Fatal Fear And Christmas Love We think of Christmas, and the weeks leading up to it, as a happy time. The decorations, colored lights, carols, wrapped presents, and special foods all make the season particularly pleasant. We celebrate what the angel Gabriel called “glad tidings.” Yet the Christmas stories in…
Advent and Loving Like Jesus Loved Now As we enter into the Advent season we look to the coming of Jesus, the Lord of Love. We celebrate the One who was sent because “God so loved the world” (John 3:16). In his loving way, Jesus certainly cared for his own…
DOES GOD HAVE EGO PROBLEMS? Does God have ego issues? Some people have made that accusation. Why else would God want to be worshiped. Someone who needs praise all the time is not a person we consider emotionally grounded or mentally healthy. Anyone who needs to be stroked and pumped…
We must not allow fear, suspicion or discomfort to hold us back. We need to be busy tearing down the walls of hostility between individuals, races, classes and nations. What better way can we show our gratitude to God for including us?
Frustration is an unavoidable part of human life. In our far from perfect world, the only way a person can entirely avoid frustration would be to live without hopes and aspirations. But such a life hardly seems worth living. As long as we have plans for the future and goals that we want to attain, frustrations are bound to show their ugly head from time to time.
I don’t deeply care whether you do or don’t agree with what some of the NFL players are doing. But I do hope you will consider the message they intend and not allow dishonest voices get in the way. The very story of our faith tells us that ugly things can happen when leaders twist the meaning of a protest.
It is good to help victims of misfortune. But it is not good enough to only help victims without also working to change the situation that creates victims. Helping victims is direct service. Working to change the situation that creates victims is political action. Both are necessary if we are going to “Love your neighbor as you love yourself,” as Jesus commands us to do (Mark 12:31).
The great German Enlightenment intellectual Goethe once said, “Correction does much, but encouragement does more.” Most of us know this from experience. A word of encouragement lifts our spirits and impels us to do more good. “Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual of building” (Romans 14:19). To be known as a congregation of encouragers would certainly be a reputation for us as individuals and as a church to cherish.
As we remove downed branches and clean up debris we look forward to getting back to life as normal. The times of uncertainty and chaos remind us that there is much we cannot control. We sometimes forget that safety and security in this world is never guaranteed. Nevertheless, because we trust the God who raised Jesus from the dead, we have hope regardless of the difficulties we face.
Many problems can’t best be solved by attacking them directly. Sometimes a more a roundabout way is more effective. Frequently we imagine that if we take a problem head on we will deal with it more quickly. But that approach often just causes us more problems.
