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Staying Rooted in the Midst of Rootlessness
In an ever-changing culture that seems anchorless and chaotic with no moral compass, this rootless tree on Highway #290 en route to our town, grabs my attention. In its rootlessness is a metaphor that speaks of the end result of living without the soul nourishing awareness of God and His Presence. With no anchor or guidance cultural impact is very disconcerting, scary depressing and hopeless, especially if you only focus on the dead tree. God never intended for His children to be rootless – alone, no life within, no access to growth.He provided all we need to be well-rooted and stable in the midst of cultural rootlessness. Roots are important…
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The Clarity of Death
“It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2). My father died recently. He was always sharp, quick with a pun or a play on words, an accountant by trade who worked until he was seventy-seven years old. He was a student of the Bible for almost sixty years. He did a lot of reading, writing, and “sparring” (personal debating) over the years, quoting folks like Barnhouse and Spurgeon in the process. But dementia overtook him these last few years. He could no longer…
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Life Without the Holy Spirit and Other “what if’s”?
Following up the season of Christmas and settling in to the New Year 2015 join me in engaging these “what if” questions and the ultimate trajectory their reality would lead to. Doing this offers a startling outcome. Consider with me for a moment: What if God had not given? What if He had not provided a model? What if God had not had compassion on the lost and needy world and had not sent a rescuer to offer The Ultimate Gift of Himself? Would anyone in any century, in any geographical location EVER, ever been able to conceive from within their fallen, separated from God, sinful, selfish grid of seeing…
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John 3:16 Valentine Craft
Valentine’s Day is an opportune time to share about God’s love with your children or your Sunday school class. One of my favorite crafts I’ve seen recently is a John 3:16 heart coloring page. The heart contains the acrostic word “valentine,” and includes the verse John 3:16. If you wanted, you could also modify the craft to make Valentine cards with the coloring page template. I love that the craft is fun, simple, and requires minimal materials. I also love that it is easy to incorporate the gospel message. Simply walk kids through the verse using the simple salvation outline of what God wants people to know: (1) His love,…
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The Polarities of Advent
The polarities of good and evil erupt in the larger metanarrative of salvation history – creation, fall, redemption, new creation. The birth of Christ, a hugely joyous occasion to celebrate, is followed by His death and suffering – the whole reason the baby is born. Other polarities surface: the cost of leaving heaven and entering fallen earth; Mary’s delight of being chosen by God to carry His Son and a tarnished reputation; the worship of the Christ Child by the humble shepherds and wise men from the East and the wailing of the murder of all baby boys under 2 years old as ordered by the paranoid and evil king…
