Blog Archives
What the Pig Taught Me
Pigs have a sweet smell. Not the sort of smell you might associate with candy or flowers but the fermentation sort that goes with over-ripe fruit and grain. We think of them as Read the rest of this entry
Wanna Be My Friend?
She was dreading this morning. She’d been dreading it for weeks and now it was here. Her first day at a totally new school, not a friend and not a familiar thing in sight! You might think she’d be good at this by now but it seemed to be getting harder and more stressful each time. Her mind filled yet again with her all-too-familiar question, “Why do Read the rest of this entry
Who does God say I am?
While Jesus accepts us as we are he never intends for us to stay that way. When we meet someone and decide they need to change it usually results in warfare. The divorce courts are full of cases like that! The problem we run into is a clash Read the rest of this entry
The Power of Acceptance
Towards the end of his time with his disciples Jesus told them something that would carry them through the rest of their lives, come “hell or high-water” they would have these words to stabilize themselves: “You do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.” 1 Chosen! Chosen! Chosen?
How did they qualify to be chosen? By daring to act on the revelation they received!
Matthew had been a hated tax collector and he was probably quite wealthy but when Jesus invited him to leave it all to follow him, he didn’t hesitate. He saw and he willingly followed. Faith collided with his life and he rearranged his life to fit; he chose the way of faith and now the master of faith had chosen him. It still works like that. If we won’t modify our lives to accommodate our faith we never get to be chosen. We must do something with the things shown to us or their true value escapes us. It is likely the other disciples weren’t exactly excited about Matthew joining them. They had opinions about paying taxes and stronger opinions about thieving tax collectors! Tax collectors were the lackeys of the Roman occupiers! Despised traitors! Read the rest of this entry
