Here and Now

Did you ever find yourself in a situation where you ask: what is God doing? When a loved one is sick, when a relationship is strained, when things just didn't go the way you thought they would or should, do you ask: what is God doing? When you just can't see His hand, His love, His grace at work in what's going on, do you ask: what is God doing? Like when a loved one has an emotional breakdown and tries to take his own life?  When it appears that your cancer may be back and you have to wait...wait...wait for those test results?  When someone you were relying on gives up and just leaves?  God, what are You doing... ...when all of those strains on my relationship with my family and all of those frustrations we were feeling are completely forgotten because we are together to rally around that loved one who tried to take his life.  To support each other.  To pray together.  To just be together. ...when all we can do is rely on You as a family, knowing that even if the cancer is

I often preach about the problem of abstract faith.  This is the idea that faith is something undefinable - it's kinda like believing in something that's kinda different from knowing something with an element of trust in there and maybe kinda more a heart thing than a head thing... Well, I don't know what that is, but it isn't the faith the Bible talks about.  That almost makes it sound as if what we have faith in may or may not be real, but who cares!  No.  The faith the Bible talks about is a faith based on what actually is - not what may or may not be.  It is a faith that is sure because the object of that faith - Jesus Christ - is as sure as it gets.   Can I get an Amen? However, there is a different kind of abstract faith that affects us as believers in Christ.  It is that faith that believes in Christ - believes in what the Bible says about Him and what it means for us - but that is abstract because we believe these things in principle but not in practice .

Last week, a long-time acquaintance - a good friend of a good friend - died.  Without giving all the details, we'll just say that years of wrong living and abusing his own body caught up with him.  In the wake of his death, my friend asked me about the after life.  This friend of mine is a believer, though relatively new.  He wanted to know where our friend's spirit was now. The issue is that between his Roman Catholic heritage, much popular misunderstanding of what the Bible says - and doesn't say - about what happens after physical death, along with the influence of modern spiritism, he was unsure of what happens to a person - including an unbeliever, like his friend - when they die.  Is he in hell?  Does his spirit linger on earth?  Does he have a chance to get into heaven? It is sad, indeed, when someone dies and you cannot give those he left behind any assurance that they are "in a better place."  And the truth is that the Bible doesn't give a whole l

COVID-19 is a highly contagious disease.   We see the number of positive tests rising every day, along with, sadly, the number of deaths.   The world is full of sick people, dying people.   They need our prayers.   Those who are at risk of catching the disease, which, let’s face it, is everybody, need our prayers.   This disease is changing the world. And not only that, but… Fear is highly contagious.   We see people all around us, every day, being paralyzed by fear.   We see them acting in ways they wouldn’t normally act and saying things they wouldn’t normally say.   The world is full of scared, helpless-feeling people.   They need our prayers.   Those who have no reason not to fear, they need our prayers.   Fear is changing the world. BUT… Faith is highly contagious.   When we see people around us at peace because of their faith, we are set at ease.   When people see us at peace because of our faith, they are set at ease.   When people see that even in trials like

In the eighth chapter of the book of Acts, we read of the persecution of the early church by Saul of Tarsus. After the martyrdom of Stephen we read: And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Acts 8:1 ESV) These early followers of Christ suddenly found themselves at great risk; their lives in danger. So they were forced to change their way of life, leaving their homes - everything was suddenly different! It was an inconvenience. No, something more... It was a trial. No, something more than that... It was an opportunity. God's people were forced out of their comfort zone and had to deal with new situations. And the Word of God spread like wildfire. Like He promised it would. It spread from Jerusalem to all Judea, and then to Samaria. And then, it spread to the whole world. Why? Because Christians were forced to change their situati