Category: New Beginnings

“Don’t judge.” Jesus said that, and I suspect He was serious. I’m supposed to do my best to not judge other people. God’s the judge. I’m not. When I judge someone, I try to become God. Pretty serious stuff, right? For Lent this year I decided to take the notion of judging seriously. I’m not […]

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Can you imagine Jesus pointing us back to “the good old days”? I can’t. The idea of striving for a return to an imaginary past in which everything was somehow better doesn’t fit at all with following Jesus as I understand Him. Jesus is about moving forward, about taking risks. He’s about an unfolding story of […]

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Happy New Year! I’m not a New Year’s Resolutions guy. However, I do find this to be a useful season to slow down a bit and take some time to reflect, reevaluate, and recalibrate. I’m reminding myself to think more about the big picture. I know God sees things from a perspective I can’t imagine, but I can […]

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I take inspiration where I find it. One of my all-time favorite movies is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Mega-famous actors, cowboys, chase scenes, romance, drama, great music, even an iconic bicycle encounter with an angry bull…what’s not to love about a film in which Butch concludes another caper with the line, “Boy, I got vision, […]

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Forty-six years ago this week, two humans first stood on the moon. July 20, 1969 offered an historic opportunity for perspective. Many folks saw an opportunity to look toward the stars. Others turned and gazed homeward. The shining blue Earth reminded me of a curious bit of advice I saw recently. The author suggested if […]

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Ever feel like you needed to rescue someone? As a new teacher, I was sure I had a lot to offer. The students needed me. They needed what I had. I was the outside expert parachuting into their world to save them from their ignorance and give them what they couldn’t possibly get for themselves. As […]

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Have you watched A.D. The Bible Continues? I caught a random episode last weekend and got absolutely caught up in one scene. On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace […]

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I like to think I don’t judge people. Problem is, I like to think a lot of things that aren’t true. Sadly, not-judging is one of them. I’m thinking about this because our small group is doing a study of the life of Abraham, and I find myself frequently being sure the guy was an […]

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It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1) There are two kinds of freedom. Freedom from allows life without oppression, injustice, tyranny, abuse, or violence. Freedom from insures my right to live my life as […]

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I wish I could talk to the baby in the Nativity scene. I know–it’s only a wooden carving, and conversations with babies tend to be sort of one-sided anyway. And it’s Jesus, so I can talk to Him whenever I want. It’s just that when I look at the baby I wish the man He […]

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If Advent’s about anticipation, what was that first Advent like for Jesus? I look at the helpless baby in the manger and wonder what it was like as He waited. Because He wasn’t always a baby. Time had never been an issue, but now there was this moment in time when everything would change. He […]

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