THE MYSTERY OF LIFE

"At present we are… looking at puzzling reflections in a mirror. The time will come when we shall see reality whole and face to face! At present all I know is a little fraction of the truth, but the time will come when I shall know it as fully as God now knows me!"  (1 Corinthians 13:12 Phillips Translation)

The Christian refuses to give their heart to the values or distractions of a world that is passing away. They freely enjoy what is good, beautiful, and true -- not only because God richly provides all things for our joy, but because every temporary pleasure hints at a deeper, lasting reality that will one day surpass anything imaginable.

Yet even with this hope, the Christian admits they do not fully understand the mystery of life. They walk with enough light for the next step, while much remains hidden -- and wisely so. When they say, “One day we will understand,” it is not a cliché but a steady conviction. Our present vision is limited, but when freed from the constraints of this life, we will know as surely as we are now known. 

-- Adapted and updated from J. B. Phillips in “New Testament Christianity”

#6435

THE PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL – Part 3 of 3

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  (Matthew 6:19-21 ESV)

In the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12) the man was keeping things to himself. Covetousness had conquered his heart. He was not generous, and he was not rich toward God.

If you haven’t noticed, the parable commends generosity. Why? Several reasons. First, it commends generosity for the simple reason that we can’t keep what we own. We can’t take it with us when we die…

Why else? Because generosity breaks the power of greed and frees our heart from covetousness. Holding our possessions tightly endangers our faith. It constantly temps us to transfer our trust from God to riches… The history of Israel, as seen in Deuteronomy 8, illustrates the truth of this. When Israel was blessed, it started to trust in blessings and not the giver of blessings… they forgot the Lord. They eventually pursued wealth as an end in itself. It became an idol. The longer and tighter you hold on to your possessions, the more covetous you get.

Why else does the parable commend generosity? Thirdly, because riches laid up in heaven are the most secure. They truly last.  D. L. Moody once met a wealthy farmer. Boasting, the farmer said, “Everything you can see for miles is mine. Look to the south. Look to the north. It’s all mine.” Moody pointed to heaven. “How much do you have in that direction?”

When we are rich toward God, what we have can never be taken away. 

-- Excerpted from “How to Finish the Christian Life: Following Jesus in the Second Half” by Donald W. Sweeting & George Sweeting

#6434

THE PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL – Part 2 of 3

What’s your attitude toward things? As we see in Jesus’ parable of the rich fool, one of the inclinations in the second half of life is to worry about security, to grasp and to stockpile. Many of us hold and store much. We may not have barns, but our closets, basements, and garages are full.

The rich man in the parable made two false assumptions. First, he counted on having many years -- which he didn’t. His life was about to abruptly end. Second, he supposed he could hang on to his stuff, which he couldn’t. God said, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20 ESV)  The answer: not yours! They will pass into someone else’s hands within the next twenty-four hours. “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Vs. 21)

The man was stingy. He was keeping things to himself. Covetousness had conquered his heart. He was not generous, and he was not rich toward God.

-- Excerpted from “How to Finish the Christian Life: Following Jesus in the Second Half” by Donald W. Sweeting & George Sweeting 

#6433

THE PARABLE OF THE RICH FOOL – Part 1 of 3

“Jesus said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’”  (Luke 12:15)

In Luke 12 we find the parable of the rich fool. A man comes to Jesus and asks Him to command his brother to divide their family’s inheritance. Jesus was reluctant to resolve this dispute, but He took the occasion to speak with them about how they handle their possessions. So Jesus interrupts their conversation to tell them to be on their guard against covetousness.

“One’s life,” He said, “does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” Luke 12:15 ESV). At this point He tells them a story about a rich man whose land produced a great crop. The harvest was so great that he ran out of storage. “What shall I do?” he thought. He then decided he must build bigger barns. He would store his produce, and then tell himself to relax, to eat, drink and be merry, for he had ample goods laid up for many years…

We accumulate and never feel we have enough. What we do have, we do not want to let go… What’s your attitude toward things?

-- Excerpted from “How to Finish the Christian Life: Following Jesus in the Second Half” by Donald W. Sweeting & George Sweeting  

#6432

WHEN WORSHIP SENDS US OUT

"Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 5:16)

Worship doesn’t end when we leave the sanctuary. In many ways, it begins there.

John R. W. Stott once wrote, “The loving service which God sends His people into the world to render includes both evangelism and social action, for each is in itself an authentic expression of love, and neither needs the other to justify it.”

That truth reminds us that worship is not confined to singing, praying, or listening. Worship becomes real when it shapes the way we live once we walk out the door of the church.

 Worship Sends Us to Speak the Good News

Evangelism is not a task for experts -- it is the natural overflow of a heart that has encountered God. When we leave worship, we carry the story of grace with us. We carry hope. We carry the name of Jesus into conversations, workplaces, neighborhoods, and ordinary moments.

