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Tag Archives: Faith

1 John 4:9-10

30 Nov

9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

1 John 4:9-10

Dear God, I was reading something by Charles Stanley this morning on how this decision on your part to have Jesus come and do what he did was a turning point in our timed history. I think he’s right. I mean, it literally reset how the world counted years, after all. What you did in the incarnation is amazing. What you did through the incarnation is amazing. What you continue to do through the incarnation is amazing.

I’ve had a surprisingly hectic couple of days since I got back from vacation. One thing I’ve done is committed myself to doing the Advent thing with Parents of the Bible that I hadn’t really planned to do, but it made sense to do it. The number of journals and the days until Christmas just added up too well. But it is going to take a lot of focused time on my part. Help me to work that in with everything else I have going on this time of year (especially at work).

I also want to take a moment to pray for those I love during this Advent. My children. My nieces, nephews, and siblings. My parents. The boy I’m mentoring. My friends and coworkers. Those I don’t even know. I pray for all of them that you would be with us as we walk through this time of year. Let it be a time when we can all lay down our pride and fear and accept and give love from and to you, and then from and to each other. I pray for mercy. I pray for healing of souls as well as bodies. I pray that the world will go according to your plan.

Father, I am here because Jesus came 2,000 years ago. You entered the world and showed us your true nature. The Old Testament was a bit convoluted with a lot of weird commands and decisions you were having to make to try to protect your promise to us. But Jesus removed the veil and showed us how you think. How you love. How you correct. How you teach. How you see the laws you gave us. Help me to embrace all of this and live it out so that others might find healing in you as well.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 30, 2025 in 1 John

 

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Luke 21:34-36

29 Nov

34 “Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware, 35 like a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth. 36 Keep alert at all times. And pray that you might be strong enough to escape these coming horrors and stand before the Son of Man.”

Luke 21:34-36

Dear God, if my wife weren’t Catholic I would have no idea that this is the last day of the liturgical year, but now I know that we are about to start over with the beginning of Advent tomorrow. So before I get into worshipping you for your incarnation, life, death, and resurrection for the next month, I want to spend one last day in this liturgical year. I want to think about how my 2025 lines up with being aware and not allowing my heart to be dulled.

The interesting thing about this year is that it saw some of my best successes and, simultaneously, what I perceive to be my biggest failures at work. We (you) really helped us advance the work we provide now through the addition of a critical service and you helped us lay the groundwork for more expansion and impacting people’s lives in the future. And it all kind of fell into my lap. There was no great and amazing work on my part. I prayed. I followed some prompts. I asked you and others for help. And it all came together. I’m still amazed by it.

I also saw strife at a level I’ve never seen it before. I’ve seen coworkers go through very difficult things in their personal lives and then allow that to seep into the workplace. I’ve seen intolerance. I’ve seen resentment. Even as I type these words (and I’ve had this thought before, but I don’t think I’ve really prayed enough about it), it feels like spiritual attack. Attack on my friends and their personal lives. Attack on our unity as a team. Attack. Oh, Jesus, protect us from these attacks. Use our unity to bind us to you and to each other as we experience life. Be glorified in our work and enter the world through us.

Then I have a boy I’ve been mentoring who has had a really difficult year. I can’t enumerate his struggles in such a public forum, but you know what they are. You know his pain, and the pain his family is experiencing. As a mentor, I feel completely inadequate to love him through this. I don’t know what to do or what he needs from me. But I know he could really use a fresh start. Maybe the Christmas season and Advent can be a fresh start for him. Oh, my Jesus, please make it so for him and his entire family. Don’t let this pain be wasted, but draw them all to you.

I have family struggles. Again, I can’t be too public about it here, but you know what they are. You know it better than I do. You know the pain. You know the pain that has been inflicted upon all of us, uninvited, and you know the pain we’ve caused through our actions (and inactions). Oh, Father, let this be a season of healing. Let this be the end to this season of family pain. Show me my role in helping it to end. Holy Spirit, speak to our hearts.

