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Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23

12 Jul

13 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. 2 And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Dear God, this will be my Bible study passage for Monday night. It’s going to be my last 30 minutes with these men to have their undivided attention. I want to use this time with them well, Father. Please be with me right now as I prepare to get my thoughts together for a Bible study for them. I’m going to slip over the Microsoft Word to plot this out and then bring it back here to the blog, but my intent is that this entire time will be a prayer to you.

FCA Leadership Conference

  • Growing up Baptist, I accepted Jesus as many as 30 times between the ages of 9 and 17.
  • Some of them have probably experienced what I did back then. The need. The joy. The freedom. But now what?
  • 38 years ago this week, from July 13-17, 1987, I went to an FCA Leadership conference that talked about discipleship.
  • I want to share a little tonight of what I learned that week nearly 40 years ago.

Parable of the Sower  

  • Matthew 13:3-9 (Page 944)

3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

  • Path – birds devoured
  • Stony places – no roots so they withered
  • Thorns – choked them out
  • Good soil – massive crop.

So what does this mean?

  • Matthew 13:18-23

18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

  • Path – The person that hears it but just has no space for it and doesn’t take it in.
    • Stones – The person who hears it but the depth of their heart is shallow, and they aren’t ready to be serious about it.
    • Thorns – The person who plants it in deep soil and takes it seriously, but they don’t want to get rid of the other things in their lives that will choke out their faith.
    • Good soil – The person who takes it seriously and weeds out the soil of their heart to ensure their faith can grow.
  • Fruits of the Spirit and all of Jesus’s vegetation parables.

Who are you?

  • Everyone in here is one of these categories.
    • Who are you?
    • Who do you want to be?
  • Who will you be after graduation this Thursday?
    • We’ve talked about we are the average of the 5 people/influences we spend the most time with.
      • Will you be intentional about who those five people/influences are?
    • We have talked about how Saul was prone to feeling sorry for himself and that caused him to use people for his benefit.
      • Will you be intentional about fighting for the rights of others more than your own rights?
    • We have talked about how flawed David was and yet how God loved and blessed him because his faith was about serving and respecting God and not seeking his own advancement at other costs?
      • Will you willingly take steps back and sacrifice for the sake of God and others?

What is your floor?

  • For those in here with stony hearts or thorny hearts, will we decide to do something about it?
  • Describe what Father Mike Schmitz said in his homily called “The Floor.”
  • Give them my floor and my extras to add on top of the floor:

John’s Floor

  • The prayer journals. Spending 15-30 minutes a day in a concentrated time of prayer like this has become a have to for me.
  • Giving. Ten percent of our gross is a minimum.
  • Intentional time in conversation with my wife at least once a day is a floor.
  • At least one sermon/Bible teaching a week.
  • Communication and contact with at least one of the two male friends I have.
  • Avoiding sexual temptation/lust.
  • Exercising at least four times a week.
  • Doing the things I know bless my wife like fixing things around the house, managing our money and then sharing with her what our status is, doing my laundry, making the bed, etc.

Good things added to the floor

  • Church. A lot of Christians would probably disagree with me on this one. While I feel like it is important to have a church you belong to and to be involved in that church, I don’t feel like the foundation in my life is cracking if I miss a week.
  • My extra writing projects.
  • Teaching.
  • Engaging healthily through prayer and action in my community.
  • Listening to Christian music. I mix it in during the week, but I also listen to secular as well.
  • Listening to Christian podcasts. Similar to music, I mix it in, but it’s a “get” to.

It’s Time To List Your Own Floor

  • Hand out sheets for them to list their own floor.
  • NOTE: Theirs will be different from mine as my wife’s is different from mine.
  • Give them five minutes to fill out.
  • Does anyone want to share?
  • Find someone in your life to share it with and be accountable to them.

Close in Prayer

Father, I offer all of this to you. My next step will be to make some slides for this for PowerPoint. Help me to know how to do this well. Please take all of this and turn it into something that will find good soil in these men’s hearts. And I pray for the hearts of some others I know and who are on my mind right now. Please guide them. Comfort them. Direct them. Heal them. Cover them in your glory. Call them to you. Give them ears to hear.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 12, 2025 in Matthew

 

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Letter to the Church in Laodicea – Revelation 3:14-22

11 Jul

14 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation:

15 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! 17 You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. 18 So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. 19 I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.

