Walking The Walk

Pastor Todd's quiet spot . . .  "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you."  ~Job 42:5   I feel blessed that I have a couple very nice parks within a few minutes of my house, and I make good use of them.  I've written about it before, but I try each week to spend a morning in one of these quiet places, without a phone or a limit on how much time I spend there.  It gives me a chance to think without distraction.  It gives me a chance to read my Bible and pray without distraction.  Sometimes I'm there an hour or less, and sometimes I'm there all morning and into the afternoon.  Nature is a great way to get connected to God. We see examples of that in the Bible.   For instance, in the story of Job.  Job's powerful declaration reminds us that there's a profound difference between knowing about God and truly experiencing Him. Job 42:5 captures a pivotal moment of spiritual transformation - the moment whe...

"Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end our lives."  ~Psalm 90:14 We've all had something go bad in the refrigerator when we've left it in there too long.  When we leave crackers out on the counter, it doesn't take very long for them to go stale.  I buy bananas every week, and it certainly doesn't take them very long to start turning brown.  Meat goes bad.  Milk sours.  Cheese will mold.  Fresh fruit doesn't stay fresh for very long.  And it's not just food!  See how far you get without refilling the gas tank on your car.  We constantly have to refill our provisions.   It's the same with our faith!  We need to constantly renew ourselves with fresh words from the Bible each day.  Fresh sources of joy.  Fresh expressions of gratitude and hope.  David Jeremiah once wrote that we can't live today on yesterday's joy.  We need to renew our faith each day by refilli...

Without fail, every year at this time, social media is just flooded with promises for the new year.  People are going to lose weight.  They're going to organize their lives.  They're going to focus on the "important things in life."  They're going to eat better and exercise more.  They're going to finally get a handle on a life that's gotten out of control.  They're going to waste less time.  They're going to use the time they have wisely . . .  And on and on and on it goes.  Every year.  Without fail.  And a few may actually make some changes that are beneficial.  But for most of us, by the time St. Valentine's Day rolls around we're right back in the same rut we were in on December 31st.   But I have an idea for a resolution this year that will change your life.  And it's easy to do. Almost everyone has a few quiet moments each day.  Maybe it's over coffee in the morning.  Maybe we sit at our desk ove...

Are you one of those people that goes to church, but is just too busy to read the Bible during the week.  You've got a job.  Kids.  Family.  Booster club.  Grocery shopping.  Always a long, long to-do list, and no time for recreational reading. Are you sure you don't have time?  Let me share something with you I learned this week: The average American watches 4 hours of television every day.  There's an average of 12 minutes per hour of commercials on television.  That's 48 minutes a day the average American spends watching TV commercials! Now lets look at the Holy Bible. It takes about 19 hours to read the New Testament, and about 52 hours to read the Old Testament.  So you could read the entire Holy Bible in about 71 hours.   In the time you spend learning which car insurance is the cheapest and which underwear has the most comfortable waistband, you could read the entire New Testament in just three weeks--just picking it up ...

I've always been a regular Bible reader (usually in the evenings), but until a few years ago I didn't have a regular habit of study and devotional time. I decided three or four years ago to start setting aside ten or fifteen minutes first thing in the morning for devotional time and prayer.  I found a good devotional I liked, and each morning, I'd read the recommended texts, then read the devotional, and then spend a few minutes in prayer.   Establishing a new habit isn't that easy sometimes, but I found that this habit took root very quickly.  I found I looked forward to that quiet time in the morning, and it went from ten or fifteen minutes a day to a half hour very quickly.  Many days I'll get up early and spend an hour.  That time has been transformational for me. I began to see God at work in my life a lot more clearly when I began setting that time aside.  That's when I started thinking about seminary and realizing that God had a plan for my reti...

"So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." ~Isaiah 55:11 My youngest daughter had to face a very harsh reality this week.  She had her feelings hurt in a very mean way.  She was excluded from an event that she never should have been excluded from, for very dubious reasons. She was never told about the event, but after the event, it was splashed up on social media where the participants had to know she would see it, or my wife and I would see it and be upset that we were left out.  I think Valerie and I were as upset over it as she was. I knew I was going to write about this, but I've been struggling with how I was going to write about it.  I've been upset for several days.  It's not the first time, and we've accepted the fact it won't be the last time. It's been an ongoing struggle for many years. Valerie and...

"For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."   ~1 Timothy 4:8 There may never be another opportunity in our lifetimes like the opportunity we have now. This is my 18th day of shelter in place--since my employer told me to pack up my office and move it home. And suddenly, overnight, I go from a person who has more to do than hours in the day to do them to a person that has more hours in the day than I have to do. And it looks like I have at least 30 more days ahead of me. I'm just one of millions in this same boat. One question I've been asking myself is how do I come out of this quarantine stronger than when I went into it.  And my answer is to spend more time in prayer.  More time in the scripture.  More time reading inspirational works. And for the past 18 days that's what I've been doing. I have at a minimum another 30 days before I can return to...