There is pain in our community. Immigrants are hiding and living with anxiety. American Christians are afraid people are coming for their faith and a woke, liberal wave is coming for their children, and non-Christians are afraid that a red, MAGA wave is coming for their freedom. We all distrust each other. And of course we do. We are all grabbing at power at someone else’s expense. That’s not what Jesus did at all, but it’s our temptation to do that now. Fear drives us either to you in humble prayer, accepting whatever fate you might lead us to for the sake of your world, or it drives us into taking matters into our own hands and using whatever earthly power I can muster to provide for myself. For this Advent, help us to remember what Jesus taught us.

Father, I’m going back to the passage that started this all for me this morning: 34 “Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware, 35 like a trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth. 36 Keep alert at all times. And pray that you might be strong enough to escape these coming horrors and stand before the Son of Man.” Help me to be alert at all times. Help me to be strong enough to deal with the coming horrors the way Jesus did. Give me the strength to correctly stand before you, humble and offering all my love to you and to my neighbors.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 29, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 21:29-33

28 Nov

29 Then he gave them this illustration: “Notice the fig tree, or any other tree. 30 When the leaves come out, you know without being told that summer is near. 31 In the same way, when you see all these things taking place, you can know that the Kingdom of God is near. 32 I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things have taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.

Luke 21:29-33

Dear God, yeah, I don’t know what to do with passages like this. As Luke wrote this towards the end of that “generation,” I wonder if he wasn’t warning people that the Kingdom of God is near. Going back to verse 27 where Jesus talks about himself coming on a cloud–returning–feels to me like one of those parts of the Bible that I just kind of look the other way at the prophecy and passively say that they misunderstood what Jesus was saying. There are a lot of the other parts of the prophecy that come true. It’s the second coming that still hasn’t happened 2,000 years later. Or has it, but we just didn’t understand?

Who knows? You do. But that’s it. Just you. And I’m okay to leave that knowledge with you and not try to figure it out for myself. How could I possibly know your mind? And why do I need to know? That knowledge wouldn’t help me to love you more or love my neighbor better. I like knowing that there’s this whole afterlife thing that will bring me into a purer form of relating to you and worshipping you. I like the idea of being unencumbered by my limited mind and body. But I don’t need to know when or how.

Father, my wife and I had a long talk this morning already about some things that frustrate us. Not with each other, but with other aspects of our lives. But we worship you. We love you. We ask that you teach us to pray to you and for others. She’s so much better at praying for others than I am. I need to be better about that. Help me to be better. Help me to pray for others better. As I sit here and type this, I find that I don’t want to pray those words because I am afraid of the commitment it will take for me to really pray for others in a better way. But that seems to be where the Holy Spirit is leading me this morning, so help me, Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit.

I pray this in the power of Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 28, 2025 in Luke

 

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Daniel 6

27 Nov

6 Darius the Mede decided to divide the kingdom into 120 provinces, and he appointed a high officer to rule over each province. 2 The king also chose Daniel and two others as administrators to supervise the high officers and protect the king’s interests. 3 Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire.

4 Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. 5 So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.”

6 So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius! 7 We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions. 8 And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” 9 So King Darius signed the law.

10 But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. 11 Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help. 12 So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law. “Did you not sign a law that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions?”

“Yes,” the king replied, “that decision stands; it is an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”

13 Then they told the king, “That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times a day.”

14 Hearing this, the king was deeply troubled, and he tried to think of a way to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get Daniel out of this predicament.

15 In the evening the men went together to the king and said, “Your Majesty, you know that according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, no law that the king signs can be changed.”

16 So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you.”

17 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel. 18 Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting. He refused his usual entertainment and couldn’t sleep at all that night.

19 Very early the next morning, the king got up and hurried out to the lions’ den. 20 When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?”

21 Daniel answered, “Long live the king! 22 My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.”

23 The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God.

24 Then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel. He had them thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. The lions leaped on them and tore them apart before they even hit the floor of the den.

25 Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world:

“Peace and prosperity to you!

26 “I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel.