Love speaks. Love shares. Love invites.

Worship Sends Us to Serve with Compassion

Social action is not an optional add‑on to faith -- it is an expression of God’s heart. Jesus healed, fed, lifted, and restored. When we leave worship, we step into a world aching for kindness, justice, and mercy.

Love acts. Love helps. Love restores.

Two Expressions, One Love

Stott reminds us that evangelism and social action are not competing priorities. They are two sides of the same love -- the love that first met us in Christ. One proclaims the gospel of grace; the other demonstrates it. Together they form a life that reflects the God we worship.  

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™

#6431

PREPARING THE HEART FOR WORSHIP

Worship doesn’t begin when the first hymn or praise song starts on Sunday morning. It begins in the quiet, intentional preparation of the heart. When we ready ourselves for worship, we’re not performing a ritual -- we’re opening space for God to speak, move, and transform. These five simple practices help us enter Sunday not as spectators, but as participants in the presence of God.

1. Pray for an Open Heart
“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law.”  (Psalm 119:18)

Before we hear God’s Word, we ask Him to make us receptive. An open heart is soft, teachable, and ready to be shaped. This prayer is a way of saying, “Lord, I’m listening.”

2. Pray for Your Pastor and Worship Team
“…that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.”  (Ephesians 6:19)

Your pastor doesn’t preach in their own strength, and your worship team doesn’t lead in their own ability. Pray that God fills your pastor with wisdom, power, and anointing -- and fills the worship team with joy, unity, and spiritual sensitivity. Their ministry becomes a conduit for God’s voice.

3. Put Away Distractions
"Therefore consider carefully how you listen…”  (Luke 8:18)

Worship requires attention. When we quiet the noise -- mental clutter, digital overload, anxious thoughts -- we make room for God’s peace. Stillness is not inactivity; it is receptivity.

4. Come Expecting God to Work
“He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”  (Hebrews 11:6)

Expectation is an act of faith. When you come believing God will speak, bless, convict, comfort, or guide -- you posture your heart to receive. Worship becomes a meeting place between your longing and God’s faithfulness.

5. Attend to Participate
“Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing.”  (Psalm 100:2)

Worship is not a performance to watch -- it is a response to give. Sing wholeheartedly. Pray sincerely. Listen attentively. Engage fully. God delights in worship that is active, joyful, and genuine.

Preparing for worship is preparing for encounter. When we pray, quiet our hearts, expect God’s movement, and engage fully, Sunday becomes more than a service -- it becomes sacred space where God meets His people. 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™

#6430

COMING CLEAN WITH GOD – Part 3 of 3

Don’t make this inward journey without God. Many voices urge you to look deep within and find an invisible strength or hidden power. A dangerous exercise. Self-assessment without God’s guidance leads to denial or shame. We can either justify our misbehavior with a thousand and one excuses or design and indwell a torture chamber. Justification or humiliation? We need neither.

We need a prayer-based confession, like David’s. After a year of denial and cover-up, he finally prayer, “God, be merciful to me because You are loving.  Because You are always ready to be merciful, wipe out all my wrongs. Wash away all my guilt   and make me clean again. I know about my wrongs, and I can’t forget my sin. You are the only one I have sinned against; I have done what You say is wrong. You are right when You speak and fair when You judge.” (Psalm 51:1-4 NCV)

David waved a white flag of surrender. No more combat. No more argument with heaven. He came clean with God. And you?...

“If we confess our sins, He will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.” (1 John 1:9 NCV)  Oh, the sweet certainty of these words. “He will cleanse us.” Not He might, could, would, or has been known to. He will cleanse you. Tell God what you did. It’s not that He doesn’t already know, but the two of you need to agree. Spend as much time as you need. Share all the details you can. Let the pure water of grace flow over your mistakes.

-- Max Lucado in “Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine”

#6429

COMING CLEAN WITH GOD – Part 2 of 3

What would an X-ray of your soul reveal? Regrets over a teenage relationship? Remorse over a poor choice? Shame about the marriage that didn’t work, the habits you couldn’t quit, the temptation you didn’t resist, or the courage you couldn’t find? Self-imposed guilt lies hidden beneath the surface, festering, irritating. Sometimes so deeply embedded you don’t know the cause.

You become moody, cranky. You’re prone to overreact. You’re angry, irritable. You can be touchy, you know. Understandable, since you have a shank of shame lodged in your soul.

Interested in an extraction? Confess. Request a spiritual MRI. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties, and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

As God brings misdeeds to mind, agree with Him and apologize. Let Him apply grace to the wounds. 

-- Max Lucado in “Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine”

#6428

COMING CLEAN WITH GOD – Part 1 of 3

“If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done.”  (1 John 1:8-9 NCV)

Confession. The word conjures up many images, not all of which are positive. Backroom interrogations. Chinese water torture. Admitting dalliances to a priest who sits on the other side of a screen. Walking down the church aisle and filling out a card. Is this what John had in mind?

