Category Archives: Godly Living

How to Get Back on Track…

Posted on by

Did you have a model railroad set when you were a kid?

When I was a little boy my parents bought me a railroad set. It was neat to put the track together and see the train go around the figure eight — over the train trestles that came in the box. One of the most frustrating things about a model train is how easy it is for it to become derailed. It’s easy for it to get off the track.

In that way, a model train is a lot like human beings. It’s easy for us to get off track. Even Christians have trouble staying on the tracks that Jesus laid down for his followers. Let me give you a couple examples: The Spanish Inquisition. The Crusades. Neither of those embody true Christianity. They are examples of a people – people who professed to follow Jesus — getting off track. OK — that’s an understatement. They are examples of complete derailments of Christianity. Total train-wrecks.

We can say with certainty that these kinds of things are not in keeping with Jesus’ teaching and example. And you can find evidence for that many places — including our text today. We pick up the story in verse 50, where Judas is standing before Jesus, ready to betray him.

This podcast examines Jesus’ behavior in the Garden of Gethsemane — at his arrest — and helps us stay on track with what he desires.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Grace — It’s Positive Energy…

Posted on by

I read today about the essentiality — yeah, that’s a word — of optimism in leadership. Corporations headed by pessimists, whether they be churches or tech giants, seldom overcome obstacles necessary to grow.  I need to be optimistic. What’s frustrating is how easy it is to be negative. It’s easier to say, “Nazareth?! Can anything good come from there,” than it is to say, “We have found the Christ,” (John 1). And it’s easy to be swayed by negative energy. It has a power to stifle both productivity and creativity.

Today I was feeling anything but positive about what God was doing in my life… until the UPS man came to my door. No, he didn’t drop off that 65 inch television I’ve been dreaming about. Instead, he dropped off the cross that we ordered to replace the one Anna bought in memory of her husband. You may recall the original cross had been stolen. Immediately, Laurel and I hopped into the car and headed up to see Anna. As we drove, I shared my negative feelings with Laurel and my struggle to be optimistic.

Then we arrived at Anna’s home. She showed us in and we talked about her health, the church, her home, and her family. I showed her the new cross and told her the story of how God had provided a larger cross for the same price as the smaller one with which we’d all been dissatisfied. We rejoiced together. We then prayed together, taking time to pray that the person who had stolen the original cross would turn to Jesus and find forgiveness. That was a great visit, but probably not for the reasons you would expect. It wasn’t because of the prayer. It wasn’t because of the new cross. It was because Anna epitomizes grace. Grace toward the thief. Grace toward her brothers and sisters in Christ. And grace toward people who crank out negative energy. She was so gracious and positive I left feeling like a completely different person. I said to Laurel, “Every now and then, God surprises you with a person who brings incredible joy.” Such people are people of grace.

As you go to God in prayer, may I suggest praying three ways:

  1. Pray that you can be a person of grace, for people of grace are anything but negative.
  2. Pray that God would use you to be a gracious influence on people around you so that when they leave they feel like life is a good thing.
  3. Pray for those who struggle with negativity — that God will so bless them they can’t help but see him in the world around them.

Oh — and pray for me, that I might have the optimism essential to ministry and life.

Let your conversation be always full of grace… (Colossians 4)

How do I stop regretting my past?

Posted on by

Magnificence. What comes to mind when you hear that word? Webster does little to do the word justice. It defines magnificence with words like splendor.

OK. But what is truly magnificent?

If you like Westerns, you are surely familiar with The Magnificent Seven. Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Charles Bronson, James Coburn — all carrying guns! It’s hard to get more magnificent than that!

Every Father’s day, I think of my dad. So in that sense, Father’s day is no different than any other day in my life. Even though he’s been dead almost a decade, I think of him every day. When I think of my dad these days, I think he was magnificent.

It’s like that with Pennsylvania. When I was in grade-school, our family took a trip and crossed the United States with a truck camper. I saw the Rocky Mountains, the Redwood Forest, the Grand Canyon. Colorado, California beaches. When we returned home, my mother, who was about the age I am now, said, “I don’t think there is anything prettier than these hills of Pennsylvania on a summer’s day.” I thought she was out of her mind. But I caught myself saying the same thing this past week. When I look at these Penn’s Woods, I think they are magnificent.

But there is something more magnificent than any of these things. It’s found in the story of Peter’s denial.

This podcast speaks of the magnificence of God’s grace, helping us overcome our own failures.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download