Category Archives: Philippians

They are only beautiful because they are dead!

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Nature explodes this time of year into awe-inspiring colors and hues. It’s like God is showing off his color palette. But it occurred to me that those colors are only possible because the leaves are dying. Their splendor is a product of their death.

All Summer the leaves were thriving, collecting sunlight and rain, doing their part to keep the tree alive and healthy. But now, at the end of their season, they have no more to give. Yet, when their energy is expended, when they are no longer able to be productive, they become their most attractive and glorious.

We’ve been fooled
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The crazy old couple

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A young couple brought their newborn child to church for the first time and hardly anybody noticed. Except for an old man and an old widow who got very excited. The old man believed he wouldn’t die until he had a very unusual experience. Today was the day!

The old woman lived at the church since the passing of her husband. When these two saw Joseph and Mary bringing the infant Jesus into the temple they did some crazy things. They excitedly took the baby, blessed the couple, prophesied and gave Mary some sad news. You can read all about it in Luke 2:25-38 but here is what is amazing and something I need to regularly remember.  Continue reading →

Holy Pie Plate, Batman!

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Jana and I have a special pie plate that looks like a pumpkin pie. So, naturally, you can only use it to hold a pumpkin pie. As great as a cherry or apple pie might be, it just wouldn’t be right to put one in this plate.

Imagine, and we’re going to get a little gross here so stop reading aloud if there are children in the room. Imagine if I handed you this nice warm pie plate, your taste buds got all set for pumpkin pie and you opened it to find … brussels sprouts. What an abomination! Continue reading →

I’m giving all my stuff away

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I know it sounds crazy but I’m really going to do it – give away everything I own.

But it’s really no big deal because, guess what, you’re going to do the same thing. And so is everyone you know. As they say, “You can’t take it with you.”

One day, everything we’ve worked hard for will be handed over to someone else. And for many of us, it will be our kids who pack up our treasures to be hauled off while asking each other, “Why did Dad keep all this junk?”

So, here’s my thought: It’s no big deal to leave all my “stuff” behind. I don’t have a choice in that. But, am I also choosing to leave behind anything of real value? Will my family, my friends, my coworkers, my neighbors – will the world be a better place because I passed through it?

And here’s an even crazier thought: Continue reading →

How do I work out my salvation?

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I'm working on itAs a new believer I found this passage (and a lot of other ones) totally confusing. I was told salvation was “not by works” yet here Paul clearly says work it out. So what’s up with that? I got a better understanding of what this was all about when I saw one thing and learned another.  Continue reading →

What are you full of?

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Crying out to GodOne day a broken hearted woman went to church to pray. Unfortunately she chose a church where the priest was out of touch with God. Since fervent and intense prayer was not something he was accustomed to when he saw her passionately imploring the Lord to answer her prayers, he assumed she must be drunk and rebuked her for coming to church like that.

Jesus said what we fill our heart with is what will inevitably come out our mouth. Because this priest’s heart was cold toward God his default setting was judgment, not mercy. He immediately assumed the worst rather than defaulting to the best. But love “always looks for the best”. (1 Corinthians 13:7 MSG)

What we fill our heart with colors how we see others and how we see the world. If we think the world is against us, that no one likes us, that people are judging us we react in ways that cause that to happen. If we are always attune to the negative, always quick with criticism, always assuming the worst we make it harder for people to approach us, to love us. Continue reading →

The Message of the SuperMoon

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supermoonBlood Moons, the SuperMoon, signs in the heavens … I don’t know about all the prophetic insights some folks see in these things. (After all, I have already lived through the end of the world several times – the comet Kohoutek, Y2K, 99 reasons the Lord will return in 1999, the alignment of the planets in 1982 and again in 2000, end of the Mayan Calendar December 21, 2012 and a few others.) I have no idea what the cosmic meaning of a SuperMoon is, I just try to live every day ready for his return.

But, I do know the SuperMoon is caused by the moon being closer than normal to the earth and I saw a message in that.

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A Message for Dads

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Absalom, Oh, AbsalomAbsalom is one of the villains of Scripture. He rebelled against his own father, the beloved King David.

But as I read his story my heart goes out to him. Look at some of the details and let me know what you think.
1. When a half-brother rapes his sister (2 Samuel 13) Absalom tenderly comforts her and takes her into his own home. He later names a daughter after this sister. What a kind, loving man he seems to be when we first meet him. But things start to change.
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I wonder ….

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I wonderIn 1 Kings 2, Solomon takes vengeance on his father’s enemies. God does not condone or condemn it, He just tells us what happened.  I wonder if the Lord might be giving us a prophetic picture of what is to come when the Lord Jesus ascends to the throne and takes out all the enemies of the kingdom. For example …

1. Abiathar, the priest.

David said he wanted Solomon to be king but that wasn’t the proper protocol. The law of succession said David’s oldest son should be king. Solomon was not the oldest and, in fact, wasn’t even a legitimate son. Abiathar tried to follow the law and keep Solomon from the throne. He only wanted to obey the law but by doing so he was putting it above the expressed will of the king. Abiathar’s life was spared but he lost his priesthood – ability to minister before the Lord.

Will there be those who inherit eternal life but are not permitted to minister to the Lord because they insisted on clinging to the law refusing to embrace grace?  Hmmm … I wonder. Continue reading →

If Paul doesn’t, who does?

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know christI want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

A passage that has been echoing in my heart for several months now is this one – Philippians 3:10. Paul says he has a deep desire to know Christ. My response: “What do you mean you want to know Christ?! Surely you know Him better than any man who ever lived.

The other Apostles walked with Him in the flesh and were trained by Him on this earth but you have walked with and were trained by the Glorified Christ in the third heaven.” (2 Corinthians 12:1-4) But Paul said he desired to know Him and in fact it was a main priority of his – “this one thing I do”. (Philippians 3:13) Continue reading →