From My Heart

Well, I don't normally get into writing about political issues and I don't really intend to now, but I was just so inspired by Rick Green from Wall Builders speaking at our church last night that I couldn't pass up the opportunity entirely. Recently, Larry and I hosted several couples from our Sunday School class for Sunday lunch. One of our guests is very involved in local politics and the discussion turned to some of the issues facing our city. In one incident, a business was seeking permission from the city commission to open in town. While it is a perfectly legal establishment, some felt it was not the sort of business venture we would want to see in our sleepy, conservative little burg. Unfortunately, the measure passed and the business was granted access. After the commission meeting, one of the commissioners confronted my friend (who opposed the measure) and said, "Where were the churches?" Where, indeed? Not one church showed up to voice an opinion i...

There is nothing more beautiful than the bright red male cardinal. I love my bird feeders. I can sit for hours and watch the birds - and other critters attracted by free food - coming to the feeders. When we moved back in January, one of the things I couldn't wait to do was get the feeders up. I found a very picturesque spot in the yard. I bought new seed. I filled the feeders and hung them out. And waited....and waited....and waited....   Nothing. Occasionally, one lone cardinal would grace the feeder for a few seconds and then he was off. Now that we have been in the house for a few months, I began to notice something. Just a few feet away from the feeders, is an area with a large hedge - almost a little wooded area on the edge of the yard. The thing is full of birds. I know, I know... its not that far for them to fly to get to where the feeder is. But they don't. So finally, I moved the feeders. Within an hour, there were multiple birds that were on th...

There is a canal that runs behind the building where I work. It resembles the back of any strip center...bare, block walls, dumpsters, recycling, etc... People use the canal at times for a trash can - a plastic bottle here, a trash bag there, all manner of detritus usually found in such places. And yet...  The water flowing through the ditch is remarkably clear. You can see the sandy bottom and the water plants waving in the current. near a culvert behind the dumpster, there are thousands of little minnows - new life in the midst of the trash. Along on bank a violet peeks out of the grass, a yellow sulphur butterfly flutters past my face, and a huge, brilliant purple dragonfly hovers over the water. There is beauty even here. Isaiah 61:1-3 "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners...

One of my acquaintances and fun Facebook friends posted tonight, "Rough day? Well, tell Him about it.......then buy new shoes!" Wish I had read that a little earlier - I SO would have gone shopping tonight! Of course, her post was accompanied by a picture of the cutest little wedges... I didn't make it shopping, but I can certainly fulfill the first part of her statement. And as I sit down to read my daily Bibile reading...trudging through Deuteronomy this week...I come across this gem in 33:27 "The Lord is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." Rough day? God is your refuge... Too often we look to material possessions, jobs, friends, money, and more for comfort during difficult times. I am certainly not going to deny that a new pair of shoes hasn't superficially gotten me through a crisis on occasion, but they fall into that category of treasures on earth that moths and rust destroy(Matt 6:19). For that permanent comfort that we all crave...

I have a sweet friend at church who recently gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. In addition to this child, she has a little daughter named Grace. When she returned to work, she entrusted the care of the new baby to her mother who posted her excitement on Facebook. I would like to quote her post, "Loving my new job! [My grandson] is the perfect baby and I get to see Grace everyday! Man, it doesn't get any better than this!" I had to turn this one over in my head a few times... We should all be so excited... We should all be seeing Grace everyday. Of course, not the person Grace, but God's grace. Yet we run headlong into our day with blinders on our eyes. Or maybe we are so overwhelmed by a circumstance that we just can't see past it and we forget the graciousness of God. Isaiah 30:18 says "The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion..." God doesn't just kinda want to show us grace - He LONGS to show us grace. He RISES to...

This past Sunday, there was discussion in our Sunday School class about the two things we have difficulty grasping as humans that keep us from seeing our need for a Savior: The depravity of our sin. The holiness of God. We talked about how we have a hard time accepting that we are truly sinners because we think we are good people. We aren't criminals, terrorists, drunks or drug addicts. We must be ok. In the story of Jesus crucifixion, there is an unlikely representative of us as sinners. One who knew the power of the cross of Christ in a more tangible way than anyone, and yet, he probably had no idea... Picture this: a convicted criminal sits in a Roman jail cell in Jerusalem. He doesn't know what is happening outside his walls. He gets a little of the crowd noise and he probably knows it is Passover. He awaits his sentence knowing that it is probably going to cost him his life. He can't hear Pilate's questions to the crowd, but what if he could hear the crowd...

Recently, I was listening to a pastor speak about worship and he made the statement, "I never sing anything I don't mean." That statement came back to me with force this morning. Of course, being Palm Sunday, we are singing many songs about the cross. How about this line: "I believe in a hill called Mount Calvary. I'll believe whatever the cost." Just let that sink in for a minute....whatever the cost...hmmmm. How about this old favorite invitation hymn: "All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give." Everything? No matter the cost? Just how far am I willing to take this, anyway? "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship." Romans 12:1 A living sacrifice.... Sacrifices in the scripture usually involved the loss of life. Dictionary.com says a sacrifice is "The surrender or destruction of something pr...