Consider this

With all due respect, there is a huge difference between standing in line at the grocery store and standing in line for a ride at the fair. At the grocery store, the wait is boring. At the fair, you stare at the ride and anticipate what it is going to be like when you get to go on. At the store, the goal is to get through the line as quickly as possible, so you choose your line based on the number of people in it and how many items they are purchasing. At the fair, the length of the line is often irrelevant, because you choose your line based what is at the end (the ride). When you finally do get to the head of the line at the grocery store, there is no fanfare and it is not that interesting. You pay for your stuff and move on. At the fair, the head of the line means all kinds of things such as: excitement, fear, ups and downs, laugher, screams, having your stomach in your throat and "hanging on for the ride". Unfortunately, for too many people, faith is mor...

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). I have always heard that verse applied to either “evangelism”, or “preaching” with the emphasis being placed on the need for “boldness” in both. The idea being that we are not to be scared to share what we believe. That is not a bad lesson to take from this verse, but I do not think it is the only one, or even the most accurate one. What if Paul’s real concern is that Timothy is too timid for his own good? Maybe Timothy is missing out on God’s blessings by being too cautious and not trusting God enough. If that is the case, then this verse takes on a completely new meaning. Consider the context: Paul writes, “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (verse 5). Paul sees in Timothy that same spark, that same faith, that he saw in the rest of his f...

If you had a “Top Fuel Dragster” (one of those really long drag racing cars with the big wing on the back), you could get through our town in a heartbeat. Top fuel dragsters can reach speeds of 333 mph (536 km/h) and finish quarter mile runs in less than 4.5 seconds. Their acceleration is so amazing that they can go from a standstill to 100 mph (160 km/h) in as little as 0.7 seconds. They are absolutely bizarre to watch. As fast as they are, though, you could not drive one to Vancouver. In fact, if you lined one up on 4th street it would not make it to the weigh scales before blowing itself up. An article in “Popular Mechanics”, talking about the forces that these engines withstand, stated that by the time a Top Fuel dragster gets to the end of the quarter mile run, the valves in the engine are literally melting from the heat (if you ever go to a big drag racing event you will see the crews rebuilding the engines after every run). Those engines are designed to run as hard as pos...

When we were on vacation in Oregon this summer, we visited several lighthouses. At one, a man, dressed as the “keeper” of the lighthouse, explained how the lighthouse operated and what life was like in the 1870s. One of the most interesting things that he told us had to do with the expectations that came with being the lighthouse keeper. Not only was the light to be kept lit from an hour before sundown until an hour after sunrise, but the log book had to be up to date, the house had to be kept clean and, most interestingly (to me), the Keeper, as a member of the military, had to wear his uniform at all times while on the job. Now this was interesting for a couple of reasons. First, the uniform looked very uncomfortable (Google it and you will see). The three quarter length jacket looked very heavy and hot. The shirt, tie, wool pants and boots did not look like they were built for relaxing in and, to top it off, he had to wear his hat at all times. Trust me when I say that the g...

“The whole Israelite community… grumbled against Moses and Aaron… ‘He (the Lord) has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord’… ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling’…The Lord said to Moses, ’I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites’” (Selected portions of Exodus 16:1-12). When I read that passage for the first time this past week, I knew I had an easy sermon to preach. All I had to do was focus on two facts: First, these people were being led and blessed by God. Second, in spite of their blessings, they still found reasons to complain. Compare them to us, we live in one of the most prosperous countries in the world and yet the coffee shops are full of gripers, and this sermon was going to write itself. There was just one problem. The more I read the passage, the clearer it became that “grumbling” was not their real problem. They did not have an “attit...

If a picture is worth a thousand words, maybe sixty-two words that give you a picture are worth something too. When God rescued his people from Egypt, we read, “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people” (Exodus 13:21-22). I like the picture of God always being in front of them. They were not alone. Night and day, God was guiding their path and protecting them along the way. There was no guessing. They simply followed and went where God wanted them to go. What if that were said of us? What would our lives look like if we could truly say that we were being “led by God”? I have a hunch that we would end up looking a lot like Jesus. Think about the way he lived. What was his agenda? What would his appointment book or his “to do li...

In Isaiah 36, enemies of God’s people send them a series of messages designed to discourage them. Read over this list and see if you have ever heard Satan whispering these things in your ear. Lie #1: You are weak and helpless (Isaiah 36:4-6). That is good one. If Satan can make us believe this, if he can take away our hope, then we will quit before we even start. Why try if nothing will get better, right? Lie #2: God will not or cannot help you (verse 7). The two pronged approach here is to question God’s ability (“Sure he did all that stuff in the Bible, but this is ‘real life’”) and his disposition (“God is not going to help you after what you have done”). If Satan can make us think that God is either ineffective or that he is mad at us, we lose the very strength that we need. Lie #3: It is good to compromise (Verses 8-10). This works well for Satan because if we modify our beliefs enough, it is as good as giving them up completely. We feel faithful and yet we...