20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. 21 Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.

22 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”

Revelation 3:14-22

Dear God, reading this passage is like watching Casablanca. You just hear all of these lines you’ve heard somewhere, but you didn’t know the source. “Here’s looking at you, kid.” “Of all the gin joints in all the world…” “The problems of two little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this world.” In this case we get the stuff about being lukewarm and spewed out of Jesus’s mouth. I correct and discipline everyone I love. I stand at the door and knock. Anyone with ears to here… Yet, with all of this ingrained familiarity with these words, do we heed them?

Every time I hear about the church in Laodicea, I think about the Steve Camp song from the 1980s called “Living in Laodicea.” I just stopped typing to go and listen to the song and, frankly, it didn’t line up with this passage as much as I hoped it would. The song was more about drifting away from you. I don’t think that’s what the church in Laodicea was doing from what is described here. I don’t think they were the world’s friend. I think they were just maintaining the status quo and so inwardly focused that they were losing their saltiness.

For me, it seems like the best way to guard against this is to stick to those top two commandments: Love you with everything I have and love my neighbor as myself. In my mind, that is the best antidote to being lukewarm. That is the best way for me to hear you. And I have to keep them in that order. If I start to lead with serving others then I can get totally distracted by that and you will start to fade. But if I start with you and then lean into seeking your leading in loving others then I think I will find the balance you call me to.

In consulting The Communicator’s Commentary by Earl Palmer on Revelation, he pointed out what a prosperous city Laodicea was. Apparently, a lot of trade happened there and there were many prosperous. Interestingly, I live in a city that many see as prosperous. We are a tourist town with a lot of visitors just about every week of the year. The town has a wonderful veneer and a lot going on because of the tourists. We have a robust community theater and a lot of good restaurants. It’s abnormally sophisticated for a town of 11,000 people 60 miles from the nearest large city. And a lot of wealthy people retire here. Our churches are filled with people who seem to fit the description of the residents in Laodicea. But there is a huge impoverished population here too. Our school district is 62% free or reduced lunch. Our uninsured rate for health insurance ranks 229th out of 255 Texas counties. There are a lot of resources here, but there are a lot of people who need our help and love.

Father, it starts with me. And it’s honestly pretty simple. Love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and love my neighbor as myself. And I have neighbors who need loved. Some of them are friends in need. Some of them are strangers I encounter along the way. I don’t know everything they need, but you do. Help me to hear your voice as I spend time with you and you call me to love them.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 11, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Letter to the Church in Philadelphia – Revelation 3:7-13

10 Jul

7 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia.

This is the message from the one who is holy and true,
    the one who has the key of David.
What he opens, no one can close;
    and what he closes, no one can open:

8 “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me. 9 Look, I will force those who belong to Satan’s synagogue—those liars who say they are Jews but are not—to come and bow down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love.

10 “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. 12 All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens in the city of my God—the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And I will also write on them my new name.

13 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

Revelation 3:7-13

Dear God, the beginning of this letter, referencing the “key of David,” was unique so I pulled out my biblical commentary (The Communicator’s Commentary: 1, 2, 3 John and Revelation by Earl Palmer) to see what it had to say about it. It referred back to Isaiah 22:22 that says, “And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.” So these people are seen and known my Jesus in a seemingly intimate way. He has opened a door for them that no one can close. That just made me think of the last verse of the song “The Love of God” by Rich Mullins:

Joy and sorrow are this ocean
They’re in its every ebb and flow
Now the Lord a door has opened
That all hell could never close
Here I’m tested and made worthy
Tossed about, yet lifted up
In the reckless, raging fury
They call the love of God

I don’t think I ever caught this connection from Rich. I wonder if that’s what he meant. Either way, this paints a beautiful picture of Jesus appreciating these unassuming, unpowerful, faithful Christians. They weren’t doing things that felt like they were showing up in the box score. They were just living their lives as faithfully as they could, doing the next thing they saw in front of them.

