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.”


Thursday, March 22, 2012


13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

As I read this line of scripture it seemed almost like Paul paused mid-thought...breathed a sigh of faith...and wrote this line.  Just a simple line of truth.  This is what I pray for you!  This...the joy and peace in believing...is all I really want for you.


Wednesday, March 21, 2012


26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.27And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.28We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:26-28

Spend at least15-20 in silence.  Find a comfortable place with as few distractions as possible.  Work on clearing your mind.  Count your breathing if you need to, but clear your mind of the to do list.  Let your thoughts wander to a place of serenity and calm.  Let the Spirit intercede for you.


I have to be honest, I'm starving for the Holy to intercede for me and help me let go of being in control.  Yes, I admit I'm a control freak....I'm a first born to 2 first borns!  What do you expect?  Anyway, the idea of spending time letting go this morning is empowering.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012


March 20

22By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.25If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.26Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:22-26

This is one of my favorite passages as a pastor.  It’s clear from reading this that patience comes as a fruit of the Spirit.  It’s a product of the Spirit’s activity.  The cool part of the Spirit is that the Spirit is most active when we are focused on the Lord and not on the distractions that move our attention.  To pray for patience to is to pray we be focused on the Spirit!  To pray for patience is to seek for our attention to be taken away from that which distracts us from the Lord!  To pray for patience is to seek not to have what we need patience for be the center of our attention.  AMEN!


Monday, March 19, 2012


“God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness.  He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost.  He’s giving everyone space and time to change.”  2 Peter 3:9 (The Message)

Recent personal experience—I have noticed in the last day or two that exactly at the moment I am complaining about the patience level of someone else, it means that I am the one lacking patience.  This scripture is a terrific reminder that God’s patience is required not only for other people, but especially for me!  Of course, usually in me this creates a response of, “God, give me patience, and give it to me right now!”  So, please, God, help me to develop and to appreciate patience.  Help me to realize that your patience with me has resulted in my faith, and to so live with others that they see not only my patience but yours at work.  Help me to recognize and appreciate patience other people are showing to me.  Your patience is grace, Lord.  Thank you.


Sunday, March 18, 2012

It's Sunday...a day to worship.  It's a day to spend time with God offering praise and glory to the one who created us.  As I got up to the birds chirping and the sun coming out for another record breakingly gorgeous day I thought that was going to be easy!

22By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, generosity, faithfulness,23gentleness, and self-control.
There is no law against such things.24And those who belong to
Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.


That was the sermon text.  The message was simple....we are called to be focused on God so the Spirit can move and the fruit blossom and grow in our lives.  Then I asked for prayer requests and looked around the room and was overwhelmed by the chaos of life filling people's lives.  Life can be VERY difficult and the chaos can be consuming.  That's when the message simplified and became simple for me personally.  Do we allow the chaos to suck us in and be in control or do we stay focused on God, let Him be in control and let the Spirit blossom and grow in our lives.

I came home to be entranced again by the magnificent wonder of God's amazing creative power.  And to know this same God loves me and wants to be in relationship with me.  I choose God.  I choose the God who created this amazing world and gave me life and breathes new life into the creation every moment to be my center and NOT the chaos.

It's Sunday.  A day to choose and a day to worship.  What will you choose?


Saturday, March 17, 2012


Acts of Random Kindness.   Today is a day to do something kind for another person you DON’T live with.  Part of living out our faith is sharing it and one of the best ways to share faith is to be kind to another person.  How many ways can God use you today to be kind to other people?

I have to be honest, I think this is one of my favorite devotion days this Lent.  I hope you find as much joy today as I hope to. 

Friday, March 16, 2012


“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9 (NRSV)

The unmerited favor of God; that is what I was taught God’s grace is.  Grace is not grasped at our reached for; it is simply received as a gift.  Salvation is exactly like that.  We do not grasp for it and we do not control it, for ourselves nor for any other person.  We receive it, and we invite others to receive it.  It is completely humbling that as gracious and grace-filled a person as Mother Theresa spent a large portion of her life longing for but not experiencing in her heart a confirmation of God’s grace for her.  And yet we will all say that God’s grace was certainly there for her.  May we be blessed to receive, give, and truly experience God’s grace in our lives.


Thursday, March 15, 2012

Today is supposed to be a challenge of silence.  But it just doesn't seem appropriate after watching the storms this morning.  Patricia and I sat on the front porch and watched the lightening, heard the thunder, watch the hail and rain, felt the gentle coolness of the air.  Our faces were lit to watch all of it together.  First of all, we've both been sick so the ability to sit up and do anything is amazing!  Second, sharing a God moment is always powerful for us.

So, a new challenge for today...share the power of God with someone today.  Have a mutal experience of God's creation.  Watch a squirrel, a storm, the sunshine, nature...whatever!  Just do the God with with someone!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012


The joy of receiving a handwritten note in the mail is a special treat in today’s world.  Take a moment and drop someone a note.  Maybe a home bound person, maybe a child, maybe a neighbor, maybe a sick friend or just the first name you think of for no reason what-so-ever.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012


1Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful.2Let Israel be glad in its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.3Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.4For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory.5Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches.  6Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands, 7to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, 8to bind their kings with fetters and their nobles with chains of iron, 9to execute on them the judgment decreed. This is glory for all his faithful ones. Praise the Lord!

To pray the Psalms is an old spiritual discipline.  Read it several times, read it out loud, quietly reflect and let the words feed your day.  God is present and you will know the hand that protects.


sorry to be late today...not feeling well.  ALL of us are home today being miserable.