Hebrews 11: 1-3
1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
The time had come for us to move on. I had been the Minister of Youth and Education at our church for three and one-half years. I had applied for both church and higher education positions. The church positions said they wanted more experience or more focus in either youth or education or wanted us to move to a geographical location we did not feel comfortable in. The higher educational institutions doubted my commitment to post-secondary schools. We prayed for one door to open.
I was accepted into a PhD program a year earlier but was unsure whether this was a viable option for someone with a family. Concerns about health insurance were relieved when I found I could continue my present insurance. Since this was the only option available, we decided to “step out in faith.”
I announced my resignation to our church family and we prayed to sell our house by ourselves. A week passed and we had no real offers. We began to get angry because we had specifically prayed for the house to sell within a week. That weekend: 1) a couple placed a very reasonable bid on our house; 2) we found a house for us to live in [after looking at SO MANY in a new metropolitan area]; and, 3) we were offered temporary positions at the university.
I wish this happens all the time but the truth is for us the same as it is for most of you: we struggle to know God’s will for our lives.....yet we cling to the historical memories of when we step out in faith.
A Faithful Response: Step out in faith believing you can do something – or, as someone also said, fake it till you make it.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
RELATIONSHIP INTEGRITY - HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY
Job 27: 5b
5b till I die, I will not deny my integrity.
In seminary, Joanna** sat between the professor and I. Mesmerized by her fingers sifting through her hair, I caught myself staring. Though no one noticed me staring, I blushed and looked away.
Her short, straight hair came only to the nape of her neck. A brilliant student, her eyes sparkled when she smiled. I often tried to get her to smile at me that semester.
As Finals approached, I asked her to study with me. We found a quiet spot in the library, studied some, and spoke of our dreams for our respective futures.
As I walked home that evening, I realized that was the last time I could ever be alone with her. I did not trust myself. I was married to someone else.
I avoided Joanna the next couple of weeks. She might wave, and I would wave also, but I would immediately pretend to be busy with some task. A puzzled, hurt look would cross her eyes and I would lower my own to avoid her expression. I began to feel embarrassed, confused, and hurt myself.
I really did like her. She had a pleasant personality. Pretty and quick-witted, I had to make a tremendous effort to avoid her. I enjoyed her company but I had to decide what was important in my life.
I tried to think of the positive characteristics of my wife. But I knew this decision had to transcend mere comparisons of who I liked the best. I was not dating both of them; I was married to one of them.
I have not seen Joanna in ten years and I wonder if she even remembers me. I think if I ever do see her again I will apologize to her. Joanna may not have known I struggled so much,... but she probably did. She tried to be a friend and I tried to make more out of the relationship than what was supposed to exist. When we slip in our integrity of who we are supposed to be, we hurt not only ourselves. We also hurt those around us.
** Joanna is not her real name
5b till I die, I will not deny my integrity.
In seminary, Joanna** sat between the professor and I. Mesmerized by her fingers sifting through her hair, I caught myself staring. Though no one noticed me staring, I blushed and looked away.
Her short, straight hair came only to the nape of her neck. A brilliant student, her eyes sparkled when she smiled. I often tried to get her to smile at me that semester.
As Finals approached, I asked her to study with me. We found a quiet spot in the library, studied some, and spoke of our dreams for our respective futures.
As I walked home that evening, I realized that was the last time I could ever be alone with her. I did not trust myself. I was married to someone else.
I avoided Joanna the next couple of weeks. She might wave, and I would wave also, but I would immediately pretend to be busy with some task. A puzzled, hurt look would cross her eyes and I would lower my own to avoid her expression. I began to feel embarrassed, confused, and hurt myself.
I really did like her. She had a pleasant personality. Pretty and quick-witted, I had to make a tremendous effort to avoid her. I enjoyed her company but I had to decide what was important in my life.
I tried to think of the positive characteristics of my wife. But I knew this decision had to transcend mere comparisons of who I liked the best. I was not dating both of them; I was married to one of them.
I have not seen Joanna in ten years and I wonder if she even remembers me. I think if I ever do see her again I will apologize to her. Joanna may not have known I struggled so much,... but she probably did. She tried to be a friend and I tried to make more out of the relationship than what was supposed to exist. When we slip in our integrity of who we are supposed to be, we hurt not only ourselves. We also hurt those around us.
** Joanna is not her real name
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Children are young only once
Ruth 4: 16
16 Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him.
“Dad, will you play trains with me?”, my four year old son asked.
“Dad, will you help me build my trail?”, my five year old son asked.
“Dad, will you ride bikes with me?”, my six year old son asked.
“Dad, will you go swimming with me?”, my seven year old son asks.
How much longer will he ask me to play with him? I wonder when I say ‘no’, if this was the last time. He’s growing up too fast. My legs are cramping more from the MS, my eyesight is worse, my hair is almost all gone. I am already unable to keep up with him sometimes, but don’t tell him that…. In his eyes, I am still the greatest.
The more love I feel as a father the more I begin to glimpse the Love my Heavenly Father has for me. God wants me to spend time with him before it is too late. He wants me to type these devotional reflections before my hands and arms cramp too much from MS. How much time will I waste in front of the television? How much more can I create instead of watching someone else’s creation? I only have one life to live and I want to leave a legacy of faith for my son and his heirs. I want to do so much more for/with my Father, but will I?
I want to do so much with my son, and yet, there’s laundry to do, grass to be mowed, checks to write,… And then I remember: I’ll always have those things to do but my son will only be young once.
A Faithful Response: Play a game with your child/grandchild…..
16 Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him.
“Dad, will you play trains with me?”, my four year old son asked.
“Dad, will you help me build my trail?”, my five year old son asked.
“Dad, will you ride bikes with me?”, my six year old son asked.
“Dad, will you go swimming with me?”, my seven year old son asks.
How much longer will he ask me to play with him? I wonder when I say ‘no’, if this was the last time. He’s growing up too fast. My legs are cramping more from the MS, my eyesight is worse, my hair is almost all gone. I am already unable to keep up with him sometimes, but don’t tell him that…. In his eyes, I am still the greatest.
The more love I feel as a father the more I begin to glimpse the Love my Heavenly Father has for me. God wants me to spend time with him before it is too late. He wants me to type these devotional reflections before my hands and arms cramp too much from MS. How much time will I waste in front of the television? How much more can I create instead of watching someone else’s creation? I only have one life to live and I want to leave a legacy of faith for my son and his heirs. I want to do so much more for/with my Father, but will I?
I want to do so much with my son, and yet, there’s laundry to do, grass to be mowed, checks to write,… And then I remember: I’ll always have those things to do but my son will only be young once.
A Faithful Response: Play a game with your child/grandchild…..
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Melissa
Luke 11: 1-13
1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." 2 He said to them, "When you pray, say:
" 'Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.' "
5 Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.' 7 "Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. 9 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 11"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
My eighteen-year-old niece was diagnosed three weeks ago with ovarian cancer. She'd been feeling bad for only a couple of weeks but had lost about 15 pounds in the second week. Two days later the doctors removed part of her female anatomy and scheduled her for a follow-up visit. At that visit, they told her the cancer was in her lymph nodes. She began chemotherapy last week. When I spoke to her after the operation, I joked, "You know, Melissa, there are easier ways to lose weight." We both laughed. We had already cried our separate tears. I am persistently praying for her recovery.
Jesus tells us in this passage that "everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened" (v. 10, NIV). I am praying for Melissa's recovery as I have prayed for few things in my life. Does this mean that my prayer will be answered? I don't know. I hope so; I pray so. "…yet because of the man's persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs" (v. 8, NIV).
In the last few weeks, I've learned much about ovarian cancer. It's very aggressive. The vast majority of women who get ovarian cancer are older than Melissa. I'm praying for her recovery.
Please join me in my prayers.
--A few months after I wrote the above words, Melissa died on August 1, 2003.
A Faithful Response: Read a book on prayer – and put into practice one suggestion.
1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." 2 He said to them, "When you pray, say:
" 'Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.' "
5 Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.' 7 "Then the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. 9 "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. 11"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
My eighteen-year-old niece was diagnosed three weeks ago with ovarian cancer. She'd been feeling bad for only a couple of weeks but had lost about 15 pounds in the second week. Two days later the doctors removed part of her female anatomy and scheduled her for a follow-up visit. At that visit, they told her the cancer was in her lymph nodes. She began chemotherapy last week. When I spoke to her after the operation, I joked, "You know, Melissa, there are easier ways to lose weight." We both laughed. We had already cried our separate tears. I am persistently praying for her recovery.
Jesus tells us in this passage that "everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened" (v. 10, NIV). I am praying for Melissa's recovery as I have prayed for few things in my life. Does this mean that my prayer will be answered? I don't know. I hope so; I pray so. "…yet because of the man's persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs" (v. 8, NIV).
In the last few weeks, I've learned much about ovarian cancer. It's very aggressive. The vast majority of women who get ovarian cancer are older than Melissa. I'm praying for her recovery.
Please join me in my prayers.
--A few months after I wrote the above words, Melissa died on August 1, 2003.
A Faithful Response: Read a book on prayer – and put into practice one suggestion.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Victoria
Hosea 1: 2-10
2 When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD." 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel." 6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. 7 Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the LORD their God." 8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. 9 Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God. 10 "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'
Hosea 1: 9 Lo-Ammi means not my people.
Victoria is my step-daughter. She is not my biological child. She was about 19 months old when her mom and I started dating. You see, her father had moved out of state and she lived with her mom all of the time. She began calling me "Bad" because she missed some syllables - I think.
She is four now and says all of the great sayings one can expect from a four year old. She expresses her mom's love of coffee, "Let's go to Starbuck's and have a frappuccino!" She is eating almost all the time; we try to limit her junk food - "can I please have one more junk?" She loves to "hug" her one-year-old brother and pull him down. And she loves to touch her older step-brother. She thinks her teacher is all-wise and corrects us when we say something "bad": "Oh, Mrs. Wasserman won't like that."
And going to bed is always a chore. There are many excuses each night: "I need a drink of water/vitamin/my doll/my bear/mecidine." "I didn't kiss you good-night." "You didn't say 'Sweet dreams, too.'" After all that, she comes out squinting: "I can't go to sleep. You guys are being too loud." But the real clincher is when she says: "I love you, Daddy." You see, sometimes she calls me "Brad" and sometimes she calls me "Dad," but it really doesn't matter because she is learning from me how a dad loves his child. I imagine that is how Hosea felt…
A Faithful Response: Take your daughter/step-daughter out on a date.
2 When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD." 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel." 6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. 7 Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the LORD their God." 8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. 9 Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God. 10 "Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'
Hosea 1: 9 Lo-Ammi means not my people.
Victoria is my step-daughter. She is not my biological child. She was about 19 months old when her mom and I started dating. You see, her father had moved out of state and she lived with her mom all of the time. She began calling me "Bad" because she missed some syllables - I think.
She is four now and says all of the great sayings one can expect from a four year old. She expresses her mom's love of coffee, "Let's go to Starbuck's and have a frappuccino!" She is eating almost all the time; we try to limit her junk food - "can I please have one more junk?" She loves to "hug" her one-year-old brother and pull him down. And she loves to touch her older step-brother. She thinks her teacher is all-wise and corrects us when we say something "bad": "Oh, Mrs. Wasserman won't like that."
And going to bed is always a chore. There are many excuses each night: "I need a drink of water/vitamin/my doll/my bear/mecidine." "I didn't kiss you good-night." "You didn't say 'Sweet dreams, too.'" After all that, she comes out squinting: "I can't go to sleep. You guys are being too loud." But the real clincher is when she says: "I love you, Daddy." You see, sometimes she calls me "Brad" and sometimes she calls me "Dad," but it really doesn't matter because she is learning from me how a dad loves his child. I imagine that is how Hosea felt…
A Faithful Response: Take your daughter/step-daughter out on a date.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Grace For The Journey....
This is an introduction for a blog featuring christian devotionals that I have already written and published. (Smyth & Helwys has given permission for me to re-publish these). This first blog will give you a little of my background.... I grew up in New Jersey attending an Episcopalian Church one a week. I was also in the choir - kids were allowed to join at age 10. Going away to college in Kentucky, I stopped going to church for several years. When I began again, I attended the local Methodist Church and Baptist and occasionally, the Episcopalian one. Formal church was not a big draw but I really enjoyed the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship my graduate year in school; I realized that church groups can mean community. I'd never felt that before. I flirted with the idea of going to seminary then but decided against it for a few years. I moved to Louisville, KY, and attended a Presbyterian church for a while, singing in their choir, and decided to attend the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (it was cheaper by far). I graduated in 1986 and then worked at a university as a hall director, using counseling skills to help students through life's events (like a suicide and community fund raisers and blood drives). I then worked as a Youth and Education minister from 1989-1993. I began writing and publishing articles then. I knew I did not want to stay a professional minister but also knew I wanted to keep writing.
The phrase "Grace for the Journey" comes from a former theology professor who autographed a book for me with that phrase; it's what I think we all yearn for. Sometimes Grace delivers us from the bad thihgs we do in life or the horrible things that have happened to us; sometimes we hope for Grace in our future; and sometimes the pain is so bad all we can do is know the promise that Grace will come very soon....
This blog is about Grace in my life and Grace for all of us to experience....
Many are from the following and Used with Permission
Reflections, Volume 4, Number 2, January 23-29, 1995.
Reflections, Volume 6, Number 3, June 23-29, 1997.
Reflections, Volume 8, Number 2, March 22-28, 1999.
Reflections, Volume 11, Number 3, August 19-31, 2002.
Reflections, Volume 13, Number 3, July 13-26, 2004.
Reflections, Volume 16, Number 2, April 19-30, 2007.
Smyth & Helwys Publishing Inc.
6316 Peake Road
Macon, GA 31210
The phrase "Grace for the Journey" comes from a former theology professor who autographed a book for me with that phrase; it's what I think we all yearn for. Sometimes Grace delivers us from the bad thihgs we do in life or the horrible things that have happened to us; sometimes we hope for Grace in our future; and sometimes the pain is so bad all we can do is know the promise that Grace will come very soon....
This blog is about Grace in my life and Grace for all of us to experience....
Many are from the following and Used with Permission
Reflections, Volume 4, Number 2, January 23-29, 1995.
Reflections, Volume 6, Number 3, June 23-29, 1997.
Reflections, Volume 8, Number 2, March 22-28, 1999.
Reflections, Volume 11, Number 3, August 19-31, 2002.
Reflections, Volume 13, Number 3, July 13-26, 2004.
Reflections, Volume 16, Number 2, April 19-30, 2007.
Smyth & Helwys Publishing Inc.
6316 Peake Road
Macon, GA 31210
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