Walking The Walk

What they don't teach you in seminary is how awkward being a pastor can be . . .  I was riding to the cemetery in a hearse recently to do a graveside service, and a car pulled out in front of the driver.  The driver braked, honked at the car, and then let an impressive tirade of foul language fly.  That was followed by the awkward moment when he realized he was sitting next to the pastor.  “I’m sorry about the language, Reverend,” he said.  I went to my stand-by line, "I've heard way worse than that—I've been a Cubs fan my whole life."  Somebody is always apologizing to me for something, and I’m still not used to it. I haven’t been a pastor for a long time.   I've  spent most of my life "not a pastor."  I've been a Christian for a long time, but until I became a pastor, nobody ever apologized for swearing in front of me.   Nobody ever tried to explain to me items in their shopping cart at the grocery store. Nobody tossed a cigarette ou...

Have you ever seen so much virtue signaling as we have today? You see it on social media. You see it on t-shirts. You see it on the bumpers of people's cars. People proudly announcing they are against hate.  They are against racism.  They are against oppression.  They are against censorship.  It gets a little silly sometimes, because I'm not always clear who they think are FOR any of these things they are so loudly and proudly against. In the end, words don't matter very much--it's actions that matter. Words are easy things. How you live your life should reflect your values.  It's how you treat other people that shows the kind of person you are. It's how you react and interact in the world that demonstrates what you're about. It's about listening to other people. It's about learning from one another. It's about showing compassion to our fellow man.  It's about being kind. It's about being forgiving. It's about being prayerful and grat...

The hardest person to be honest with is yourself . . . Billy Graham frequently said that if he was given ten minutes with a man's checkbook, we could tell where his heart was.  What people say means very little.  That's not new, even Benjamin Franklin knew that when he said, "Well done is better than well said."  If you want an accurate gauge of what a person is about, watch what they d o, not what they say.  Your heart is where you spend your energy, your thoughts, and your treasure.   We live in a world of virtue signalling.  We always have, but these days, it's just a lot more obvious because it's easier to check facts.  I'm not reminding you of this so that you can point at other people.  I'm reminding you of this so you can look in the mirror and see it in yourself.   Do your actions match your beliefs?  Do the things you say match with the things you do?  Do the causes you support and the organizations y...

We were having a discussion in one of my seminary classes last week, and one of my classmates made the remark that she feels like the internet has made her dumber than she used to be.  She pointed out how she used to have to rely on her memory much more before smart phones--addresses, phone numbers, dates, etc. She said she doesn't even bother to try and remember details anymore, because as long as she has her phone she can just Google it.   I've noticed the same thing.  I'm a huge fan of cinema, and I can point out an actor in a movie in about two seconds--even somebody in a small role.  I can almost always come up with their name and tell you about three other movies or television shows they were in.  These days instead of searching for it in my memory, I'll just look it up on my phone. I do believe that the easy access to information has made us much weaker mentally.  We rely our our tool instead of our minds. And I believe it makes us spiritually w...

The world renown theologian Karl Barth had a famous anecdote that I'll try and tell you in my own version, and add some of my own thoughts to it.  It went something like this: Imagine if you will a people that live in a giant warehouse.  They are born in the warehouse.  Everything they need to live is in the warehouse.  All they know is life in this giant warehouse.  There are no doors, but there are windows--covered in dirt and grime and never paid much attention to. But one day the children noticed the windows, and they pulled a ladder over to one of them, and wiped away the generations of grime that had collected over the panes, and looked out.  And what they saw surprised them.  There were people outside that window, walking up and down the streets seemingly oblivious to the warehouse they lived in.  And as the children are watching these people in wonder, suddenly these people are all looking up in the sky and pointing (maybe there was an air...

We received some very bad news this week.  Because of our supply chain issues which are likely to get worse before they get better, Christmas may have to be cancelled this year, or at the very least be scaled way back.  All the toys and merchandise that are required to have Christmas are parked off the coasts resulting in delays in getting all these products to the stores in time for the holiday season. So Christmas may be cancelled.  At least for those that have forgotten what Christmas is actually about. But Christmas isn't about merchandise.  It's not about shopping and spending money.  It isn't about giving and receiving gifts.  It's not about parties and sweaters and candy canes.  It's not about a red car in the driveway with a giant bow on it.  Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Savior.  It's about celebrating a moment that changed the world forever.  Christmas is a religious holiday . . . remember now? So good news Ch...

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”   Matthew 7: 24-27 One of the big problems of our society today is we want to talk in terms of what is "legal" and what our "rights" are under the constitution and the law of the land. But that's the wrong way to look at things very often.  Are we suggesting that everything that is legal is right?  Are we suggesting that anything you can do because of the freedoms you have as an American is moral? Are you kidding me?  I'm going to ...

  Many years ago, I kept seeing this little kitten in the evenings over along the edge of a corn field.  Sadly, people often dump strays out in the country, so it's not unusual for stray dogs and stray cats to show up at your house when you live far from town.   I started leaving food out for it, and everyday when I'd come home, the food would be gone.  I'd leave more the next day, but after I started feeding this kitten, I didn't see it much.  One evening I'd built a fire, and I was out sitting next to it.  It was very dark that night, other than the light from the fire. As I was sitting there enjoying the fire, I felt something brush against my pants leg.  I look down, and there's that little kitten.  It didn't want to be picked up, so I just pet it for a few minutes.  And then it wandered away.  As it left the fire, it went across the yard into the light cast by our farm light . . . and then I realized.  It wasn't a kitten a...

