Basic Truths | Finding God in Everyday Life

  I’m a list person. With my short attention span, I need to make a to-do list each week so I can refer to it and remind myself to complete my tasks.   Paul wrote to many of the new Christian communities. At the end of his letters, he often gave them instructions, a to-do list of sorts, about how to live. He wrote to the Thessalonians, “ Live in peace with each other…..warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances…..Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:12-22).   Many Christian denominations observed Ash Wednesday this week. It marks the beginning of Lent, a 40 day period leading up to Easter. It...

  I watched the Super Bowl yesterday, along with about 130 million other people. As has been true for about the last 40 years, they filmed a commercial after the game, asking the most valuable players what they were going to do next. Their answer was, “I’m going to Disneyland!”.   I’ve known several hospice patients who inspired me. If they were in a commercial and someone asked them what they were going to do next, I’m sure they would have smiled and said, “I’m going to be with Jesus!”   Paul wrote to the Philippians from prison, “ I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!  I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;...

  We babysit our neighbors’ children once in a while. They’re good kids, although the youngest can be rambunctious at times. My wife, teacher that she is, uses her authoritative teacher voice to keep him in line. I’m not as good at getting obedience.   Jesus’ life is the ultimate example of obedience. Hebrews 5:8-9 says, “ Although he [Jesus] was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him”. It seems a little jarring at first to think that Jesus had to learn something. We think about Jesus as the Son of God but, as a human, He had to learn things just as we do. This isn’t to say that Jesus was ever disobedient; rather, that He had to learn what it meant to be obedient. With His suffering and death looming before Him, Jesus was able to say, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). This acceptance of s...

  We went to the Fort Worth Stock Show today. It’s a big event – last year there were over one million visitors and thirty thousand entrants (animal and human) during the three week run. I enjoy seeing the livestock and the attention they get from their owners. There is a lot of money involved. The grand champion steer sold last year for $375,000, the champion hog sold for $140,000, and over $10,000,000 went to other competitors.   I have great respect for those who show livestock, for all the work they do and all the effort they put into making their animal look its best for the show. The bottom line, though, is – you can do all the skin conditioners, lotions, and other treatments you want but - it’s still a hog.   We should be committed to the cause of Christ. We can’t be satisfied with just keeping up appearances, maybe going to church and contributing to some worthwhile charities. Our goal is to be transformed within, not just putting beauty treatments on a wo...