Thought For the Week

Dear Friends, Nothing warms the heart quite like a true story of a life transformed – especially when that path to transformation happens as the result of what the world might call a mistake. In this case his name is Hector Vega and his story takes us from his cell in prison to the church he now serves as pastor. I found it in the September 11, 2023 edition of Christianity Today magazine. Enjoy. “I was awakened by the hurried sounds of correction officers rushing into the cell block interrogating the inmates. They were trying to determine whether one or more of us had taunted or terrorized José in a way that had caused him to commit suicide, which was a common enough occurrence at Rikers Island prison in New York City. I hadn’t really known too much about José. What I did know, however, was that he shared my last name (Vega) and that he slept in the cell in front of mine.  I couldn’t stop thinking about how he might have taken his...

Dear Friends, We now live in the height of the “postmodern era,” an age of relativism, personal subjectivism, and a denial of absolute truth and morality extending from the 1960’s to the present day]. Most born after 1970 would generally embrace this type of thinking, or at least a far larger degree of its propositions than those born before 1970. Generally accepted use of the term “postmodern” to describe this era came about in the 1990’s. The “modernist era” which “postmodernism” gradually replaced, went from approx. 1500-1950 A.D., was an age that pursued objective truth, affirmed common sense (i.e.: “a commonly held societal agreement about things that should be accepted as true”) and held to certain moral absolutes. (Pardon my oversimplification which can’t be helped in a two paragraph summary!) As one born toward the end of the modernist era, and witnessing the transition into postmodernism, I thought I would offer you some thoughts on the danger of abolishing all absol...

Dear Friends, I do not know if you have ever experienced burnout, but it’s not fun. It sneaks up on you and you are in the midst of it without many prior warning signs. It can be rather crippling, so one must be careful about whose advice they choose to follow. Well-meaning people can give advice that seems wise – and may work at other times – but not when one is in the throes of burnout. Today’s ‘thought’ is from author Gary Thomas and comes from his book, “Pure Pleasure.” It seems like an odd book title to find a topic about as opposite from pleasure as one can get, but I believe he is right. Enjoy. Marshalling the Power of Pleasure “One of the deepest pieces of spiritual advice I’ve ever heard came from the pen of the famed nineteenth-century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon: “Hundreds of spiritual ills could be solved with a good night of sleep,” he wrote. Spurgeon meant that the answer often isn’t “spiritual” at all; it’s practical. Do you feel ...

Dear Friends, Today I want to share a “thought” about one of the most commonly accepted sins. You probably know what it is before I even mention it. You may even have engaged in it. Some engage in it frequently, not even considering it a sin. It’s called gossip. It can come in many forms – a whisper in the ear, a prayer request offered in front of a group, a secret you make someone promise not to share with anyone else (hoping or knowing full well they will!), or to get support or sympathy or revenge in relation to something they said or did to us. We have all likely been guilty of committing this sin at one time or another or in one way or another. In fact, it can be particularly common in churches. As one person once told me while chuckling about some churches he'd attended, “The gossip lines in some churches spread information as fast as cell towers for AT&T and T-Mobile, and have just as wide a coverage.” Yet, as Christians it should not be so. And lest we be unawa...