Another Question...

It seems like the most conversation we got was when there was a question posted!

So...let's try that again!

What happens when GOD the CHURCH and the WORLD all intersect?

Discuss!

Could it be....SATAN?

Remember that great SNL character Enid Strict, "The Church Lady"? Dana Carvey had me busting a gut when he'd  call out a celebrity for following their "naughty parts" or when he'd do the "Superior Dance" after making a point. The best by far would be the way the Enid would call out any disagreeable situation as being the work of the evil one. "Hmmmm", she'd ponder, "could it be...SATAN?! Take a look at Matthew 16:21-28. Peter has just confessed for the guys that Jesus is the Christ, Son of the Living God. Quite a statement, for which Peter gets a holy pat on the back and the promise that upon these confessing words Jesus Himself will build His church. A beat later, as Jesus says that He will suffer many things, die and rise again Peter says "No way! You can't let that happen! We won't let that happen!" (my words, not Peter's!)  Jesus replies "Get behind me Satan!" Whoa! Peter? Satan? Is Jesus being a little harsh? After all, Peter is just looking out for his friend. His heart seems to be in the right place - there's no horns and pitchfork, just genuine love for a brother, right? Well, Scripture has taught us to trust Jesus' judgement - so we need to look at why He calls out Peter for who is influencing his sentiment. There's that old saying that goes "when you love someone, set them free." we have a lot of trouble doing that. We add "if they don't come back, hunt them down!" Our sentimental love, our reliance on holding on to what we believe will give us the greatest joy and fulfillment is fertile ground for the father of lies. Could it be...Satan? Yup! He has a way of making love selfish, while Jesus teaches that love is sacrifice. Satan has a way of  convincing us that we must hold on to what we think is good rather than except what God thinks is good. It started at the tree and continues today. Jesus rebukes, and yet there is comfort. The comfort comes from a  God that will take that which we see as a travesty, namely a cross - and turn it into glory through the resurrection. Jesus has overcome Satan with a cross for you and me. It is this cross that we bear, knowing that it doesn't make sense and all of our "friends" will shake their heads in disbelief. The power of the cross is a death to self and desire and a life unto God and one another. Read it again. See the glory in the cross of Christ and the honor of a life of carrying that cross to others!

Lovely Love

LOVE - four little letters that can get us into a heap load of trouble! In Romans 12:9-11 Paul uses a couple different words to express what is really love. "Let love be genuine", Paul writes. This love, in Greek a-ga-pe, cannot be false because it is the love that cannot be separated from faith. When Paul says to let it be genuine he is reminding us that we cannot saddle agape love with our own sentimental feelings. Being "slothful in zeal" is just that, cheap sentiment. We've all seen the weepy preacher or the overly emotional worship leader. We're supposed to believe that it is their tears that validate their devotion. Paul goes on to talk about what real love looks like - it's so important that he uses two similar words to get the idea across to us - "love one another with brotherly affection." Philostorgos and philadeliphia - love one another like family, with brotherly love! This is real and genuine, to outdo one another in showing one another that we love one another! Wow! Loving out of faith in the one who loved you and gave Himself up for you is a love that can never be faked! Read the rest of Paul's words in Romans 12:12-21 to see what a life centered in the agape of Christ and the philadephia toward community really looks like! Look at your faith, look at your love and then, friends, live them both!

I'm BACK!