I couldn’t help but notice to keep them from the “great time of testing.” What was this? Is this what people understand to be “tribulation” and perhaps a reference to “rapture” in the mentioning of avoiding that time? I don’t know. It’s interesting that the commentary ignored this part of the passage completely. Maybe I will too. 🙂

Father, I want to be what the author of the commentary, Earl Palmer, describes when talking about why he’s impressed with the Church in Philadelphia: “I am impressed by the naturalness of basic realism of this strategy of evangelism. It does not idealize the Christian missionary task; it does not call for ‘super Christians,’ but rather for garden-variety Christians who are experiencing the miracle of the love of Jesus Christ in their own lives and fellowship.” Yes, to be a general, “garden-variety” Christian living a simple life of faith is what I want. No glory. No acclaim. No scorecard I can point to at the end of the day and show people, or even you, how great I was. Just a faithful life that successfully, quietly, knocked over a couple of dominoes in other people’s lives and maybe one of those dominoes falling over will be used by you for something great. And I’ll never know about it. And no one will ever know it was me. Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I just want to serve you as simply and humbly as I can. Please bless the path I walk to make that happen, regardless of what it costs me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 10, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Letter to the Church in Sardis – Revelation 3:1-6

09 Jul

3 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars:

“I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. 3 Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.

4 “Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.

6 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

Revelation 3:1-6

Dear God, oh my. This is a horrifying thought. To have a great reputation that is really empty. Oh, how I don’t want to be empty.

I’m going to look at this from a personal level first before I think about it for your churches here in America. I have a reputation in our small town, and it is a good one. Is it a facade? I don’t think it is, but I so hope I have not deluded myself into thinking I’m loving and serving you but not doing it. I was talking to a friend yesterday about the rescue and now recovery efforts in Kerrville, which is a neighboring town less than 30 miles from where I am sitting right now. We were talking about our respect for people who are doing the searching and recovering. It is gruesome. It is grim. I confessed to him that I don’t have the stomach for it. And I know we can’t all be everything. I know there are different parts of the body and we all have different roles. But should I be there? At this point, I don’t think so, but I don’t know. I just know I truly admire every single person who is doing it. And I know I’ve responded to what I felt like were nudges from you on how my wife and I should participate. Going back to this passage from Revelation, my point is that I don’t want my life to be a hollow shell of a respectable and reputable facade. In fact, if anything, I want to minimize how much or what people think of me and regard it as rubbish compared with what you think of me. I want to consider my life worth nothing to me.

Now, as for the church, well, there are some churches I personally respect and some I do not. Do I have the right perspective on it? Are the categories I use to evaluate and judge them the right ones, or do I even have the right opinion about those categories? As for the Catholic church, of which I am not a member but attend with my wife, I have no issue with them regarding their love for you or the genuineness of their hearts for you. I don’t agree with every theological belief they have, but the truth is we are probably both wrong about some of our beliefs, we just don’t know which those are. That’s fine. We believe in the same core things and I enjoy worshipping with these sisters and brothers. I enjoy being in relationship with them. I feel like I have seen their hearts and they are good and not empty shells of reputation.

Father, I pray for the churches in our community. Each one. Catholic, Orthodox, mainline denominations, evangelical, etc. I pray for their leadership. I pray for each head pastor and each person who serves under them. Give them your presence. Convict where you want to convict. Affirm where you want to affirm. I know some churches are facing a leadership transition. Please guide over them as churches and as individuals servants of you. From their pastors and potential pastors, to the committee members who are discerning your will, to the people in the pews. Be very present to them. But beyond those few churches, I pray for all of them. That they might be found faithful. That the Catholic church I attend might be found faithful. Let your kingdom come and your will be done through all of us as your body as it is in heaven.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 9, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Letter to the Church in Thyatira – Revelation 2:18-29

08 Jul

18 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze:

19 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.

20 “But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.

22 “Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.

24 “But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you 25 except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come. 26 To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end,

To them I will give authority over all the nations.
27 They will rule the nations with an iron rod
    and smash them like clay pots.

28 They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star!

29 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

Revelation 2:18-29

Dear God, this is interesting. Two churches in a row have the same sin: allowing sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. In this case, it appears the sexual immorality is heterosexual-based (adultery with the woman as described in verse 22) as opposed to a vague sexual immorality at the church in Pergamum from yesterday.

I was talking with a friend last night about sexual immorality. And I know I’ve said this before (I think I said it yesterday too), but I think we don’t raise the standard high enough. It’s a little like the Republican Party in the United States wanting power to the local government as long as local is defined at the level of government at which they have the power (and I say this as a moderate Republican). In this case, we want you to banish sexual immorality and we want to banish it from our midst as long as it is the sexual immorality that is just below the rung on the ladder at which we are being sexually immoral.

But I like this encouragement to the faithful that is written here. You see them. You see their faithfulness to you and your teaching: love, service, faith, and patient endurance (verse 19). And you circle back around to them at the end in verses 24 and 25.

Father, last night was everything I could have hoped it would be with the men in the CMLS class. And it wasn’t me. It was you. And I don’t have numbers I can walk around today and pump my chest about. That’s good. But I did get an affirmation in that I heard at least one man praying quietly along with me while I prayed a prayer for them to accept your gift and follow you. It touched me so much. I didn’t feel euphoric. I just felt happy for them. But I also know it’s only the beginning of the journey for them. It’s like when I drop a big fundraising mailing at work. With your grace and people responding to the mailing, getting it in the mail is only the beginning. It’s the follow-up where the real work lies. The men who prayed last night, and even those who didn’t, have long roads ahead of them. Help them to take it one step at a time, and help all of the teachers to guide them in that life that fill find them being everything the faithful people of Thyatira were.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 8, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Letter to the Church in Pergamum – Revelation 2:12-17

07 Jul

12 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one with the sharp two-edged sword:

13 “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city.

14 “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. 15 In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. 16 Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

17 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.

Revelation 2:12-17

Dear God, I might as well go there with this passage. What is sexual sin? Where are the lines?

I think a lot of people in the American church right now would go straight to homosexuality or any LGBTQ issues and start there. But I want to start on the other end of the spectrum. This makes me think of the part of the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus says things like, “You have heard it said…, but I say…” That’s where he raised the bar on murder, adultery, and some other things. So I want to go to all of us and say, “You have heard it said do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman for that is detestable, but I say do not look at a woman in lust, subject your mind to sexual situations outside of your marriage, or sexually bond yourself to anyone who isn’t your spouse.” I have a friend who was living with her now husband for years and welcomed in a church that would never have welcomed an LGBTQ couple. Was their standard too high or too low? And how do we treat that couple who is living together outside of marriage? Do we love or reject? This passage can be a hard teaching.

Our society has gotten to the point where even the most conservative people have accepted an entire range of sexual activity. I’m thinking about a pastor friend who told me his local church was wanting to leave its denominational affiliation because of its open stance towards LGBTQ issues. His reply was, okay, we can talk about it, but we will also need to talk about all of the other sexual sins the Bible outlines. Do you really want to have that conversation? And while it was good to point out that hypocrisy on the part of his church, it is telling that the people backed down and decided to not have the conversation at all rather than give up the sin they liked.

Father, I am not holy in this area. My thoughts are not always pure. I don’t always keep myself from seeing content I shouldn’t see. There are television shows I love that display immoral sexual behavior and I partake willingly. So, I’m not picking up any stones to throw. I guess what I’m challenging myself and anyone else to do is just go to the fringe sexual activity and start with my judgments there, but start with the highest bar Jesus would set and start there. I’ll confess to you that I am still perplexed over a same sex monogamous relationship and if it is truly wrong, but I do believe that any monogamous sexual relationship, whether it be heterosexual or homosexual, is difficult to do well. And I do think homosexual relationships are complicated to do in a relationally, spiritually healthy way. I just don’t know that it’s impossible or that it’s something that is denied grace if it is wrong. But again, it’s not about them right now. It’s about me. I’m heterosexual. I am happily married. Help me to keep myself pure and love my wife how you designed me to love her.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 7, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Jesus, Son of David, Have Mercy on Me

06 Jul

Dear God, I’ve done something wholly unique this week. In planning for the talk tomorrow night, I basically wrote out a speech. I will likely take this and turn it into an outline because I don’t normally read from text, but this felt so important and out of my comfort zone, I wanted to take this approach instead. Here is what I wrote. I offer it to you as my offering:

Given the tragedy of last weekend in Kerrville [about 30 miles from where we live], I want to start with something a little different.

