Category Archives: Musings and Stories

Dear God, I’m sorry I haven’t prayed about this more (or at all). I’ve thought about it. I’ve worried about it a little. But I haven’t educated myself on it, followed it, or allowed it to touch my heart. But I read this morning that Russia started invading Ukraine, and my first thoughts were of the people living there who are terrified right now. From their military to government officials, to just people like me wondering if they will be able to protect their families, provide for their families, and sustain life. Will those that worship you still be able to do that with freedom? There is so much, and their pain has not touched me until now. In fact, the magnitude of this situation is still not really touching me.

I saw that commodities prices were jumping and it made me wonder if Americans’ biggest complaint in this invasion is that we are having to pay more for gasoline. Our priorities can be so out of whack–and I’m including myself in that statement.

Father, my government is not my idol. The economy is not my idol. While those two statements are mostly true, I confess to you right now that they are not entirely true. I do put some of my faith in my bank account, our military’s ability to protect me, and my job to provide for me. I am sorry for that. Please move in Ukraine and Russia. Give leaders everywhere, including Putin and Biden…well, let me just ask that you would guide this whole situation to work out for your glory. Make this pain count. Protect your children. Use this to draw all of us closer to you. I know that many in western countries will use this as an excuse to become more partisan. I don’t know if even you can stop that from happening, but my prayer is that, ultimately, this will all work out so that you will will be done and your kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

No verse.

Dear God, I was watching a basketball game with my wife last night that was a lot of “fun.” What made it fun? The revenge factor. The hate and animosity that the home team fans had for the visiting team, their coach in particular. The venom in the arena came through the TV. One of the announcers said, “We need more hate like this in college basketball.” My wife and I remarked how much fun it would have been to be there. A friend texted and told me his sister camped out for three days to get tickets. What fueled this glee on all of our parts (myself included)? Revenge. Hate. Animosity. In the case of last night, the “bad guys” lost and there was much rejoicing.

When I woke up this morning, I thought about this a little. Why was I drawn to revel and enjoy this vitriol for a while last night? Why was I texting friends about it?

There are still worldly things in my heart. Idols. Pride. Anger. Guilt. Lust. Pretty much all of the things listed by Paul in Galatians 5:19-21 as the “desires of the sinful nature” (NLT). I wish they weren’t there, but they are. And things of the world can fuel them if I let them.

The Bible in a Year thing I’ve been listening to this year is covering Exodus right now, and this morning mentioned the plagues on the Egyptians and how they not only eventually broke the Egyptians to let the Israelites go, but they were also the process of you defeating the Egyptian gods. But not only in the minds of the Egyptians, but also the minds of the Israelites. They had been in Egypt for 400 years. They had let Egyptian way of life creep into their lives as well. To some extent, the Egyptian gods had become their gods. So the plagues were also about revealing yourself to the Israelites as their one, true God.

Father, you are my one, true God and I am grateful for you. Thank you for making your grace attainable for me. Thank you for the opportunity to repent and humble myself before you and others. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being a God that is worthy of my worship.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

Dear God, I was thinking a couple of days ago about the idea of dreams and interpreting them. I wonder how much or often you still speak to us in dreams. For example, in Genesis you have Joseph’s dreams and Pharaoh’s dreams. In Matthew, the other Joseph actually had angels visit him in his dreams. Well, last night, I had one that, if there’s an interpretation I’d love to hear it. If it’s just a revealing of my heart and psyche, it was very encouraging.

It was my wife and me and we had decided, for whatever reason, to recreate our wedding day now. Not renew our vows, although that was part of it, but actually recreate our wedding day. It was fraught with problems, but we were just delighted and laughed the whole time. Many things were going wrong, but we were just rolling with them and laughing.

The interesting thing is that there were missing people. Over the last 30 years we’ve lost several, including her parents, so she walked the aisle by herself, without her dad (Although, for some reason, she had on a heavy backpack the we had decided to use as a substitute for her dad. And the weight of the backpack didn’t burden her even while the weight of it made her stumble forward. She just laughed as she came down the aisle). Her aunt who played songs at our wedding was there, but she couldn’t remember the songs so she just kind of sang randomly. Oh, and I remember this. My wife and I were talking before the ceremony about how our original one wasn’t that religious, but then as we saw everything unfold we saw Jesus everywhere. In the songs we picked, the scriptures. It thrilled us to see how involved you had been from the beginning.