Wasn't that debate fun? Words are tricky, particularly when they're written. Big church or church big - what does THAT mean? Well, even when words are spoken there is a divide between what we hear and what we know. The great Jim Croce sang "every time I tried to tell you the words just came out wrong, now I'll have to say I love you in a song." We all struggle with words and meanings, so I believe that's why God sings to us in His own amazing way. The prophet Jeremiah struggled - wow, did he ever! Just try and read Jeremiah without falling into his angst ridden complaints! Check out Jeremiah 15:10-21. The prophet has trouble with the very words he has faithfully preached to the people. He has trouble because it seems like every time he tried to speak of God's love for His people, the words must have come out wrong - because the people hate Jeremiah for the very words that leave his mouth. This is not only the pastors' lament, but that of any who has "eaten" the Word; read, marked and inwardly digested as Luther put it - the whole truth of God and receives nothing but grief when you try to share the meal! So what's the solution to Jeremiah and to us? Simple...return to the fact that God's precious Word is for you first! The promise of God is found in His Word, rightly divided - Law for our wandering ear and Gospel for our broken heart. God has sung out His love song to only one tune. It's a spectacular symphony, a movement that takes us from a manger to a cross to an empty tomb - where the Living Word Jesus Christ sings in a voice that can never be silenced. The questions born of misunderstood words, big church or church big, saved or not saved, hope or no hope are all touched by God's song in Christ Jesus - friends...turn UP the volume! Blast God's Word into your life and enjoy the tune of His love!

I'm AWAY!

Hey all-

I'm out on a conference until tomorrow evening, so I'll be unable to post up a more complete devotion. Think on this and comment...

Is it better to be a BIG Church or to do church BIG?

Let the debate begin!

Who do YOU hang with?

The Japanese say, "When the character of a person is not clear to you, look at their friends." Take a moment to think about who you hang out with -who you consider to be your friends. In the Psalms David talks about this a few times. In Psalm 26 he says "I do not sit with men of falsehood, not do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked." So...who do you hang with? I wonder if we can always tell! After all, I 'm fairly confident we cannot look into the hearts of others. Unless they are truly reprobate - openly and unabashedly wicked, it be impossible to know which humans to avoid and which to keep company with! I'm not sure that was David's intention here. When He asks God to vindicate him, to judge his sincerity, King David is looking to the King of the Universe to prove his heart and mind. The place where David finds hope is in the steadfast love and faithfulness of God, over and above the falsehood and evil of men. In the presence of God, David trusts that He has been washed clean and can boldly proclaim all that God has and continues to do for him. Who does David hang with? God! Who do you hang with? Well...through the miracle of a virgin birth, the life, death and resurrection of of Jesus, you hang with God always! He is the eternal presence in your heart, the Spirit that plants your feet on level ground and shouts through your life in glorious acclaim! Bless the Lord! He is the company you keep, through Jesus' love!

Was Jesus a Texan?

"How ya'll doin?" When I used to travel into the southern U.S. - particularly into Texas, I'd here this greeting whether I was in a group of people or all alone. When I was alone, it  struck me as strange to refer to a single as "ya'all". I'd become uncomfortable, thinking maybe that waitress was seeing folks that I was unaware of! In Matthew 16:13-20 Jesus and His crew may as well be in Texas, or California or most anywhere outside of the area that they were used to visiting. Caesarea Philippi was as far north as Scripture says Jesus traveled - outside of Galiliee in location and a world away in belief. It was a place of pagan worship to the mythical god Pan and a marble temple to the political god Caesar Augustus. If these are considered "gods", it is fitting that Jesus asks "Who do people say that I am?" The four answers given are one - people think Jesus is the one who points to the way to God. In this case, a temple to Jesus would fit right in the neighborhood of old C.P. If Jesus only points us to God, that means that we must be moved to honor, dedicate and sacrifice to Jesus so that our individual path remains clear to the Almighty. This means that our desire to reach God must go through our religion - personal acts to keep connected to that which is unreachable. Jesus asks another question. He says, "Who do YA'LL say that I am?" Speaking to His disciples, the grammar takes on the flavor of sweet Texas BBQ! It's comforting, familiar, relational - it is, more properly, "all ya'll" according to my Texan friends! In this word Jesus asks a individual/collective question - it queries the heart of each man and the soul of the group. Peter answers for "all ya'll" when he says, "You're the Christ, the Son of the LIVING God!" These words are a rock, a foundational confession of who Jesus really is! He is not some temple of our own making, man's feeble attempt to reach and please God. He is the Christ, the anointed, the Son of God who is living and active with us and for us! Jesus is the God who makes all ya'll into a people for Himself -  In faith we are a we made up of me's -all ya'll!  Check it out again! Hear Jesus words to all ya'll and see the calling He has given us - to share this great news in all the C.P.'s of the world!

All for one and one for all!

Faith and paradox go hand in hand. How can we be saint and sinner at the same time or free slaves? How can we be so individual that every hair on our head is numbered, and yet be so corporate as the body of Christ? When you start with the unsearchable riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, as Paul does in Romans 11:33, then paradox is not a problem. Why I am a Lutheran...reason number 156, Lutherans do not seek to explain the paradoxes of faith, but proclaim them as the mysteries of God! Take a few minutes to read and to pray on Romans 11:33-12:8. Allow God's Word through Paul to transform your thinking away from the influences of a world that says you have the power to do all things yourself. Think of the TV show "Junkyard Wars" as a good example of what Paul is talking about. On the show, teams need to search, scavenge and scrounge for parts to build a complex machine, like a drivable car or a sailable boat. While each part and piece is critical to the success of the machine, the talents of each person on the team is even more important. Each has a gift to offer, a talent to share. Conflict erupts when the focus shifts from WE to ME. When one member takes or is given ultimate control, things fall apart! Isn't this our problem in our relationships as well? The paradox of the faith is that it is at the same time individual and corporate. We must, as individuals, be touched by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet if it remains all about me, I become isolated and cold - serving to benefit my own wants needs and desires. At the same time as we are touched as individuals, we are brought into the corporate body of believers. Each of us has God given gifts and talents designed to serve together in this junkyard of a world. This is the warmth of community, of service not for me or for God (see verse 11:35!!) - but simply for others who need to know and see that they are not alone. A LIFE IN FAITH IS A LIFE AS WE! 

An Age Old Story

I was always so excited to visit with my Grandpa. He would tell these amazing stories about the people he knew and the life he lived. So often the stories were about the most mundane things. I remember him sitting on my dad's porch, smoking his Parliament cigarettes,  and weaving the most remarkable yarn about the uses of the industrial cleaner TSP! We were transfixed as Grandpa explained how remarkable and life changing this chemical was to his work at the hardware store. As he recalled the ease of use and shiny results, I was telling myself "never forget...TSP removes paint from linoleum." God speaks through the storytelling prophet Isaiah in 51:1-6. God says, "Listen to me", sit at my feet while I tell you a story. Listening to God's Word as we "pursue righteousness" or, in our context grow in our faith in God's promises, is hearing a story He has been weaving from the very beginning of time. God recalls Abraham and Sarah as our rock and quarry, our spiritual father and mother who heard and knew the story. They showed us what it meant to have faith in a promise told and re-told. This faith was that through one man, their son, would come many nations. For Abe and Sarah, it was the comfort, joy and gladness they found in God's story filled Word. The "torah" of God is His teaching story. It reveals that He is ruling in a Kingdom that is truly not yet of this world! Jesus is the living Torah, the promised salvation that has gone out from the heart of God. His arms were spread out on the cross in judgment and hope for all people. Jesus is the ultimate story of one man come to make the few many! For in Jesus, all that which we rely on or depend, the world and all of it's decaying elements will be swept away. We'll be left with a fully fulfilled story, completed forever in the love of God for us. His righteousness, His promise to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob  - to YOU and to every person you now touch with the story, has and will be fulfilled forever!  Never forget the story - Go back and read Genesis 15, and see that the promise is for you! Share the story with your children, your children's children  - with all who seek a to hear a story of hope and forgiveness in Christ Jesus!

Hard to be Humble

How does the song go? "Oh Lord it's hard to be humble, when your perfect in every way!"

