Thought For the Week

Dear Friends, I'm in no way a relationship guru, as anyone who knows me knows very well! Never have been, never will be! In fact, I tend to have an aversion to such books. Yet, after picking up a copy of a book entitled -- "God Never Blinks" by Regina Brett (at a bargain basement), I found this selection on 'relationships' very intriguing. That was especially true after I read this part of her introduction: "It took me 40 years to find and hold on to happiness. I always felt that the moment I was born, God must have blinked. He missed the occasion and never knew I had arrived... I ended up confused by the nuns at age 6, a lost soul who drank too much at 16, an unwed mother at 21, a college graduate at 30, a single mother for 18 years, and finally, a wife at 40, married to a man who treated me like a queen. Then I got cancer at 41. It took a year to fight it, then a year to recover from the fight. When I turned 45, I lay in bed reflecting on all li...

Dear Friends, Today's "thought" is superb, insightful, scriptural, and helpful. It accurately shows THE major difference between the gracious message of Jesus (in light of society's moral corruption) and the teaching of more self-righteous groups (in light of society's moral corruption). There are few who have said it so well in so few words. But it will require you to put on your thinking caps. It will require you to follow the contrast he must use to point out the many differences between the Essenes (a holiness movement that separated from the world to go off and live in the Judean wilderness) and the Followers of Jesus (who were encouraged not to go off into the wilderness, or be of the world, yet at the same time remain in the midst of it - John 17:14-16). It comes to you from a man named Joachim Jeremias, and is found in his book, "New Testament Theology" - though it could more accurately be called, "The Theology of Jesus....

Dear Friends, This week's 'thought' comes to you from a book entitled: "Why Does it Have to Hurt?" by Dan G. McCartney. It's a book that deals with the suffering that earnest,believing, godly Christians often endure. So, if that describes your condition at this time (or the condition of someone you know) I offer his wise words to encourage your soul! Enjoy. "The Second Lesson of Job: Honesty is the Best Policy." "In the New Testament, James refers to Job as a great example of patience and perseverance (James 5:10-11). [Yet] Job does not look to us like a great example of either patience or piety. He complains bitterly chapter after chapter. He moves from simple complaint and confusion in the earlier chapters to outright accusation of God in the later. This ought to show us that the proper response to suffering is not "grinning and bearing it" or uttering pious platitudes. Job...

Dear Friends, Today’s “thought” was written to pastors and for pastors by Gordon MacDonald. Yet, what he says can apply to all believers who are in any way involved in serving or doing ministry. These are things we can all tend to do, or may have done – sometimes without even being aware we were doing them. Things which can gradually sap us of our spiritual passion and vitality. Siphons are those things that suck the life out of us over time. And the reason it takes time is because most siphons begin so small we barely notice we’re even doing them! They often start like a small leak from the outlet faucet at the bottom of a water tank that wasn’t closed tightly enough. The loss of water is so small – and seemingly insignificant – that we see no immediate need to remedy it. Other times we may even see our life-sapping siphons as virtues we don’t need to remedy. One example would be the workaholic, who thinks that working incessantly without any regular Sabbath rest is a ...

Greetings Friends, Given all the events of the last year, the conflict in relation to the election, and much of the turmoil that has so many people concerned, worried, or even afraid, I did want to take the opportunity to send out a “thought” which is taken from two authors I referenced in my recent sermon on “God’s Absolute Sovereignty Over All – Including Satan,” which was from John 13:1-30, and brought in elements of Luke 22:22 and Luke 22:31 as well. If you have no interest in this topic, these two excerpts will seem too long. If you do have an interest in this subject, you will wish I quoted more!   The first author is A.W. Pink from his classic work, “The Sovereignty of God” (written in 1928). And the second is taken from Erwin Lutzer’s book, “God’s Devil – The Incredible Story of How Satan’s Rebellion Serves God’s Purposes.” (Lutzer was the pastor of Moody Church in Chicago from 1980-2016.) I encourage you to consider their words, let them (if needed) alter ...

Dear Friends, I have had two good friends (one who left us years ago to be with Jesus) who said the same thing to me, in two different ways, ten years apart! Back in the late 1980's when Jimmy Swaggert and James Bakker fell into sin in a very public way, an elderly minister told me (and a group of other younger pastors with me) that a good reality check for ourselves when such things happen is to say to ourselves in honest confession: "There, but by the grace of God, go I." He was right. In the late 1990's another friend shared a memorable "take-away" he'd learned from a training class for church volunteers he'd attended. One of the pastors leading the class told them all (and I can't remember every word exactly, but the summary went like this!): Be aware and guard your heart against temptation. Because given the right mix of circumstances, trials, pain, stress, betrayal, and failure, or even more so, th...

Dear Friends, My purpose in sending out these weekly "thoughts" has always been to bless you with the writings of people whom you may not have heard of, read, or yet discovered (and for those well-read, some of their materials which you may not have yet discovered)! My goal is to send out things that are helpful and encouraging, or may help you see things from a new perspective. The same is true today. Today I'm offering you some quotes taken from the writings of a man who has been profoundly helpful to me in my Christian walk - C. S. Lewis. I am often chided for only quoting the old dead guys in my sermons, yet, that's because so much of what they say resonates with my soul! Not because it's old, but because it's true, and so often profound. C. S. Lewis is one of those people. Thus I offer you just a little taste of his wisdom. I have never read him without learning something new. I trust the same is true for you. Enjoy. ...