A friend of mine reminded me of these wonderful words of Billy Graham.  I thought I'd share them with you today: "There's an empty place.  You have everything except something; you're not quite sure what it is.  There's a hole in your heart and in your life.  You'd like it to be filled, but you don't know what it is.  So you're searching.  You're searching for something that can satisfy that deepest longing that you have.  That something is God. Because God made you in His image, and He loves you.  And He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross, and he took every sin that you've ever committed on that cross.  And if you were the only person in the whole world, He would have died for you. But Christ didn't stay on the cross.  He rose from the dead, and He's alive tonight, and he's willing to come into your heart right now." ~Billy Graham, 2000  ~TEC

"And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." ~1 John 2:17 I think about it at least once a week these days.  Pulling the plug on social media.  My finger has hovered over that delete button a number of times, and I just haven't been able to pull the plug yet.   I keep thinking there's some way I can use social media for good.  I think eventually I'll pull the plug.  It's not a positive thing.  I don't trust the people that run it.  I don't trust the things I see are true or the things I am prevented from seeing are false.  I think it's a tool and it's being used for purposes very few people even think about.  When social media began it was great fun to reconnect with old friends I hadn't seen in a long time.  Share funny stories from long ago.  Catch up with what my friend and family were doing, and follow them as they lived their lives.  I even connected in perso...

"Whataboutism: a rhetorical devise that involves accusing others of offenses as a way of deflecting attention from one's own deeds." ~Merriam-Webster My daughter got in trouble at school recently.  She broke a rule, she got caught, and the principle talked to her. It wasn't a serious offense, but it was something that the school had been cracking down on, and all the kids knew it.  My daughter was upset about it, but admitted she had broken the rule.  But her defense was that all the other kids were doing the same thing that she was doing, and they didn't get in trouble. The "whataboutism." The traditional defense of a child . . . but Billy was doing the same thing and he didn't get in trouble.  And I realized that adults aren't any better.  In fact, this same defense used by grade school age children is used over and over again by our culture.  We don't really care if our behavior is reprehensible so long as we can point to somebody doing th...

When I first read the story, I thought it was an internet rumor, but as it turns out, Dolly Parton did give one million dollars to research on the COVID vaccine.  The story has been fact-checked, and it's absolutely true.  Her friend, Dr. Naji Abumrad, was researching a COVID vaccine at Vanderbilt (that later became the Moderna vaccine).  She gave the research team a boost with a donation of $1 million.  Dr. Abumrad said, “Without a doubt in my mind, her funding made the research toward the vaccine go 10 times faster than it would be without it." "I just felt so proud to have been part of that little seed money that will hopefully grow into something great and help to heal this world." ~Dolly Parton Dolly grew up in dire poverty, and her musical talent made it possible to escape that world, but she's never forgotten the experience of being in need.  She's donated millions over her career to people in need.  She donated $9 million dollars in 2016 to people ...

  "Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down." ~Proverbs 26:20 Gossip has been at the heart of every conflict I've know in my life. It's easy to partake in it, and it's easy to fall victim to it. And if you're the victim of it, there's nothing in the world you can do to defend yourself from it. The more vigorously you defend yourself, the more it looks like the gossip about you is true.  Do you want to have peace in your life?  You want to have a nice work environment?  Enjoy your church family? Have a family that isn't constantly fighting with one another.  You'll never be able to accomplish that in an environment where gossip flourishes. I had a boss that understood that perfectly.  He had little patience for gossip. That was when the world was a little less politically correct--he'd be down in Human Resources in about two seconds today. He'd overheard a group talking about another employee and he'd come roari...

I never go to a concert with out some of these in my pockets. "Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes."   Ephesians 6:11 When I was in high school, I went to my first rock concert.  It was an 80s hair band called Ratt, and they had a big song at the time "Round and Round."  It's funny, but they're featured on a Geico commercial right now you've probably seen--the couple in the ad loves their new home, but they have a "Ratt problem."  Then it flashes to a scene showing the band Ratt playing "Round and Round" in their kitchen. That's the first band I ever saw in concert.  I didn't know what to expect.  I went with a couple friends--Chip was the only one old enough to drive, and of course Jim, too.  Anyway, when that opening act came out and started to play, I was overwhelmed.  It was so loud!  I grew up around farm equipment.  I grew up around guns.  I grew up blowing up things...

"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...

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." ~1 Corinthians 13:4-5 We all have those people in our lives that try our patience.  Kids.  Family.  Co-workers. If there's one thing I've prayed about and worked on over the years, it's been in trying to be more patient.  My wife says I'm doing fairly well considering I started out with zero! With me, it's people that take things that are simple and make them complicated. The world is full of them.  I'm a simple guy. I'm a problem solver.  My solution to problems is to start with what needs to happen to resolve the issue, and then find the easiest way to get there. My first boss and mentor was a master problem solver.  He told me that there are no big problems. He taught me to tackle big problems the same way I tackled small problems. Figure...