In 1871, there was a man named Horatio Spafford. He was a wealthy attorney and real estate investor who had put a lot of his fortune into real estate along lake Michigan in Chicago. He was also a faithful Christian and active member of the Presbyterian church. He had a wife and four daughters. That year there was the great Chicago fire that burned much of the city including Horatio’s real estate fortune.

Two years later, Horatio decided the family needed a trip abroad so he put his wife and daughters on a boat to England and he stayed behind to finish some business, planning to join them soon. Tragically, the ship his family was on struck another vessel out at sea and sank in 12 minutes. From his family, only his wife survived. He lost all of his children just two years after most of his fortune. It was similar to Job losing his fortune and then losing his children.

His wife cabled him from England with the message, “Saved alone. What shall I do?”

He rushed to be with his wife as soon as he could which meant sailing across the Atlantic himself. During the voyage, the captain of the ship went to Horatio and told him they were at the spot where his family’s boat had sunk. Horatio went up on deck, looked out at the ocean and was inspired to write these words:

When peace like a river attendeth my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say

It is well, it is well with my soul

We sang this in church Sunday, and it brought tears to my eyes. I cannot imagine the pain felt by those who have lost their children and family. I’ve not experienced that. But I have experienced pain to the point of desperation. I have been devastated.

David had been Devastated too. He wrote songs of lament when Jonathan and Saul were killed. He did the same for Joab. You can be sure he wrote a lot of poetry and songs while he was running for Saul over all of that time. Our lives will not be perfect, but God is our rock. But he ultimately wanted to show us how it was done.

So God did this amazing, miraculous thing for us. He came down and was born to a virgin. He grew up in a poor family. They all spent the first few years of his life running from Herod, moving as far away as Egypt before hearing from an angel it was safe to go home. And this Jesus grew up, taught a bunch of things that were shocking to everyone, including his closest disciples, allowed himself to be killed, rose again from the dead, and then ascended to heaven to rule with God, sending his Holy Spirit to be here with us until our death or his return, whichever comes first.

Now, to quote a pastor in Atlanta I heard once, I can understand why it would be hard for you to believe all of that. I can understand some of you looking at the virgin birth, the miracles, and the resurrection from the dead and saying, “No way am I buying that.” I get that doubt. But what I don’t get is why you wouldn’t WANT the Jesus of the Bible to be true. Not maybe what Christians in your life have told you about Jesus or shown you about Jesus through the way they live, but about the actual Jesus we learn about in the Bible. There is no reason all of us shouldn’t WANT Jesus to be true.

There are a lot of us that left God or never wanted anything to do with God because of the “hypocrites” we saw who said they believed in him but were awful or judgmental. Over the last 2,000 years, there have been a lot of people who did a lot of awful things in Jesus’s name. I don’t need to list the things. Y’all could probably give me a huge list if we had the time, but here’s how I heard someone describe the difference between who Jesus was and what he taught and some of his followers and how they have lived out their faith:

Bach wrote the “Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major.” People who understand music theory will tell you it is a genius piece of music. The music dances around the notes and starts to lead you to a note your ear wants to hear but then it leads you away again. It’s beautiful. So I heard this man describe it this way one time. He decided to take cello lessons for three days and then play the “Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major.” He then played a recording for the crowd of him playing the piece. It was not good. You could hear a few of the notes, but they were not put together in a way that was even close to what Bach wrote. And if you were to only know Bach’s piece from what this man played you would have no idea the genius that was in the “Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major.” There would be no way to.

This is the problem with a lot of Christendom now. The people who claim Jesus as Lord do not understand the piece, have not spent the time with the piece to learn it, and play it so poorly it hurts not only the ears but the soul.