What a challenge, humility. Humility is not a inherent quality, but actually one that comes in the testing fires of conflict - sometimes from external struggles, but certainly always from internal challenges. Many who have fought on a battlefield would witness to the reality of humility born in warfare. The great general and President Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, "Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim won in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends." Psalm 138 is a beautiful portrait of just such humility. Among the final Psalms of David, 138 is a song of thanksgiving. David had a lot to be thankful for - victory in battle and a kingdom of relative peace. King David could be boastful and arrogant in his victories and rule, but instead he is humble. In Canaanite society David's prowess could even have been interpreted as divine - in that some would consider David a god.  But the psalmist is clear. He recognizes himself not as exalted king or powerful god, instead he is the lowly witness to those who rely on these worldly acclaims. Just like another who would come, lowly and humble, submitting to the most un-kingly and certainly un-godly death on a cross - only to be exalted above all. Jesus sacrifice is our boast, not because we earned it or even fully understand it, but because the cross shows a merciful God, steadfast and good, who gives Himself to save us. True humility is faith that these words are true - God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you, and in His blood, you are forgiven! A humble life cannot use salvation as an occasion for isolation, that I got it so I'm okay. Instead humility breeds community, a collective witness of the sacrifice of Christ for us and us for one another. What better expression of our confidence in God's deliverance that we love one another as He so loved us!

Decisions, decisions....

Watching the Olympics is often glorious and heartbreaking at the same time. You can't deny sharing the joy of Michael Phelps swimming to gold after gold, or Nastia Liukin flipping to an all around victory. On the other hand we share the dismay in Cowell and Tarantino's 4th place in synchronized diving,  or the U.S. gymnastics 2nd place team finish. All that hard work, just to come up short. I wonder what thoughts and questions circle around your head when you've worked so hard, only to be disappointed by your own performance. Do they ask, "Did I train enough?""Did I try enough?" "Did I have the strength of body and mind to pull this thing to victory?". Quite honestly, I can say that I wonder the same thing when I hear that folks depend on their own decision when it comes to faith. I know that for me, the life I live fluctuates between the feelings that I am standing on the Gold Medal platform in victory and watching from the sidelines in defeat. Life for me is full of questions that really never have answers, particularly when their directed at my own effort and striving. I'm always left wanting and wishing I had done more. That's the beauty in the gospel of Jesus' cross. In the cross there is no decision, save the one of a loving God for us. When we attach our human effort to accepting His sacrifice, that makes it's effectiveness contingent on our choice.  It's not. The sacrifice of God in Jesus for us is to free us from a will that has been bound to sin, to decisions and questions that are inherently flawed, since they rise from our own desires. Friends, rely not in your own decisions and choices. Have faith not that you have done all the right things, but that God alone has done the one right thing - given you Jesus in order that He may call you His own once again. God knows your name, not because you know His - but because of Jesus alone! 

Exceptional Love, Without Exception!

I never thought I'd own two dogs. Don't get me wrong, I love animals. Wrigley has been just about the best pet one could ever ask for. He's kind, loving, attentive and was so easy to train. Adding another to the mix has been an interesting exercise in patience. Abbie is sweet, but she has some "issues". You know, the typical puppy issues like mistakes on the carpet and the habit of finding every muddy spot in the back yard to roll in. It'd be fairly easy for me to love one more, to favor the older for the younger, Wrigley over Abbie. When Jesus is approached by a Cannanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28, it's no surprise that he doesn't really pay much attention to her. Even though she cries out to Him for help, Jesus mission is clear - "I've come for the lost sheep of Israel". Maybe Jesus love has exceptions, for it seems like Jesus has just enough love for one. That is, until we read on a little more. It seems that Jesus' love is exceptional. That is to say that Jesus love extends to all who are lost, all who are weary, all who are heavy laden - Jesus has come to give the poor in spirit rest. We've got a spirit more like the disciples - we sometimes think that God loves us because we're exceptional people. Since we've been brought into the fold, there's not much left for those who are outside - even as they cry out for help. Annoyed the disciples of Jesus say of the woman, "send her away for she's crying after us." They're asking Jesus to make an exception, to turn her away. It's as if Abbie came to me whining and hurt and I turned back to pet Wrigley for being such a good boy. True to form, Jesus once again uses His exceptional love to break our spirits that like to make exceptions! Jesus hears of the woman's great faith, calling Him Lord and Master, and the fact that she is relying solely on the mercy only God can give. The woman's faith is great, yet it does not "save" her. In the same exceptional compassion He would show on the cross, Jesus extends His exceptional  love without exception! His compassion is Her salvation, and ours and the worlds for that matter! The lesson reminds us, the baptized children of God, that God's love extends to all in Christ Jesus. He alone knows His people, those who rely on faith in His Word of inclusive forgiveness ever present in the fulfilled promise of God, Jesus' cross and resurrection! That's exceptional love, without exception...for you and for all!

A Monument and a Name

I rode the bike out to the coast yesterday - tooling down through Carlsbad,Encinitas, Del Mar. I finally stopped at La Jolla and parked myself on the grass overlooking the ocean. The waves were held back and the pools were exposed along the shore. An older couple walked their dogs, who sniffed and pawed at the stars, crabs and small fish. A family jumped rock to rock finding treasures of the sea in each small puddle of life.  The purpose of the day for me wasn't to play in the tide pools but to retreat, much like the waves pushing back from the shore. God was holding back my own thoughts, feelings and perceptions to take a look in the small pools that I so often wash right over. As we live in the age of the church, we're kind of in the same space. It's the space between the cross and Jesus return. In that space, we need to recognize that there are many pools. "Keep justice and do righteousness," the prophet Isaiah writes (56:1 ff) for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed." Righteousness and deliverance are synonymous - both utilizing the same Hebrew word, tzedekah and both belonging to God. In the space between God's tzedekah and our lives, we're challenged by what's left in the pools. Do they contain love for God and love for others, or simply the remnants of our religious waves?  When I look at the rest of Isaiah 56, the theme of God's blessed choice continues. The foreigner and natural born are also synonyms, for all those who "join themselves to the Lord." When God pulls back the waves of His love, exposed are the pools of all of those who recognize He has gathered a people for Himself. Even the outcasts are a part of a monument that stands strong despite our inclination to knock it down. In Christ we all have been given a name, Holy to the Lord, and as the flood of His love returns we'll find us in the same embracing arms of God. In that Day, it will be in God's house where we all live, the house of prayer for all nations! 

Election Time

I'm all about elections! Voting is an awesome right. To have your own voice heard among the babble of culture and beliefs is a fundamental right we protect at all costs. In this election season, I'm reminded how much I love the process and yet am saddened by the players. See, in as much as I find elections thrilling, to me politics stink! Elections stand for freedom and choice, politics for ideology and coercion. Election says "vote your conscience", politics says "vote your desire". While elections can be used to serve all, politics seems to only serve few - namely those who "won". I worry how much politics has invaded the church of God. Reading Romans 11 is tough under any circumstances save adding a political spin! Paul's language seems to backtrack, undoing an argument he was making in the previous two chapters. It almost looks like Paul has succumbed to politics - or at least trying to be politically correct. Read with the eyes of politics, Romans 11 talks about an inclusion of the "Jews" outside of the way described by Jesus. Politically speaking, the "Jews" will receive salvation simply because they are "Jews" and God's promise to them cannot and will not be revoked. I placed "Jews" in quotes for a reason. Simply because I think while we think politically, Paul is speaking election. He's talking about JEWS. This distinction stands as we look at what Paul calls the "fullness of Israel". These are God's JEWS, the people whom God has elected for Himself. These JEWS include all who have been inextricably linked to the promise of God - that He alone KNOWS HIS PEOPLE. Some may be natural branches, some may be grafted in - but, regardless it is God alone who KNOWS them! He has CHOSEN, ELECTED His JEWS to be those who inherit the Kingdom He promised to father Abraham and delivered in Jesus Christ. Friends, rather than focusing on politics as usual when it comes to faith - what you can get out of this whole deal or who's in an who's out - concentrate on a God who knows you, has chosen you and gives you a life of freedom in your election through Christ Jesus! This is the Gospel - the Gospel of God's Choice that we take to the world!

To be NAMED

After providing information on our trip and even giving us sample itineraries, we discovered that to use the services of a private guide would be cost prohibitive. She remained considerate and helpful even though she would not be getting our business. As we wrapped up our final conversation she said these words. "One more question that's been on my mind since your first e-mail...what's with your name?" This has been a question I've dealt more with since I decided to become a pastor. What's a former Roman Catholic with an Italian first name and a Jewish last name doing in a largely German church body like the Lutherans? All I can say is, it's only by God's grace! Thankfully God's grace extends beyond a mutt of a name. It extends beyond the labels of culture or even church. God's grace can extend so far because God Himself is infinite; and God's grace is part of who God is...He who is gracious. When I read Psalm 67 (take a quick look, it's short!) I read of the quality of God's grace that causes His actions. The beginning words are familiar, given to Aaron to speak before the people, to remind them of God's grace!  Grace is a quality only God can have, a moving force which results in His mercy toward us.  That's the blessing of God here and throughout Scripture. It is the one blessing of God's own face turned toward His people, shining on us, even illuminating all of our faults and failures. This merciful action of God extends to forgive those sins. The earth has yielded the increase of blessing. By God's grace and in His mercy God gave the world Jesus. God in flesh walked on this earth and, after bearing His cross, was buried beneath it. As a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, so will it grow and increase - that's GRACIOUS MERCY! Jesus has yielded for us an increase of blessing, life today and life eternal, given by the one who knows our name! Cool thing is, He doesn't care where that name came from or how mixed up it looks. God only cares that your name includes the name above all names...Jesus! 

Walk with Me...

It looks so calm. And it was. That is, until the sun started to set. Then the wind started. It came up from the east as a steady gale. White caps formed as only the largest boats remained on the Sea of Galilee. I could only imagine being in a heavy 20 ft boat, struggling with the oars against the relentless wind. The disciples, alone, struggling and fighting against the stormy sea are a sharp contrast to Jesus who was up in a solitary place, peacefully communing with the Father. The fear of the disciples is the same fear of all of us, the fear of facing struggles alone coupled with the fear of the unknown. When Jesus suddenly appears, walking upon the very depths where the Jews believed demons to dwell, their fear only increases. Why? They're seeing Jesus! They shouldn't be afraid. Or maybe, just like us, the fear comes from the fact that Jesus is seeing them! He is seeing them struggle and fight against the elemental powers which are out of their control. It's embarrassing, and fearful. For the disciples. fear seems to fade in the words, "It is I! Do not be afraid." In the midst of our struggle, Jesus presence is always comfort and never fear. For we know that He has already walked the path of death and came out victorious. In the presence of Christ fear fades so much, that we may like Peter be willing to step out of the boat - into the unknown knowing that this is precisely where Jesus leads. Our feet will certainly  get wet, but we'll never sink as long as our eyes remain fixed on Him, the author and perfecter of our faith, the one who walks beside us to forever calm the storm. Matthew 14:22-33

Any Questions?

