God

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A “Memorial Stone” from 1992 – Part 1

Last week I wrote about the idea of memorial stones—tangible reminders of God’s faithfulness. Today I’d like to share the first of three related events that happened quite a while ago, but which still feed my faith today.

It was October, 1992. Pete had been invited to a major mission conference to be held in San Jose, Costa Rica, to provide technical training for the attending missionaries….

Our whole family [Pete, myself, and our two elementary school-aged daughters] got up at about 4 a.m. for the hour-long shuttle ride to the airport. We arrived at 5:30 for the 6:45 flight. As we collected our luggage, we suddenly realized that Pete’s black computer bag was not among the suitcases. That computer was rather critical to the success of a trip that was mainly technical! Yet, there was simply no time to go back home and get it.

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Rock Your Memory

They say that our memories are the first thing to go… and apparently God agrees.

The third chapter of Joshua relates the story of the Israelites crossing the Jordan River into the promised land. In order to get all those people across from one side to the other, God stopped the flow of water. Instead of rushing by in torrent, the river piled up into a wall far upstream while the tribes walked across on dry land.

While the Jordan miracle was perhaps not quite of the same magnitude as the parting of the Red Sea, it was still an extremely significant milestone in the history of Israel. Moses led the people out of slavery; here Joshua is leading them into the fulfillment of God’s promises.

Such an important event needed to be remembered, so God instructed Joshua to have twelve men, one from each tribe, collect twelve stones from the middle of the river bed (See chapter 4). They carried these stones to their camp and set them up as a memorial. Joshua 4:24 explains, “He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”

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How to Make Yourself Miserable

I have a friend who’s been pretty miserable lately. This is someone I care a lot about, and I’ve been praying for her daily. As sometimes happens when we pray for someone, I’ve gained some insight into her situation. Perhaps the Spirit told me directly, perhaps I simply recognized a situation that’s all too familiar. Either way, it’s clear to me that she’s running from God.

Mind you, my friend is a Bible-believing Christian. That’s not the issue. Rather, God has asked her for something that she’s unwilling to give Him. Never mind that it would greatly benefit her to do so. Never mind that God will take better care of it than she ever could. Giving up something that is a deep part of ourselves is never easy.

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Full-time Ministry

Does God care what you do for a living? Are some jobs more spiritual than others? Or more significant?

I think many of us subconsciously assume that “full time ministry” jobs are God’s favorites. After all, he called some fisherman and changed them into evangelists. He called one shepherd and asked him to free his people from slavery in Egypt, and another to become king of Israel.

But how many people does God ask to remain fishermen or shepherds? Is that a calling? Is working in a factory, writing software, or selling appliances something God wants us to do?

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Are You a Christian?

Are you a Christian?

Sometimes the answer is obvious. Sometimes it’s not.

If you have a vibrant, intimate relationship with God, where you hear His voice and tell Him your innermost thoughts, where you rely on Him to guide you and strengthen you as you live your life completely entwined with His, loving and serving others… then I’d feel pretty confident agreeing that you are a Christian.

If your claim to faith is based on being born to Christian parents, or into a “Christian” nation, but you never read a Bible or pray, you never go to church (on only on Easter), you have no interest in God whatsoever and are pretty satisfied with that state of affairs, well, you might want to read the fine print on your fire insurance policy (start with Matthew 7:23 or Luke 13:27).

Most of us who call ourselves Christian fall somewhere between these two examples. At some point in our lives, we’ve prayed the “sinner’s prayer” acknowledging our failings and subsequent need for mercy and forgiveness. We own a Bible and read it at times. We go to church, unless there’s a big game on. (If we’re super spiritual, we only skip church if our team is in the playoffs.) We can speak fluent “Christianese.” And we pray for God to help us, especially if life isn’t going our way at the moment. God is in our lives, but is He in charge?

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The Spiritual Value of an iPhone

product-hero-iphone4-1Glenn Packiam is one of the pastors at our church, and a very wise man of God. I’ve recommended both his books (Butterfly in Brazil and Secondhand Jesus) in previous posts; this time I want to direct you to his blog.

Everything Glenn writes is gold—but this post I’d rate as platinum—or iridium! He has managed to take something we can all relate to and use it to convey a priceless spiritual truth. And he did it in under 200 words. You gotta read this!

Practicing the Presence of an iPhone

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Book Review: Trusting in His Goodness

Trusting cover-1Can you trust God?

That’s the question this book raises—is God someone we can trust, not only when things are going well, but when life is one catastrophe after another? In the midst of our pain and trials, can we depend on God to come through for us?

Rather than spouting off unsatisfying pat answers, authors Mimi Wilson and Shelly Cook Volkhardt take the reader through a series of easy-to-understand lessons—digging into scripture to find God’s promises, and illustrating each point with examples from their own experience or the experiences of those they know. You feel that you’re sitting at the kitchen table, having tea together, while they relate what they’ve learned in the valleys of their lives.

The truth of God’s goodness, the very essence of His character, forms a firm foundation for a series of practical applications anyone can relate to.

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Signs in the Stars?

Do you read your horoscope when you see it in the paper? Or do you subscribe to one of the astrology apps on Facebook or Google?

Do you consider yourself a Bible-believing Christian?

Lately I’ve noticed that a number of acquaintances, both from church and otherwise, are making references to their horoscopes for the day. Since I’ve always believed that God got pretty angry about people consulting astrologers, I was quite disturbed by this. How had I arrived at my opinion? Was it Biblical? Seems like it was time for some research.

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Is God a Slot Machine?

coke3God is not a vending machine. How many times have we heard that statement? We know that we can’t manipulate God—that while he does promise to reward us when we follow Him, that reward is only guaranteed to arrive once we’re in heaven. A quick read of Hebrews 11 makes this abundantly clear: “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.” While prosperity preachers may promise riches here on earth if we’ll only send them our money, our true treasure is waiting for us in heaven, safe and secure.

Yes, I know very well that God is not a vending machine. But this morning He woke me up and reminded me that He’s not a slot machine, either.

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Life is Fatal

Life is fatal.

Just by being born, we know that one day we are going to die. And while none of us knows the exact number of our days, there are some things we can do, or not do, that might affect when we succumb to our mortality.

More specifically, some of us are risk takers, while others of us prefer to be more conservative with our lives.

One of our daughters works at a small design company. The owner is pretty much fearless. He travels to parts of the world most of us would be happy to avoid. And once there, it seems that he looks for trouble. While he has some pretty amazing stories, he’s not the travel companion most parents would wish for their 28-year-old daughter.

However, since this is a design firm, creativity is a requirement. To get his designers thinking outside the box,  the owner likes to shake these mostly young and single artists out of their comfort zones. Recently, this email was distributed to a number of employees:

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