Father, I’m glad I’m talking about this dream I don’t think I’ve ever prayed about one like this before, but it’s encouraging me. It’s reminding me that you are there with us and you have been with us from the beginning. Thank you. It’s showing me that, even with our current struggles (I’m thinking of her heavy backpack) we are holding up well. So, for whatever reason, I feel like singing The Doxology to you. Praise God,from whom all blessing flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above the heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

No verse.

Dear God, it’s the first day of a new year. The irony is that so many people put artificial expectations on this day as a day of turning pages, but life doesn’t seem to be a respecter of the calendar. For example, 2020 had a lot of rough spots, with the spread of a brand new pandemic, a very contentious election cycle, a difficult economy with lots of lost jobs, etc. Everyone was ready to say goodbye to 2020! But within the first two months, there was an attempted overthrow of the government in which the lives of many of our leaders were in peril, there was a freeze that laid waste to most of Texas (where I live) for a solid week, and more people died in the first few months of the year from the pandemic because of the Thanksgiving and Christmas surges. Since then, while there is money in the economy, inflation is high, supply chains are in tatters, and businesses, ironically, are having difficulty finding labor. The gap between the rich and the poor grew greater, with affordable housing becoming harder to find. We found that we could not will or wish away the frustrations of 2020 by flipping the calendar to 2021.

On a personal level, I had some amazingly wonderful things happen and some tragic things happen. I’ve experienced great victories and tremendous sorrow. I’ve experienced incredible love and shocking betrayal. I’d love to say that flipping the calendar from December 31, 2021, to January 1, 2022, will bring the healing I desire and the victories I seek. But I think that might just be the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.

So what am I to do? It’s simple, really. Be faithful. Be faithful in worshipping you. Be faithful in repenting to you and others when I need to–and you know that I often need to. Cultivate the soil of my heart so that your Holy Spirit will be able to plant seeds and they will grow into your fruit. That includes not letting the cares of this world distract me from you. And I need to listen to your still small voice and let it guide me in my personal life, in my vocational work, and in my work in the community. I need you to inspire me and then I need to lean into you for that inspiration.

Father, it’s also often a time for resolutions, and I am, indeed, resolving to do something this year. There is a podcast that not only reads through the entire Bible in a year, but also does some exposition and teaching on the passages. My wife listened to it last year, and I think she got a lot out of it. So I am going to try to do that this year. More of you and more teaching from your Word can’t hurt. So help me to use that to tend the soil of my heart, and may the fruit of your Spirit grow in me and through me so that, regardless of the circumstances around me, I might be at peace in the center of your will.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

Dear God, I visited a Methodist church yesterday and there was a guest preacher, Colleen Haley. She gave a really good sermon, but this one line stood out to me: “Too many of us are citizens of the culture and dabblers in the faith.” I really liked that. It took me back to something I’ve thought before about myself and others: we treat Christianity more like a philosophy to live our lives by than a submitted, worshipful relationship with you. And I’m guilty of it too. Maybe I fight against that tendency more than most, but I’m certainly “prone to wander,” as the line in. “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” says.

But the phrase citizen of the culture and dabbler in the faith was particularly convicting. What does it mean to be a citizen of the culture? What does a citizen of heaven here on earth look like? The question that might condemn me the most: Which one does my life more closely represent?

Maybe I can look at the parable of the farmer scattering seed on the different types of soil (Matthew 13). I think the dabbler in the faith citizen of the culture is best represented by the soil filled with weeds and thorns: “The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.“ Conversely, the citizen of heaven is represented by the hood soil: “The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

Father, help me to let go of the cares of this life and the lures of wealth. I confess that I’ve been a little materialistic and selfish lately. I’ve cared more about myself than sharing what I have with others. I’ve cared more about my own respite and entertainment than about worshipping you. I’ve probably been more of a citizen of the culture and dabbler in the faith than I’d like to admit. I’m sorry.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen