Month: March 2007

Which Way Am I Growing?

Some folks grow old gracefully, while others become grouchy and ill-tempered. It’s important to know which way we’re growing, because we’re all growing older.

Evening

The evening is one of my favorite times of day. It’s a time to look back, take stock, and reflect on the events of the day—whether good or bad. When weather permits, my wife and I walk, or sometimes we’ll just fix a pot of coffee and talk with each other about our day and what we’ve accomplished. It’s a time for careful thought and evaluation, for thanksgiving, and for prayer.

Noon

Our office is a busy place where things sometimes feel like they are moving at breakneck speed. This often involves meeting after meeting, hallway conferences, and an avalanche of e-mail.

Morning

On a teaching trip to the Bible lands, our study group had just spent a restful night at our Tiberias hotel. When I awoke, I went to my window and gazed at the beauty of the sunrise on the Sea of Galilee. As I thought ahead to the places we would be visiting that day—the same places where Jesus had walked 2,000 years before—I was excited about the opportunities of the day that had begun with the splendor of the sunrise.

Unlikely Heroes

The book of Judges is an account of God’s people descending into spiritual indifference and rebellion. After the death of Joshua and his peers, the next generation “forsook the Lord God of their fathers, . . . and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them” (Judg. 2:12).

Eeyore Theology

How does a believer in Jesus Christ cope with life’s brevity and burdens without giving in to what Michael Easley of Moody Bible Institute calls “Eeyore theology”? Eeyore, Winnie-the-Pooh’s gloomy donkey friend, always walks slowly with his head down. He sees the negative side of everything. An Eeyore Christian can be heard making statements like these: “Sin is rampant everywhere—even in the church.” “The world is in worse shape than ever.” “God is about to judge us for our wickedness.”

Hearing The Sermon Again

A story is told about a man who preached an impressive sermon, seeking to be the pastor of a new church. Everybody loved it and voted for him to become their new pastor. They were a bit surprised, however, when he preached the same sermon his first Sunday there—and even more surprised when he preached it again the next week. After he preached the same sermon the third week in a row, the leaders met with him to find out what was going on. The pastor assured them, “I know what I’m doing. When you start living out this sermon, I’ll go on to my next one.”

For Her

When my wife had dental surgery, she was out of commission for the weekend. While she was recuperating, I had the daunting task of taking care of her and the kids. I cooked, washed dishes, made special trips to the store for her, and bathed the kids. When I saw all I had done, I thought to myself, I deserve extra credit and reciprocal service when she gets better. Before I gave myself too many pats on the back, however, the Holy Spirit reminded me that what I was doing was my privilege and duty as a Christian husband.

Keep On

“Keep on travelin’. Keep on . . .” sang the teenagers of the Dayspring Chorale. They had just sung the first five words of their Sunday evening concert when everything went dark. All power was gone.