Walking The Walk

" Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."  ~Ephesians 4:29 It's always better to be part of what's right with the world, than part of what's wrong. And it's easy to tell which side your on by just looking at how you interact with other people.  What your attitude towards things are. How you live your life. If you're complaining all the time, you may be part of the problem. If you're unhappy all the time, you may be part of the problem. If you spend more time focused on and pointing out what other people are doing wrong than on what you're doing . . . you guessed it.  You may be part of the problem. We spend an inordinate amount of time focused on what we don't have.  Focused on people that make us mad.  Thinking about the things that aren't going exactly right instead of appreciating the things that are. What if...

" Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things." ~Philippians 4:8   When was the last time you left the house without your phone?  Or your iPad?  Or your iWatch?  When was the last time you were in an environment where there wasn't a screen within easy reach?  Or there wasn't a radio on, or music playing through your earbuds, or a TV playing in the background?   I was in a ZOOM call just over a year ago, and I was at the same time carefully wording an email response to an delicate inquiry on another screen, AND texting back and forth with my co-worker on something that was going on in her area she needed help with.  And then somebody asked me a question in that ZOOM call . . . and I'd only half-heard the question, and of course answered a question that was...

"A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself." ~Proverbs 11:17 What if you wrote down every good thing that happened to you in a day.  And then you wrote down every bad thing that happened to you in a day.  Which list would be longer?   I think it would depend on what kind of day you'd had, right?  If you've had a rough day, you're likely to be focused on those things that happened that were bad.  If you've had a great day, you're probably thinking about all the good things that happened to you. Now think about this. When we've had a good day, has nothing at all bad happened that day?  Was every single part of our day good?  Or was there one or two things that weren't great that we've forgotten about because we were focused on the fun we were having.  We were focused on the outing.  We were focused on the entertaining event.  We forgot about the lousy sandwich we had for lunch.  We forgot about the driver that ...

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” ~Luke 6:37-38 We are so quick to judge others today.  We're so quick to condemn.  We are so slow to forgive.  I've never seen things the way they are today.  The complete opposite of what Jesus taught is what we're seeing today.   We talk so much about being "tolerant."  But then we're only tolerant of people exactly like us. We talk so much about being "inclusive."  And we accomplish that by dividing and excluding entire groups of people based on factors they have no control over.  We talk about being understanding and forgiving and kind and generous.  But we only show these things to people we like.   We talk about lov...

" Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." ~1 Peter 5:7 When I preached my message last Sunday, I told a story that illustrates the difference between saying we believe something and actually believing something.  I found myself in a situation two weeks ago, where I was right in the middle of a sermon about trusting in God, when I had to do just that.  When I flipped the page on my I-Pad, I discovered the last three pages of my sermon notes were missing.  And I depend on my notes a great deal--I'm meticulous about preparation!  I had to wing it.  Trusting that God would give me the words.  And He did.  But what a test that was! There's a big difference between believing something, and being put to the test on that belief.  Just ask Peter. Every once in awhile, we will find ourselves tested on what we believe.  And what Peter was hitting on in this verse is really key in making through those tests. Knowing that God cares for us....

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." ~1 John 1:9 My wife and I have been watching a show in History Channel since 2015 called "Forged In Fire."  It's a blacksmithing competition.  They start with four bladesmiths each week, and through three rounds of competition where one is eliminated each round, one rises as "The Forged In Fire Champion " at the end of the show.  And the judges always have a twist.  Sometimes they're making blades out of metal from an old car, or sometimes rusty old bolts, or garden tools, etc.  Or sometimes they're making a specific kind of knife, or utilizing a particular forging technique. But forging is an art, and one of the skills necessary to be a good bladesmith is knowing how to correct an error or a flaw when one appears.  If a crack forms.  Or a flaw in the metal becomes known.  How do you go about fixing that potential weakness b...

"A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense." ~Proverbs 19:11 We make decisions about how we interact with people.  We decide how we're going to react in a situation.  We decide what we're going to say.  We decide what we're going to do.  Those decisions we make in every situation in our life is ours to make.  We are (or should be) in complete control.   But we can't control what other people do.  We can't control what other people say.  We can't control the behavior of other people. And I know what you're thinking--well thank you very much Captain Obvious! These things are obvious, yet we spend so much time complaining about what other people say and do, and making excuses for how we've reacted to them.  Too often we read motives into other people's actions that may or may not actually be there, and when we do that it escalates issues because it skews our perception of what's actually going on.  ...