So let me tell you a story that exemplifies the beauty of Jesus. It ties together his commands to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. It explains what it looks like to forgive as you have received forgiveness. It exhibits God’s call to accept his grace and then go and sin no more.

John 8:2-11 (page1042)

2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

This is what Jesus taught us. This is who Jesus is. He didn’t come to give everyone a free pass. He also didn’t come to condemn the world. He came to save the world.

Last week, D.J. did a great job of bringing in John 3:17 with John 3:16 (page 1034). Most of us have heard John 3:16 before: “For God so loved the world the he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” But here’s verse 17 right after it: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

God WANTS you. He WANTS relationship with you. And the message Jesus preached when he walked around saying the people needed to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand was not, “You best be believing in me or you’re going to go to hell.” What he was saying was, “God wants to be in your life. God wants the best for you. God loves you. All he wants you to do is love him back and then love everyone around you as much as you possibly can regardless of what it costs you.”

But it starts with surrender.

Matthew 16:24-25 (page 950)

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 

And how did Jesus teach us to live? Most of it is written in the Sermon on the Mount—Jesus’s stump speech—recorded in Matthew 5-7:

  1. Beattitudes: Be merciful and a peacemaker and prepared to be persecuted for such outlandish thinking.
  2. Represent me proudly, regardless of what it costs you.
  3. I didn’t come here to get rid of the law and give everyone a free pass:
    1. You’ve heard it said don’t murder, but let me raise the bar.
    1. You’ve heard it said don’t commit adultery, but let me raise the bar.
    1. You’ve heard it said love neighbors and hate enemies, but let me raise the bar.
  4. Give to the needy.
  5. Pray (Lord’s Prayer) regularly.
  6. Don’t be selfish
  7. Don’t worry
  8. Don’t judge others
  9. Ask for things, but subject your prayers to God’s will (see “It is Well with my Soul”)
  10. ALL IS WRAPPED UP IN Matthew 7:12 (page 937): “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

So are you ready? In Acts 26:12-14, Paul describes Jesus stopping him while he was going from town to town arresting and persecuting Christians saying, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Are you ready for a different life? Are you ready for a way of living that brings good fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control? Or do you want to keep doing it your way? It’s your choice.

Jesus tells you he wants you. He knows your sins. He knows every one of them. He knows every one of my sins too.

There is a T.V. Show called Ted Lasso. And in that show, there is a scene where a person gets mad at a relative and goes through a series of “Thank you” for this and “F*** you” for that. Over and over. Thank you for … and F*** you for … I woke up the next day thinking I was going to write out my own thank you/f*** you list for a couple of people, and I felt the Holy Spirit tell me, “No. First, you don’t need to see your thank you/f*** you list for them written in black and white. That will not be helpful. Second, don’t forget God has a thank you/f*** you list for you too, and you are adding to it every day. Don’t think it’s not there. The good news is, He cannot see it through Jesus’s blood. But if He can have that much grace for you, how much grace can you have for them.

Next week, I’ll be talking about where we go from here and the first steps to living a life that studies how to play the genius way of life Jesus tried to teach us. But tonight, I just want to ask if you’re ready to put your stake in the ground and accept Jesus’s invitation to be in relationship with him. Maybe it’s a first time decision. Maybe it’s a rededication to living the life he’s calling you to live. Buy you are deciding right here, on July 7, 2025, that you are ready to be the man God is calling you to be for your wife (or if you’re single, your future wife), your children and future children, and your community. But mainly, and here’s the big secret, you’re doing it because the God of the universe loves you and you can’t wait to thank him for that love, for that forgiveness, and for that freedom from the sin.

So let’s pray. [After prayer] while our heads are down and eyes are closed, and my head is down and my eyes are closed too—this is just between you and God—it’s important to not just think this in your head but to actually make a physical gesture saying this will be the start of a new day for you. So just raise your palms to heaven, even as they are in your lap or laying on the table in front of you. Raise your palms to heaven and pray with me, “Jesus, thank you. I accept your gift. I accept your death and resurrection for my sin. I am so sorry for my sin. I need you. I need your forgiveness. I need you to be reconciled to the Father. Thank you for this. And now please send me your Holy Spirit to be in me, guide me, teach me, comfort me, and express your love for me. I will learn to live the life you’re calling me to live. I will learn to worship you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I will learn what it truly means to love my neighbor, including my enemies, as myself. It will be a long journey, but I have nowhere else to go. You are my God and my savior. Thank you for loving and forgiving me.”

