Godly Insights for the 21st Century Life

"You give the sparrows everything they need You light the stars and you paint the leaves You clothe the lilies with your majesty And you don't even love them like you love me" ~ " Like You Love Me " - Tauren Wells     From the first time I heard this song, I absolutely loved it. Sure, the melody is catchy and fun to dance to, but that's not the reason. This song is a great reminder of an even greater truth: God loves people more than any other thing He created.     This song is based on Matthew 6:25-34. Part of the Sermon on the Mount, this passage is about trusting God rather than worrying. Jesus teaches that God feeds the sparrows and clothes the lilies more beautifully than any human being could ever be dressed. In saying this, Jesus was assuring us that we had no need to worry about anything because the God who cares even about the birds and the flowers will care even more about us because He made us in His image.     Now, I know from experience that th...

     This past year has been horrible in so many ways. Our world has been cowering in the shadow of a pandemic since March, and in some way, its tentacles have seeped into everyone's lives. The deaths of black men and women this spring at the hands of police sparked protests and riots for months. Wildfires burned through Australia, the Atlantic hurricane season spawned so many storms that meteorologists had to dig deep into the Greek alphabet for names, and murder hornets sprang up out of nowhere.      In a year with so much bad, it can be a challenge to remember the good things. I decided to take up the challenge to find 20 good things that happened this year, and while it was hard at first, once I started it was hard to narrow it down to only 20. Here, in no particular order, are 20 things that have been blessings in my life in the year 2020. Performing in  Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat :  This was a blessing this year i...

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." ~ Matthew 5:16      One of my pet peeves is people driving crazy on the highway. Their bad decisions could potentially put me in danger and prevent me from getting where I need to go. Most of the time, I don't know who they are and probably never will know. There have been times, however, where I may not know who the person is, but I know where they work because it's advertised on the side of their vehicle. Seeing the name of a business on the side or back of a vehicle driving dangerously or acting rudely towards other drivers makes me less likely to want to become a customer.       Recently this got me thinking about how I would act if I advertised that I am a Christian. Now, most of my friends and family already know I am a Christian, and most of them are as well. I do sometimes interact with those who aren't Christians...

Oh what I would do to have The kind of faith it takes To get out of this boat and Onto the crashing waves To step out of my comfort zone Into the realm of the unknown Where Jesus is And He's holding out His hand ~ " Voice of Truth "-Casting Crowns      Earlier this year in one of the online services, my home church did a sermon about Jesus walking on the water and Peter joining him. Our deacon talked about how important it is for us to step out in faith even when it's hard. Unfortunately,  as proven by a letter we received a couple of weeks ago, she and the other leaders are still firmly in the boat when it comes to reopening the church.     My favorite telling of this Gospel story comes from the song quoted above.  No one really wants to step out of their comfort zone. In the words of Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory , "It's called the comfort zone for a reason." However, as the song says, Jesus is standing outside of our comfort zone waiting for...

      One of the projects I started working on this summer is a collection of short stories about people in the Gospels who have a life-changing experience but don't have a name. I had been thinking about doing it for a while because I was intrigued by their stories and wondered what the rest of their lives might have been like. I knew that there was a greater depth to some of these stories than the Gospel writers mentioned. I decided to write each story from the person's perspective so readers could explore how these people viewed their interactions with Jesus.     The first story I tackled was that of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11). A sermon I heard earlier this year talked about this story. In the sermon, it was mentioned that the law stated that both parties caught in adultery should be stoned, yet only the woman was brought out. I began thinking about who the man was and why he was not implicated as well. Later on, I read the passage from Leviti...

We're living in a world that keeps breaking But if we want to find a way to change it It all comes down to this Love God, love people ~ Danny Gokey, " Love God, Love People "      These past few months have been crazy. A pandemic has been working its way through almost every country in the world. Churches and schools have closed, and many are not opening again anytime soon.  "Essential services" has been defined in such a way that abortion is allowed while important surgeries and therapies are put on hold. Many people are without work with no end in sight. Mask mandates have led to violent confrontations between employees and customers. Tragic deaths of blacks at the hands of police have led to protests and riots. Governments throughout the country come up with mandates to help curb the spread of the virus for people's physical health without giving a second thought to their mental and spiritual health.      All these things can make our situat...

"And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some , but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching." ~ Hebrews 10:24-25, emphasis mine     Soon after things started shutting down to help control the spread of the Coronavirus, I predicted that the longer the shutdowns drug on, the harder it would be to start things up again once it was safe to do so. Now that most places are opened up again, I am starting to see that I was right. Stores and restaurants aren't nearly as busy as they used to be, movie theatre chains aren't yet opening their doors even in the locations where they can do so, and events that had been rescheduled from spring to summer are rescheduling again to next year. In most cases, this doesn't bother me because it means I don't have to deal with as many people while I'm out and about. The one place it does bother me is churches fallin...