For he is the living God,
    and he will endure forever.
His kingdom will never be destroyed,
    and his rule will never end.
27 He rescues and saves his people;
    he performs miraculous signs and wonders
    in the heavens and on earth.
He has rescued Daniel
    from the power of the lions.”

28 So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Daniel 6

Dear God, I had an interesting thought as I read this story this morning: Should Daniel have tried to stop King Darius from killing the plotters and their families? Should he have said, “No, King. Have mercy”? And if the men needed to die, did their wives and children need to die too? I can see why Darius made this decision. He was a worldly king who made worldly decisions. But should Daniel have used it as a teachable moment for all of them? I honestly don’t know the answer to any of these questions, but they are the questions that came to mind when I read this story.

As I type this prayer to you, it is Thanksgiving morning. It’s a quiet morning for my wife and me. She is out walking the dog. I am taking advantage of this moment of solitude to pray to you. Holy Spirit, sit with me and talk with me as I make this moment intentional.

When I first started this morning and before I found the Daniel passage as the Old Testament reading for the day, I was thinking about Abraham Lincoln’s first Thanksgiving proclamation. It was published in October 1863 and decreed that the last Thursday of November should be a national day of Thanksgiving. I think we’ve tweaked it since then to make it the Thursday before the last weekend of November, but the tradition still stands. What’s remarkable to me about the proclamation is that it was set right in the middle of the Civil War. He found things to be grateful for in the midst of unimaginable suffering and anxiety, and he thought it was the best thing for the nation to be able to recognize the good in their lives. It is still that way. In the midst of a stressful year–and it has been a stressful year–the healthiest thing we can do is worship you and give thanks.

Father, as I sit here this morning, my life is not exactly the way I want it to be. I have sorrows and sadness. But there is so much that I’m taking for granted and ungrateful for in the midst of that sorrow, and my lack of gratitude is killing the fruit you are trying to grow in me. If I am ungrateful for the good and only focus on what I perceive to be bad (even though you might be using it and working the “bad” to be good, and I just cannot see it) then I will miss the opportunity to worship you, be grateful for what I have–starting with you–and then let your Spirit flow through me. I’m going to church here in a few minutes. I pledge to make it a time of great thanksgiving from my heart and worship of you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 27, 2025 in Daniel

 

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Daniel 5 (with some Daniel 3)

26 Nov

5 Many years later King Belshazzar gave a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. 2 While Belshazzar was drinking the wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups that his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. 3 So they brought these gold cups taken from the Temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 While they drank from them they praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5 Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, 6 and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.

7 The king shouted for the enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers to be brought before him. He said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in purple robes of royal honor and will have a gold chain placed around his neck. He will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom!”

8 But when all the king’s wise men had come in, none of them could read the writing or tell him what it meant. 9 So the king grew even more alarmed, and his face turned pale. His nobles, too, were shaken.

10 But when the queen mother heard what was happening, she hurried to the banquet hall. She said to Belshazzar, “Long live the king! Don’t be so pale and frightened. 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him the spirit of the holy gods. During Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, this man was found to have insight, understanding, and wisdom like that of the gods. Your predecessor, the king—your predecessor King Nebuchadnezzar—made him chief over all the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and fortune-tellers of Babylon. 12 This man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, has exceptional ability and is filled with divine knowledge and understanding. He can interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”

Daniel Explains the Writing

13 So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king asked him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles brought from Judah by my predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar? 14 I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods within you and that you are filled with insight, understanding, and wisdom. 15 My wise men and enchanters have tried to read the words on the wall and tell me their meaning, but they cannot do it. 16 I am told that you can give interpretations and solve difficult problems. If you can read these words and tell me their meaning, you will be clothed in purple robes of royal honor, and you will have a gold chain placed around your neck. You will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

17 Daniel answered the king, “Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means. 18 Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty, majesty, glory, and honor to your predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. 19 He made him so great that people of all races and nations and languages trembled before him in fear. He killed those he wanted to kill and spared those he wanted to spare. He honored those he wanted to honor and disgraced those he wanted to disgrace. 20 But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 21 He was driven from human society. He was given the mind of a wild animal, and he lived among the wild donkeys. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them.

22 “You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. 23 For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny! 24 So God has sent this hand to write this message.

25 “This is the message that was written: Mene, mene, tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is what these words mean:

Mene means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end.
27 Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up.
28 Parsin means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was dressed in purple robes, a gold chain was hung around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

30 That very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed.

31 And Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of sixty-two.

Danie 5

Dear God, the Old Testament reading for the Catholic Church today was portions of Daniel 5, but I figured I’d just do the whole chapter since it forms the story. I think they were just trying to keep the public reading time down a little by focusing on the essence of the story.

Of course, when I was reading this story I first wanted to compare myself with Daniel. How might I be faithful and wise like Daniel was? How might I be humble and eschew all glory offered to me and just humbly perform my assignment which includes glorifying you? What words of wisdom and warning are you giving to me that I need to share with others? Those are the questions I started to ask myself.

Then I saw this king sitting over there in the story. He’s actually the protagonist of this chapter in Daniel’s book. Belshazzar. Accomplished, but also handed a kingdom by his father Nebuchadnezzar. So more Solomon than David. Arrogant. Presumptuous. Self-congratulatory and disrespectful. In the end, powerless. How much of me is like him, and if I’m not like him now, how much potential do I have to become like him? What do I need to do to guard myself from slipping into the trap that grabbed him?

I think one of the first things I need to do is offer you all of my worship. The Catholic Psalm of the Day is Daniel 3:62-67 (I’ll confess, before today I never noticed the Catholic Church used psalms for the Psalm of the Day that weren’t from the Book of Psalms.

R. (59b) Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Sun and moon, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Stars of heaven, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Every shower and dew, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“All you winds, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Fire and heat, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.
“Cold and chill, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.”
R. Give glory and eternal praise to him.

Interestingly, these verses are not in the Protestant Bible. They are in the Catholic Bible and, I presume, the Jewish version of Daniel. These words were sung by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace (hence the references to heat and chill. These were the words sung by those who were facing persecution for their love for you. We really do miss something in our Protestant Bibles (and I say “our” because I am not Catholic, but continue to worship with Catholics because my wife is Catholic and I both think it’s important to worship with her and have come to appreciate parts of Catholic theology and tradition). I love having this piece of the story. Daniel 3 in the Protestant Bible has 30 verses. In the Catholic Bible, Daniel 3 has 100 verses. 70 verses of great stuff. Too bad I’ve never really noticed or read it before.

But I digress. How do I keep from becoming like Belshazzar? First, submit to you and worship you. Check. Next, examine my heart before you and repent. Where do I take credit for the things that I have when it could all be gone in a heartbeat? What do I take for granted that is really so fragile, up to and including my health and life? We are not as strong as we think we are. I am not as strong as I think I am. So second is self reflection/examination and repentance. Oh, Father, I am sorry for my ingratitude and arrogance in that area.

Next, how do I do with the second commandment (according to Jesus) of loving my neighbor as myself? Am I there sacrificing for others? Loving my enemies or those I simply don’t like? Am I willing to go the extra mile for not only my friends (even sinners do that), but also for those with whom I disagree or don’t appreciate? Father, give me eyes to see my hypocrisy here and help me to recognize when you are calling me to act in your name, regardless what it will cost me.

Father, I have a lot more Belshazzar in me than I do Daniel. On a spectrum of Belshazzar to Daniel, I would love for my needle to point towards the Daniel side of the scale than Belshazzar’s, but I recognize that it’s a constant struggle to submit to you in worship, submit to you in repentance, and submit to you and my neighbors in love and sacrifice. Walk with me, Holy Spirit. Speak to me. Guide me. And in the words of the song “Spirit of the Living God,” “Break me. Melt me. Mold Me. Fill me.”

