Things change! I often say, “there are seasons for everything”. The problem is no one knows how long a season will be, good or bad. Certainly, this Covid pandemic has been a long one, perhaps will go on a bit even after vaccinations...
I feel worse when I offend or sin against someone, than when they sin against me. When people mistreat, speak evil, or fail to keep their promise, I tend to be quick to forgive. Maybe its because I have been forgiven so much. When I fail or harm...
Show me a miracle and I will believe! Before I was a follower of Jesus, I negotiated with God on those terms. God, “do this”- then, “I will believe in you and give you my life.” Then it happened, I was called on the carpet by...
I have been pastor to single people in two churches. I grew very fond of so many. It seemed that many felt ‘second class’ in some way, especially if they had suffered a divorce. I often reminded them of the 3 greatest single people in...
Some investments pay back really well. I put some money in my money market account from 2001-2007 and it was growing by nearly 20% per year! We can invest our time, money, talent in all kinds of things. Pastor Rick Warren reminded me that the...
I find myself sometimes getting a bit angry at people who hold a vastly different value system and who cause a great deal of turmoil and pain in others lives and even their own. But, God continues to develop in me compassion for the lost. I’ve...
When I officiate marriage ceremonies I remind the man and woman that this becomes the preeminent relationship. I often say, your spouse will be the first one you bring good news to. And should any difficulty, its them that you go to first, all...
I am looking forward to the next life… heaven! But, I don’t think most people really want to go to heaven. And I don’t blame them. The understanding they have of heaven is very incomplete and often flat out wrong. Heaven seems...
Have you ever been to a wedding reception and placed at Table 19? We were! Its a longer story, but a mix-up between the separated parents of the bride, and my wife were asked to get up and move to another table. It was the ‘leftover’...
I didn’t have the advantage of ‘growing up’ in church. Knowledge of who Jesus was and what He had done, came to me later. Further, I was not part of the Jewish heritage which had the ancient scriptures, prophets, and traditions to...
There are so many aspects of life that are uncertain. The length of our life, the stock market, traffic on the 91 freeway, even… how our kids will turn out. We must live with a certain degree of it. However, there is one thing for certain. The...
It seems that the divide in American politics is greater than ever. When the speaker of the house tore up the president’s state of the union speech on national TV, it was crystalized. But, there is a greater divide. The divide that God sees...
I have some new endeavors and plans for worldly riches in this new year. The truth is, there are always opportunities for riches in our world. My better plans involve how to be ‘rich toward God’… and to use my time, gifts, and...
Nobody likes phoniness and hypocrisy, not in themselves, and especially not in leaders. When those in positions of authority require others to do or refrain from doing something, but they themselves are exempted, they lose a certain amount of...
Certainly there have been flawed people in Christian leadership who have tarnished the perception people have of Christianity and God. But, that doesn’t excuse anyone. I came to Christ because of the consistent reflection of the light of the...
When my brothers and I were young, we would open our Christmas gifts with great anticipation, and so often… get everything we wanted. We were pretty fortunate. Then, we would call our friends and see what they got! When we pray, Jesus said we...
It has been the testimony of Christians for 2000 years that they “hear from God”. Maybe its not an audible voice, but I would attest that God does lead and guide me. He gives me thoughts above and beyond my own. He moves my emotions and...
In this life we applaud the great, best, richest, well known, and highest. They are the achievers, conquerers, and masters. And perhaps some acclamation is due. When I begin to rank myself and compare to others I am heading into a cul-de-sac of...
I didn’t have the advantage of growing up in church. So, understanding what it means to follow Jesus was foreign to me for a good part of my life. Never was he more clear than when He told the disciples one of the pre-requisites is to die to...
I can think of no worse news than when a child passes away. The loss of a child is nearly unbearable. I don’t know how people do it without faith and the hope of a heavenly reunion. It cannot be God’s will. Yet, it happens. For some, its...
Before I put my faith in Jesus Christ, I was both interested and curious but also rightly afraid of Him. He struck me as so unique, powerful, intelligent, and humble. For certain, He is one who ‘reaps where He did not sow’. That sense of...
I like gardening and seeing my plumerias, in particular, grow and blossom. Jesus likened the kingdom of God to a field: His Word is the seed, and we (people) are varying types of soil- hard packed, rocky, thorny, and good! In honesty, there are...
I think we all suffer a bit from our tendency toward creating our own “self-made” religion. We have accumulated and formulated for ourselves an array of ethical standards, belief about origins, the next life, and God as well. In doing...
I have had varying levels of authority in my life. Some of that authority is relational and some is positional. I certainly grew up under the authority of my parents. I heard a pastor say “I only have authority, because I am under...
In the classic ‘coming of age’ book and movie- The Outsiders, in a final scene in the Windrixville church, Johnny says “stay gold Ponyboy”. He encourages Ponyboy to maintain his innocence and goodness. Its a reference to a...
And He raised His eyes toward His disciples and began saying, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed...
Now it happened that Jesus was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath, and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you...
I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a...
The Chosen – Series (Levi, from the Tax Booth) And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. ...
Now when He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon responded and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” ...
But He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a severe famine came over all...
Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil...
Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well...
And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what are we to do?” And he would answer and say to them, “The one who has two tunics is to share with the one who has none; and the one who has food is to do likewise.” Now even tax collectors came...
Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all the people were on their way to register for the census...
Since many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting to me as...
from The Chosen (Nicodemus with Jesus) This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is My throne and the earth is the footstool for My feet. Where then is a house you could build for Me?And where is a place that I may rest?For My hand...
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery...
Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time; the Lord is the righteous one, and I and my people are the wicked ones. Make supplication to the Lord, for there has been enough of...
Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” But Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we will sacrifice to the Lord our God what is an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice what is an...
Moses said to him, “As soon as I go out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease and there will be hail no longer, that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. But as for you and your servants, I know that you...
Now the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, as he comes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For if you do not let My people go, behold, I...
So Moses and Aaron did even as the Lord had commanded. And he lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. The...
Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. ...
Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’” The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.”...
They will pay heed to what you say; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt and you will say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness...
Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and...
Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. So God heard their groaning;...
Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they...
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father charged before he...