The King is Coming

We are little more than 10 days away from Easter celebrations. In that time when we remember what Christ did for us, we must also praise the Lord for what He continually does, and what He is about to do - much sooner than a world in denial wants to even recognize:

Nothing Wasted

I loved being on Granddaddy's farm. Granny would cook on a wood oven, and there was a wood stove in the living room that heated the whole house. It was a place of great adventure and wonder.

Where are we going?

I just finished reading an interesting article about Tim Tebow's decision to cancel a scheduled appearance at the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas (you can find the article here).

The face of God

Yesterday a friend's grandson celebrated his first birthday. I remember when my wife and I went to the hospital to be with the family when he was born. After we were informed of his birth, we waited until time for us to go to the nursery to see him for the first time.

I remembered back to the birth of my own son. At first he was blue, and the delivery team had to deal with those attending issues. But finally there came a time when I was able to hold him in my arms for the first time. In my mind, he was the most beautiful, the most perfect creature I had ever seen. I knew I was going to be totally preoccupied with his very existence for quite a while.

Do you remember when your first child was born? Your first grandchild? You counted all the fingers and toes to make sure the count was right. You watched everything to function properly. You probably even wanted to see which side of the family the baby resembled most. All in all, you were immediately in love with this brand new person.

This gives us a unique perspective on how God might have felt the first time He saw Adam's face. 

I want more

Imagine this: the very first conscious memory you have is a picture of your dad's face being less than six inches away from your own. He is smiling, holding your head in his hands. He is talking to you, and the best word to describe how you feel is safe. There is no place on earth that compares to the feeling you have when you are in your father's arms.

Follow Me

When was the last time you had an "Aha!" moment? You know, one of those moments when something you've seen or read a thousand times you suddenly see and understand in an entirely new light for the first time.

I had one of those recently when I was reading in Matthew:

The Lord is my Shepherd

"The Lord is my Shepherd."

Anyone who has ever heard the Scripture passage above can usually tell you how comforted they are when they think of the portion from which it is quoted. And it is a comfort and solace to many. The whole Psalm speaks of being cared for, guided, guarded, commended, elevated in front of enemies. It speaks of being in God's favor, having a position of particular identity with Him, and of having an intimate relationship with the God of the Universe. What a wonderful place to be.

One might think that God had bestowed special status on the writer to the extent that He will carry out the writer's requests at a moment's notice.

The supposition is that God is passively involved with His creation. His presence is required only for answering prayers favorable to the petitioners so that life can continue pleasantly. When not needed, God can be off somewhere doing something else for anyone else. As such, God has been portrayed as being a distant parent - uncaring, uncommunicative, whimsical - anything but engaged with His creation. Since being cast out into the world, man is left to fend for himself, making progress by his own efforts. God has abandoned His creation.

His Cross, Our Cross

And He said to them all, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23

Anytime we consider Jesus, in either conversation, prayer, or any other pursuit, invariably the cross can become part of the issue. It is difficult to be involved in any aspect of Christian life without the cross being somewhere in the picture. It is a defining icon of our identification with Christ.

What do you think of when you see a cross? A group of Christians was asked this question recently. Some of their answers are listed below: