As I walked up to the grocery checkout I noticed the clerk was sitting on a chair waiting to scan items. It seemed a bit different, and so I studied the woman’s face to see if it might tell me more of the story. Behind her glasses, her eyes were squinting slightly and her eyebrows furled down with a concerned look. When I observed these things, I prayed silently in my heart – Lord, reveal to me how I can help her.
After 30 years of full-time ministry, I’m thrilled to get a sabbatical leave for the next three months! My plans include reading the books I haven’t been able to read, visiting and learning from peers, some travel and time to reconnect with my family. The biggest shift for me will be time away from walking through crisis with people. There is always someone who is needing prayer, counsel, or help, and to have a bit of time without the pressure of grief will allow me to reset for the next season.
Leading a “simple life” in our modern culture is not held in high esteem. Simple is often seen as boring, “less than" or lacking interest.
Leonardo da Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
While Leonardo is known for his incredible art, his contemporaries spoke of his kindness and generosity with others, saying that "he was so generous that he fed all his friends, rich and poor…"
Simplicity has always had generosity and openhandedness at its core. The concept of loving people and using things (motto for “the minimalists”) is coupled with a ruthless trust in God that He will always provide for what we need.
Psalm 103:8–12 (NLT) A Psalm of David
8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
9 He will not constantly accuse us,
nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
When you think of the God of the universe, how do you imagine him?
A Jewish woman from Hungary was imprisoned at Auschwitz, the Nazi Concentration Camp during WWII. She knew that she arrived at the camp on the second day of the Festival of Weeks (we would call it Pentecost), so she counted the days until the next Sabbath day. On that Friday evening, the beginning of Shabbat, she saved the margarine from her meal instead of eating it, and with some threads pulled from the bottom of her dress, she made two tiny candles. She would light those candles like generations of Jewish families before her. She encouraged all the other women in her barracks to do the same and before long, every Friday night that room was glowing with an act of resistance and defiance.
In the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia, there’s a special display for a rickety, home-made aluminum kayak. This tiny, makeshift boat seems oddly out of place among the displays of impressive Navy vessels and artifacts from significant battles on the sea. However, a bronze plaque tells museum visitors the heroic story behind this humble little kayak.
In 1966, an auto mechanic named Laureano and his wife, Consuelo, decided that they could no longer live under the oppression of Cuba’s totalitarian regime. After spending months collecting scrap metal, they pieced together a boat just barely big enough for two small people. Then Laureano jury-rigged a small lawn mower engine on the back of the kayak. After months of planning, and on a moonless night, they set out into the treacherous straits of Florida wearing only their swimsuits, their supplies consisting of just enough food and water for two days. After 70 hours, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued the couple just south of the Florida Keys.
“I need you to replace the spigot in the backyard…by tomorrow,” said my wife.
My muscles immediately tensed up as I blurted out, “But I don’t know how to do that.”
It was a disproportionately passionate response to my wife’s simple request. Normally it's not a problem for me to seek out someone who can help me learn how to do a new project or watch a YouTube video to learn. In fact, this request just came on the heels of me learning how to order the parts and successfully fix our refrigerator’s ice maker. I usually feel comfortable discovering a solution and working with my hands on mechanical things.
Thursday March 17th is a day to celebrate and honor St. Patrick (born AD 386). While many will turn it into yet another reason to drink too much beer, many of us live the day with more reverence. When you realize the character, power and authority of this man in the 5th century, you can’t help but be inspired.
Patrick was captured as a teenager from his hometown in England and taken to Ireland by pirates. He was sold to a man in the North named Milchu, who was a high priest of druidism (basically demonic nature worship). Milchu assigned him to care for his livestock, and during that time Patrick came to know the one true God and grew in his faith.
Our unique calling is revealed by God over time, and times of seeking Jesus for clarity. Attending a Focused Living seminar is an excellent way to see what God is revealing to us and to get breakthrough in our thinking.
We are having a Focused Living seminar this weekend on Friday evening and Saturday during the daytime. This workshop is designed to help you reflect on your life and allow the Holy Spirit to show you how God has been working and shaping you over your lifetime.
Since the Council of Nicea in AD 325, Christians have observed Lent, which is the 40-day period before Easter. The season of Lent is intended to be an imitation of Jesus fasting in the wilderness for 40 days.
Some people see the Lenten season as drudgery and a kind of self-imposed penance or punishment. But for almost 2,000 years, the Church has seen this season as a time of growth, preparation and joy.