We pray this to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Amen

Next week, I’ll spend my time talking about where to go from here. How do we learn how to live this amazing life Jesus brought to us from the Father?

 
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Posted by on July 6, 2025 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Letter to the Church in Smyrna – Revelation 2:8-11

05 Jul

8 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive:

9 “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.

11 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.

Revelation 2:8-11

Dear God, I guess this is a good letter? (He says with a questioning, high-pitched voice) You seem to be pleased with them. They seem to be faithful in their theology and living by your teachings even when those who say they represent you persecute them. If I were them, I think I would rather not know the 10 days of suffering are coming. I mean, I suppose once the 10 days arrives it will be good to know there is an end to it one way or another, but in that moment that would be very scary.

There are two things that really sit with me here. First, there were people there who were deluded into thinking they were right but were persecuting the church in Smyrna while you were happy with them. In fact, Jesus called the self-righteous persecutors minions of Satan. Oh my! I’m sure that would devastate them to know that. I’m sure they woke up in the morning thinking they were right and wanting to do the right thing. I’m sure they thought the church in Smyrna was dangerous and their enemy. They had no idea. Oh, how I hope that’s not me in this present age.

Second, there are Christians out there whose agenda I oppose. They think I am wrong and some have gotten angry with me. I think they are wrong and there have been times when I have been angry with them. Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit–My Triune God–please tell me how I’m wrong. I won’t say “if” I’m wrong because I am sure I am not correct about everything. But let me know “how” I am wrong. I don’t mind having people I oppose or even standing up to them, but I certainly don’t want to oppose you or stand up to you. You are God. You are right. If we are in conflict then I am the one who is wrong. Show me how I’m wrong.

Father, you keep me on a need-to-know basis and I very rarely need to know. I think I prefer that. There is sorrow in my life. Right now, as I sit here on the morning of July 5, there are parents and family members who are devastated by the loss of life and missing children in the floods in Kerrville, about 25 miles from me. This will be a sorrow that will stay with those who lose someone for the rest of their lives. July 4, 2025, will live in infamy for this area. It’s tragic. But I’m grateful I didn’t know my sorrow was coming in all of those years that lead up to it. I’m grateful these families didn’t know this was coming either. It’s like the Garth Brooks song “The Dance.” To quote the chorus: “And now, I’m glad I didn’t know the way it all would end. The way it all would go. Our lives are better left to chance. I could have missed the pain, but I’d have had to miss the dance.” I will stay on this dance floor as long as you let me, Father. Help me to be a source of love and comfort to everyone around me, even those who I oppose or who oppose me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 5, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Letter to the Church at Ephesus – Revelation 2:1-7

04 Jul

2 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:

2 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 3 You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.

4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! 5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. 6 But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.

7 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.

Revelation 2:1-7

Dear God, let me start by saying I’m concerned about friends along the Guadalupe River right now. I have a coworker, and we cannot contact her or her family. We are worried about them. I am thinking of the camps along the river that are full of kids this time of year. I am thinking about the people who just live there. Please take care of them. Please wrap them up and keep them safe. Please, Father, please take care of my friend and her family. She is absolutely one of the best and sweetest people I know. Lord, have mercy. Jesus, have mercy. Holy Spirit, have mercy.

Regarding this letter to the church at Ephesus, when I read it this morning, it made me wonder what you would have to say to me. What have I done right? What am I doing wrong? For Ephesus, their actions were good:

  • Hard work.
  • Patient endurance.
  • Rejection of evil people.
  • Discerning who is a false apostle and rejecting.
  • Patiently suffered for Jesus.

That’s a good list. If I were them, I would cut the conversation off there, take my report card, and go. But you didn’t stop there: “But I have this complaint against you…”

  • Don’t love God/Jesus/Holy Spirit like they used to.
  • Don’t love each other like they used to.