We all have questions. I'd like to count how many I'm asked in a day. With kids and a growing congregation, this could add up quickly. Maybe if I started counting with my own questions I'd have better luck. When I read the book of Job, it seems that our main character has a lot of questions and is looking to pose them all to God. These are often deep questions, existential question. But all too often they are, at their core, selfish questions. Like us Job wants to know "why". He wants to "argue his case" (13:3), to "complain" 23:2 to God. It all seems so unfair - warfare, sickness, death, struggles in relationships and struggles with ourselves. We want to know why - to argue, to complain. By God's mercy, He lends an ear to these complaints. But like the Father He is, full of loving discipline, sometimes God needs to ask questions of us.  There are times, like in Job 38:4-18, where God reminds us of who we are in relationship to Him. How can we, with our wavering hearts and wandering minds propose to comprehend and direct God's purposes? Where were we when He laid the the foundation of the earth? Are we the ones who command the morning to come and the night to fall? When we question God, asking the "why", I believe we must realize that God is shaping our lives and ultimately knows what He is doing. When God in His wisdom laid out the path of our lives, He knew things that we could never imagine. He knew we would fall, and yet He created us still. He knew the results of that fall would have us continuing to seek our own way - to try with all our will and might to answer the question of why our lives are such a mess. Problem is, our answers always seem to end up blaming God, rather than seeing that He is the solution, not the problem. See, God also knew that His Son would suffer all for our sin. God's plan was, is and always will be to deliver His people and extend His love forever. When asking the "why" questions, let's run them through the "what" first - that's Jesus, and His cross for you!

Worthy

Maybe I cannot find too much on what it means to "praise God" because we cannot grasp the full reality of the word.  In Psalm 18:3 David declared, 'I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised." The introductory words say that David wrote of his salvation "on the day when the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies." David is praising God for what he has done. He calls upon God, not to fulfill his own need,to make him feel the loving presence of God, but simply to proclaim His amazing work. God has been David's rock and fortress. God has delivered David, given him refuge and salvation. I wonder if we truly grasp the amazing gravity of what God has done for us in Jesus. We talk about being "saved". We talk about the power of the cross, the blood, the sacrifice - but do we get the deliverance part? The worthiness of God, or why we praise Him is a direct result of His amazing action on our behalf. Salvation, deliverance is our current reality and enduring action. For us, as for David, God stepped in. He took the cords from around our neck, the cords of death and hell, and wrapped them around His own. When we praise God it's not because we feel His presence so much that we must lift our hands close our eyes and hope that He sees our devotion. No, praise is so much more. Praise is the trusting heart that is comforted by the continually forgiving action of the cross. In the promise and the fulfillment of God through the cross of Christ, He is WORTHY of all praise!

A New Friend

We've got a new friend! Or, should I say, "Wrigley has a girl-friend!" We rescued Abbie from the local shelter this morning. She needed to be spayed, so we were able to pick her up just a couple hours ago. She's a 6 month old sweetheart, a Labx just like her boyfriend. We look forward to many years with these two gems in our lives!

Hungry

According to the USDA, food prices rose 4% in the last year. With eggs and bread at $3+ and milk at $4+, rice in short supply and corn being turned into fuel, we're facing a serious issue when it comes to feeding ourselves. This week we'll be participating in the Heaven on Earth food drive to re-supply our local food pantries which are feeling the effects of shortages and a struggling economy. It's still hard for me to understand, given that the average U.S. farmer produces enough to feed 130 people! Multiply by 2 million farms and we're talking about enough food to feed some 260 million people! So why are we hungry? I 'm one to believe that the hunger we have goes way beyond the rumblings of our stomach. When I read between the line of Jesus miraculous feeding of 5,000+, I can't but catch the irony. It's ironic that this many people are gathered in a remote place, following a poor, small town boy. He's no farmer, yet they're looking to Him for food. When His followers are challenges with feeding this mass of humanity, the question immediately turns to "how?".  While they know how to catch a few fish, finding enough to feed this many would take an enormous amount of time and effort - more then they can muster. This situation becomes Jesus' specialty! He looks upon the crowd with compassion, He provides for their bodies in the same way He will provide for their souls. Just as Jesus lifts up the loaves in thanksgiving, breaks them and gives them to the disciples - so will He do on His last day. Yes, at the Last Supper of course. But also at Calvary, when the Bread of Life, Jesus own body will be lifted up before it is given unto death for us all. The hunger of our souls can only be satisfied by the one who Has seated us at the eternal feast. Come and eat without price! Be filled, be satisfied by Jesus!