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 26, 2025 in Daniel

 

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Colossians 3:16-17

25 Nov

16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Colossians 3:16-17

Dear God, I’ve been reading a biography on Fred Rogers (a.k.a. Mr. Rogers), and the portrait it paints is quite lovely. What a unique man! I mean, really, you just don’t find people like him–even among the most devoted of Christians. I’ve maybe known one personally. His name was Henry Parrish. He was a simple tennis coach from Corpus Christi who exuded your gentleness, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control. Exuded it. That was Fred Rogers too. My Henry probably talked more about his faith publicly than did Mr. Rogers, but Mr. Rogers was also in a much more secular environment than Henry was. I would venture that Henry was maybe more circumspect about his faith when he was teaching in the public school. But you just couldn’t stop your presence from shining through him.

I wonder what the barrier is between the level of faith they reached and where I am. Is it as simple as personality? Were their personalities more suited for that kind of display of your Spirit present in their lives than mine is? Or did they have something deeper with you that I am missing?

I have some challenges in my life. How would they have dealt with them differently than I’m dealing with them? How did Mr. Rogers handle friction among co-workers on the set of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood? I know it had to happen. Did he have a producer who handled things like that, or did he get in there directly and address it? Did he exude so much patience that it just fed the whole place? I’ve heard the phrase, “What would Jesus do?” I can’t even figure out “What would Mr. Rogers do?” I think the answers are very similar.

I guess I can try to think back on times when the disciples got crossways with each other, usually involved around egos and grasping for power. In those times, he would warn them about seeking power. Other times, he seemingly did nothing. You get the feeling reading about Judas and the way the gospels describe him that no one really liked him. They knew he was stealing (John 12:6). Jesus knew Judas was stealing. And yet Jesus seemingly didn’t address it at all. And it festered. Do things sometimes need to fester?

Father, as I go through this day, I want to exude you. I want to exude your fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I want to not use power over anyone, but simply pray, serve, persuade, and sacrifice for those around me. I want the joy I’ve found in you to be their joy too. I want them to experience the act of receiving your forgiveness and then granting it to others. I want them to deal with the log in their own eye before they feel the need to address the speck in their brother’s eye. But all of that starts with me. I have to absolutely be your presence in all of this. Live through me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 25, 2025 in Colossians, Uncategorized

 

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Luke 21:1-4

24 Nov

21 While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. 2 Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins.

3 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. 4 For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”

Luke 21:1-4

Dear God, you know that I’ve talked about this passage a lot in the past. Both privately and publicly through sermons and Sunday school lessons, I’ve used this woman as an example of someone who faithfully worshipped you through her selfless sacrifice and was seemingly never materially rewarded for it this side of death. But her reward was surely to be with you for eternity and to be namelessly remembered through the rest of history.

If I’m honest, I can look at my life and see that I still have some pretty good guardrails around how much of my personal comfort I sacrifice for the sake of others. Do I give? Yes. Do I try to give generously? Yes. Do I volunteer time to serve others? Yes. But there are limits. I give in a planned way. Even the spontaneous giving for tragedies like the floods that impacted our area this last summer was done within the parameters of what my wife and I had set aside for such an emergency. I made sure all of my own needs and even my wants were covered first. I wasn’t giving my mortgage money or my food money.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m being too hard on myself. Maybe it’s okay to plan just so long as I am remembering that giving is part of the equation. And my wife and I certainly do give. And we volunteer. So we aren’t lost causes in this area. I suppose it’s just that this widow’s story is a challenge to me that, when I think I’ve given enough and I can stop now, I need to challenge that idea. When I start to get prideful in my nobility, I am humbled by the mere knowledge of her existence in the past and how Jesus loved and appreciated her.

Father, I’m just a nobody, but that’s okay. I’m just a guy that might never get noticed by anyone else, but you notice. Okay. That’s not true. A lot of people in our small town notice me and the work that I do. And sometimes I get prideful in that. I guess what I want to do in your sight is the stuff that no one else sees. I want to work, live, love, volunteer, and give as unto you and not as unto them. I want to worship you in my words, thoughts, and deeds. I want to not miss the opportunities to love that I know I miss every day. I want to give my utmost for your highest. Holy Spirit, help me to be that man today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 24, 2025 in Luke

 

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Luke 20:27-40

22 Nov

27 Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. 28 They posed this question: “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife but no children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name. 29 Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children. 30 So the second brother married the widow, but he also died. 31 Then the third brother married her. This continued with all seven of them, who died without children. 32 Finally, the woman also died. 33 So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her!”