They used to do all of their good things as a fruit of what came from worshipping you. But they had started doing the work without you. It made me think about just treating my faith more like a philosophy of how to live a human life. Kind of a perspective of, “This is how I’m supposed to live and act, so I’ll live and act this way.” But what I noticed this morning is that they are simply missing the two great commandments. Love you and love each other. Instead, there seems to be a selfishness about their actions. Are they suffering persecution for their own glory in some weird way? Are they getting their ego stroked through it?

It seems like when selfishness creeps in we just don’t have the capacity to love you and love those around us like we should, or even at all. We start getting concerned about our rights. Then we eventually start to fight for ourselves instead of for others. We stop sacrificing for others and start to expect others to sacrifice for us.

Father, I think this will be a convicting series. What will you have to tell me through these letters? I’m going to start a spreadsheet that I’ll put into these journals at the end to list the compliments and the concerns you give to each church. Perhaps there is something I can use in my personal life that will help me to be the salt in the world you are calling me to be. Lord, have mercy. Jesus, have mercy. Holy Spirit, have mercy.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 4, 2025 in Revelation

 

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Revelation

03 Jul

Dear God, I have a question: Should I care about Revelation? If so, what should I care about? I was listening to a video by N.T. Wright last night, and…well, let me back up really quickly.

Monday night at the Christian Men’s Life Skills Bible study, the ice-breaker question was, “If you could ask God one question, what would it be?” Several people asked about the end times and Revelation. One of the leaders got up and started talking a lot about the end times possibly being now. I remained silent throughout the discussion, but then when I got up and had my turn to talk to start my Bible study on David’s ascent to the throne over all of Israel I found myself telling the men, “I don’t care about Revelation.” The same leader who talked about end times also made a great statement when he was asked for his question of you. He basically said, “I don’t have any questions of God. My job is just to serve him.” I wholeheartedly agree, so I leaned into that. I told them that, for me, I don’t care about the end times because you have given me work to do today. I also try not to care about what’s in it for me because I “consider my life worth nothing to me.” (Acts 20:24) Then I went into your exchange with Job in Job 38-42. I found my voice getting really passionate about it as I said it all. I could feel it happening in real time. I thought I hadn’t been that animated during most of the Samuel/Saul/Jonathan/David stuff, but I apparently had something to say about this. It was interesting.

Fast forward to last night, and I am listening to the N.T. Wright talk. Someone had put up a video comparing his theology on this issue with John MacArthur’s. MacArthur has a much more rapture/tribulation/second coming view of the end. First, isn’t it fascinating to see how we can read the same things and disagree?

One thing Wright said that I’d never heard before in a second video I listened to was that the imagery John used in Revelation was commonly understood by readers of the day and that the whole part about you winning and Jesus on the throne has already happened. All we are waiting for is your second coming, but even that won’t be something where we are taken away from earth. You will return to earth and rule here. We will meet you in the sky because people go out to greet their king, but then we will return with you to earth.

So back to my initial question. And I really mean this. Am I missing something that you want to use to develop me by ignoring Revelation. The thoughts that are coming to me right now is that I am missing the warnings to the churches. Those are important for anyone to heed. It makes me wonder if John were writing Revelation today, what would your words be to the church in the United States? What would it be to the different denominations? What would it be to me?

Father, I think over the next few days I am going to go to the parts of Revelation that are the letters to the churches. I want to see what you said to them and what I need to understand from them. Oh, how I love you. Oh, how I love to sit and do things like this with you. When I sat down this morning, I had zero idea what I would pray about, and then I let your Holy Spirit guide me into this wonderful thought process and discussion with you. Help me to not become so into it that I lose my salt for the earth. And thank you for teaching me new skills for this Christian Men’s Life Skills class. You are stretching me and growing me through it. Thank you for stretching me and growing me in such a gentle and delightful way. And thank you, Father, for the good news for a couple of relatives yesterday. And for good news for other prayers as well. I don’t thank you enough for the answers to prayers. But I am grateful for your movement in my life and in the lives around me. Thank you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 3, 2025 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories, Revelation

 

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