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It would be just like him

The God of the Bible looks like Jesus, the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. It would be just like him to go to the cross.

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Practicing Our Scales

Imagine if our walk with Christ, representing his kingdom in the world, were as practiced and pure as Hania Rani’s fingers on the piano keys.

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Rescue

I practice the spiritual discipline of rescuing earthworms on paved surfaces. It's a reminder to me that I can pause what I'm doing, get a little dirty, and help. Also, that I've been given the responsibility to care.

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Your Roots Are Showing

The life that I bring to the world can only be found in my attachment to Christ. His presence with me is essential.

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Connection

I live in a U.S. county with traffic problems. It's a peninsula, and what's not swamp land has been developed. Building new roads is difficult and expensive. Making things worse, roads that could connect don't.

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What's in the Bowl?

During a spring trip, my wife and I purchased a glass bowl. It's colorful and handmade. When I turn the bowl upside down, nothing falls out. Does that make it empty?

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Knowing Knowing

First Order

Love God. Love neighbor. God, with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. My neighbor, as myself. God's kingdom has an economy of love and trust. Love is the gift of self.

Love of God is primary in both the Old Covenant and the New. My gift of self to God looks like humility, surrender, and heart obedience. This sets the map for Jesus' close-second command, loving myself and my neighbor.

Flipping this order can lead to worldly, fleshly, ungodly concepts of love, expressed in legalism and license. Since God is love, genuine love cannot be un-God-like, un-Jesus-like.

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Kingdom Kingdom

Ground Cloud

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. ⏤ Heb. 12:1b-2

The fog of suffering and injustice is disconcerting. It's confusing and disorienting. We hear sounds we can't place: accusation, condemnation, ridicule, disaffiliation, dehumanization. But Evil is a ground cloud. God invites us to lift our eyes, look up, and set our focus on Jesus in whom we've placed our trust.

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Kingdom Kingdom

Orange Vests

There are times when suffering and injustice surround us like a dense fog. We feel overwhelmed and paralyzed by it all. Fred Rogers, Mister Rogers, was taught as a child to "look for the helpers." There will always be helpers. This should be an encouragement and invitation. Could we be helpers too? Could we wear orange vests so we can be easily found?

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