34 Jesus replied, “Marriage is for people here on earth. 35 But in the age to come, those worthy of being raised from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. 36 And they will never die again. In this respect they will be like angels. They are children of God and children of the resurrection.

37 “But now, as to whether the dead will be raised—even Moses proved this when he wrote about the burning bush. Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, he referred to the Lord as ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38 So he is the God of the living, not the dead, for they are all alive to him.”

39 “Well said, Teacher!” remarked some of the teachers of religious law who were standing there. 40 And then no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Luke 20:27-40

Dear God, a couple of things stood out to me in this passage.

  1. What an interesting custom/law they had for being responsible to marry your brothers widow if she had not sons. I mean, that what ultimately happened with Ruth and Boaz after her husband’s death, and that turned out to give us David and then Jesus, so it was a valuable custom. But it’s still interesting. At present, I have one son and it looks like he is not going to have children and carry on my name through having children. My last name will stop with my dad and me on my branch. I guess that makes me kind of sad, but is it important? I don’t know. I think one of the important aspects back then was that women had so few options in supporting themselves and owning property. They needed a male husband or son to have agency. It seems messed up, and as I’ve said before, I heard someone describe some of the weird-looking decisions you made in the Old Testament as you constantly having to triage and accommodate bad decisions from you people. After the garden, it was all just making the best of a bad situation. That’s what this sounds like to me.
  2. Right here, Jesus gives us one of the clearest pictures of the afterlife and what happens after death. Are all souls immortal? Is it possible for a soul to die? I’m no theologian, and I know this is a very debatable point. In fact, I heard a Christian who is older than me, wiser than me, and much more spiritually mature and knowledgeable than me say on a podcast this week that “all souls are immortal.” I think she’s wrong about that, but I don’t know. Is there a sorting one day? Yes, Jesus is very clear about that. Will there be pain and suffering by some? Yes, Jesus is clear on that. Will that suffering be for eternity? That is much less clear. Who will make the cut on heaven vs. hell? That’s pretty unclear too. In fact, Jesus went out of his way to say a lot of people will be surprised where the cut line is (Matthew 25:31-46) But in this case, Jesus makes it seem as if there will be some worthy of being raised from the dead and some who won’t be. He also says the post-death lives of the worthy will be unlike anything we experience here. 35 But in the age to come, those worthy of being raised from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. 36 And they will never die again.
  3. The entirety of verse 36 is interesting: 36 And they will never die again. In this respect they will be like angels. They are children of God and children of the resurrection. I’ve talked with my wife about the ideas of calling angels “Saints.” For example, “St. Michael the Archangel.” The designation of calling an angel a “Saint” seems like a demotion to me. Jesus says that John the Baptist was as great a human as there has been, but he will be less than the least in heaven (Matthew 11:11). So let’s leave angels in their proper places as much greater than us and much greater than “Saints.” And that will always be, into eternity. We will not be great in heaven. I will never be great in heaven. And that’s okay because none of it is about me.
  4. It’s a little vague who complimented Jesus at the end. Was it some of the Sadducees who were impressed with the answer or Pharisees who appreciated Jesus putting the Sadducees in their place? Not sure, but I think we are all good with Jesus when he supports our biases and frustrated when he doesn’t. If it’s the Sadducees complimenting him then I’m at least impressed with their ability to appreciate a good argument. If it’s the Pharisees then they are just behaving like I would expect them to behave.

Father, I think my big take-away from this passage is that I am so small. I am just so small. And I always will be. And that’s okay. I don’t need to be big or great on this side of heaven or the next. My life is worth nothing to me. If only I may finish the race and complete the task you have given me: The task of sharing your gospel. Let it be so.

I pray this in the name of Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 22, 2025 in Luke, Matthew

 

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What Gives Me Hope?

