My Thoughts and Reflections

But I will sing of your might; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been a fortress for me and a refuge in the day of my distress. Psalm 59:16 (NRSV) Yesterday was Sunday, the day that I worship with my church family each week.  It is the day that we gather to pray, hear the word, celebrate sacraments, and sing.  There are so many things and reasons to sing about regarding our great God.. We can sing of God's might and for his great and mighty deeds.  Throughout history, God has manifested his might through Creation, the Flood, bringing Israel out of slavery in Egypt, and ultimately, through defeating Satan, sin, and death through Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection! We can sing of God's unending love that he shows us each and every day!  How else could we describe it that we are forgiven for our sins and that each new morning brings with it a clean slate with which we can serve God with our day?  Go...

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in  Christ God forgave you.”  - Ephesians 4:32 (NIV) Have you found yourself, from time to time, holding onto some small grudge against someone?  I know that I have!  Whether it is between you and a friend, a family member, or some complete stranger who drives 20 mph under the speed limit or cuts you off, holding onto grudges is exactly the opposite response against an offender that God calls us to have!  Holding onto a grudge is the easy response to some wrong committed against you.  It is also poisonous to our souls! In this verse, Paul is passionately calling the Ephesian church to the ultimate “Christ-like” activity that we can do as Christians.  God is calling us to be compassionate towards others by forgiving them just like God forgave us.  God had every right to not forgive us and still has that right, but he chose to send his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, ...

“A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.”  - Proverbs 22:9 (NIV1984) As we near the season of Advent, we have already heard the calls of selfishness and greed to indulge in Black Friday sales and Cyber Monday sales in an annual attempt to get that great deal or save a few dollars here and there. We will also begin to hear the opposite call from many churches and non-profit organizations. We will hear the call for generosity and an attitude of giving to those who are living much more difficult lives than ourselves. In this proverb, we are told that a person is blessed for their generosity. I believe that we can all testify to the notion that our economic woes, the number of people living in poverty and on food stamps, and the general attitude of selfishness that pervades our culture are directly related to a lack of generosity and the prevalence of greed. Today, on the Family Life Network radio station , they ran their daily cont...

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the L ORD require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  - Micah 6:8 (NIV) As Christians, we often tout the Bible as God’s handbook on life, but all too often find ourselves at a loss as to where the sections that show us how to live are.  All throughout the Old Testament, God’s people relied on the Law (the first five books of the Bible, also known as Torah) to know how God wanted them to live.  This was a great gift from God to show them how he intended them to be holy people and to show them that they did not measure up to God’s standards for holiness.   The problem, however, was that they often got caught up in the intricate details and ignored the true priorities that God had for their lives.  They thought that the most important thing to do was to make sure that their sacrifices at the temple were done properly and they also made sure that they s...