21 Nov

Dear God, a couple of years ago, Pope Francis was on 60 Minutes, and they asked him, “When you look at the world, what gives you hope?” His answer was somewhat controversial, and I don’t want to pick it apart here. But it made me wonder what my answer would be if someone asked me the same thing. I’m more and more convinced that my answer revolves around the reality of you, Father. You are there. And there’s this hole in us that can only be filled by you. A lot of us will search for things to fill that hole, but those idols will never ultimately do the job. What gives me hope is that there will always be a remnant pointing others back to you, and relationship with you is what life is all about.

I’m thinking of this because I saw a video on YouTube a couple of days ago.

I’ve been watching these two young men “react” to music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s for a few years now. I enjoy them, and they seems to be fine people. But just a couple of days ago the video above released. One of them got baptized. Of course, I watched it immediately. He has quite a story of desperation followed by seeking a path forward and then finding you. He talks about young young men and women you put in his life in Florida who pointed him to you. What gives me hope? You are real, your remnant is here to worship you and love our neighbors, and then we can point others to you. I don’t have to know what any of these people’s politics or morals are. I don’t have to know where they stand on LGBTQ+, abortion, or red/blue politics. I can just rejoice with this young man and his friends/family. He’ll work out his faith with you just as I have over the last 46 years and continue to do. He will have opinions now that you will change over time, just like you continue to do with me. You will teach him. He will grow. And he will worship you and then become part of the remnant that points others to you.

Father, help me to carry that hope into my day. I didn’t sleep well last night. Maybe I was still bothered by something that happened at work yesterday. Maybe I was overwhelmed by what’s on my plate going forward. But all I can do today is what I can do. So help me to simply worship you, love others, and be hopeful that you are real and you will be there when we are desperate and seeking a path forward.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 21, 2025 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Luke 19:41-42

20 Nov

41 But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. 42 “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.

Luke 19:41-42

Dear God, I’ve taken these two verses out of context because I want to sit with this this morning, but they are part of the Triumphal Entry story:

28 After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples. 29 As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. 30 “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

32 So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said. 33 And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?”

34 And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs it.” 35 So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.

36 As he rode along, the crowds spread out their garments on the road ahead of him. 37 When he reached the place where the road started down the Mount of Olives, all of his followers began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles they had seen.

38 “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
    Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”

39 But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!”

40 He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”

41 But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. 42 “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. 43 Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. 44 They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you.”

45 Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. 46 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”

47 After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. 48 But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.

Jesus longed that the people understood the way to peace. So what is the way to peace? Reading The Communicator’s Commentary: Luke by Bruce Larson, I saw that “the donkey was a symbol of peace in those days. Horses were symbols of military might. Conquering generals came on horses. An ambassador coming on a peaceful mission rode on a donkey. Jesus was an ambassador of peace from the Ultimate Kingdom.”

I found myself wondering an impossible question to answer when I read this passage this morning: What if they had understood and gotten it right that day? What if the Pharisees embraced him and asked what they must do to repent? What if the people ignored Roman rule, the Israelites embraced Jesus as your son/the Messiah, and then took reconciliation with you to the Gentiles? What if everyone cheering and jeering Jesus that day embraced who he was and then started worshipping you with every thing they have and loved their neighbors as themselves? What if?

Of course, it didn’t happen that way. But is there a lesson for your faithful remnant now? As I see Christians striving for political power and influence, I can’t help but wonder if they aren’t making the same mistake the crowds made that day. In my opinion, they are. They do not “understand the way to peace.” Are they embracing reconciliation with you through Jesus? Sure. Are they taking that to the world and ungodly? They probably think so. But I think they see the more expedient path of doing it through power and control, and not the slow, deliberate path of loving one person at a time.

Father, I am reminded of the thing I heard once from John Dickson, that Jesus used (and gave to us to use) four tools, and four tools only, to impact the world around us: Prayer, Service, Persuasion, and Suffering. I don’t pray enough for people. I could probably serve more. My persuasion abilities on the ungodly are weak. And, well, let’s face it, I don’t suffer much. Show me what that means. Show me what it means to worship you through the deliberate acts of worshipping you, but also through the acts of Prayer, Service, Persuasion, and Suffering.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 20, 2025 in Luke

 

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