Confession is not telling God what He doesn’t know. Impossible. Confession is not complaining. If I merely recite my problems and rehash my woes, I’m whining. Confession is not blaming. Pointing the fingers at others without pointing any at me feels good, but it doesn’t promote healing.

Confession is so much more. Confession is a radical reliance on grace. A proclamation of our trust in God’s goodness. “What I did was bad,” we acknowledge, “but Your grace is greater than my sin, so I confess.” If our understanding of grace is small, our confession will be small: reluctant, hesitant, hedged with excuses and qualifications, full of fear of punishment. But great grace creates an honest confession. 

-- Max Lucado in “Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine”

#6427

LOVE IS A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION

“Walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us…”  (Ephesians 5:2)

We often think, at least unconsciously, that when we finally fall in love and decide to share our lives with another person, everything in our lives will fall into place. We'll "settle down," as we say, and, the implication is, we'll stay settled until "death do us part."

I call this the Shoe Box Notion of love. In this view, a relationship is like a shoe box… in which you keep something precious like your wedding bouquet. You wrap the flowers in tissue paper, put them in the box, … and hope the contents will stay just as they are forever and a day.

Unfortunately, this is precisely how many of us think about relationships. We put our love in a shoe box, stash it, and imagine we can retrieve it unchanged anytime we want. We think we don't have to do anything to make sure it doesn't get moldy or moth-eaten.

In truth, however, a relationship is a journey and not a destination. It begins with a love that captures our attention and ignites our passion, and goes through the innumerable and unending undulations and permutations that give it texture, character, and spice, and which, without our necessarily liking or expecting it, shape and reshape the two people who created it…

A relationship is about movement, growth; it is a holy interpersonal environment for the transformation of two souls.

-- Daphne Rose Kingma in “True Love”

#6426

THE ALL-POWERFUL GOOD SHEPHERD – Part 2 of 2

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”  (Psalm 23:5-6 NKJV)

King David, who wrote Psalm 23, had taken on a lion and a bear and pounded them into the ground (Samuel 17:34-36). David understood what God said when He promised to be with us through the valley of the shadow of death. Jesus is there in the midst of the pressure with us, and He’s not just standing around with His hands in His pockets. The Good Shepherd is there to rescue us when necessary, to protect us at all costs, and to fill our cups to overflowing. We don’t need to watch over our shoulders anymore. God prepares a table for us in the midst of our enemies. Jesus is watching them, guarding us, so we can keep our attention fully fixed on the face of the Good Shepherd – Jesus, our Savior. 

-- Louie Giglio in “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table” 

#6425

THE ALL-POWERFUL GOOD SHEPHERD – Part 1 of 2

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.… Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”  (Psalm 23:1,4 NKJV)

I grew up in a big church in downtown Atlanta. When I was twelve, I remember being in our seventh-grade boy’s Sunday school room. Tan linoleum floor. Cinderblock walls, also tan. Metal folding chairs. Maps of Paul’s missionary journeys on the wall. A window with blinds -- always closed. And on the far wall a big painting of the “meek and mild” Jesus. You know what I’m talking about? His face was pale. He looked like He hadn’t been outside in a long time. His robe was perfect. His hair was perfect. He had a woolly lamb on His shoulders and a crook in His hand -- and Jesus was gazing off into Foreverland with a faraway look in His eyes. But Olan Mills Portrait Studios Jesus is nothing like the real thing.

He’s your hero. Your defender. He’s the mighty Son of God! When you are up against life and death, when your back’s against a wall, when circumstances are poised to take you out, and when the Devil is whispering lies in your ear, you need to know there’s an all-powerful Good Shepherd with a rod in one hand and a staff in the other. That’s the Jesus of Psalm 23. That’s why we find comfort in His presence. With that staff, the Good Shepherd can grab you and pull you to safety. And with that rod, He can crush any prowling lion or raging bear that charges you. 

-- Louie Giglio in “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table” 

#6424

THE CHRIST STORY

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”  (John 1:1-4 NIV)

Much of our preaching is eviscerated because we tell the Christ story as if it began in a Bethlehem stable and ended on the day of the ascension. When all things began, He already was. His story is a story of a crucified carpenter whose death and resurrection long ago and far away give meaning and purpose not only to our individual lives, but also to the whole created universe. "The whole universe has been created through Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). If that is true, then there is nothing in all creation, nothing in human experience of joy or pain, nothing in the physical world from the galaxies to the atom that cannot be a theophany, a Christophany, a revelation of God in Christ. 

-- Ian Pitt-Watson in “A Primer for Preachers” [1986] 

#6423

THE PATTERN OF THE CROSS – Part 2 of 2

“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know Him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ.”  (2 Corinthians 5:16-18 NLT)

This upside-down pattern of the cross so contradicts the thinking and practice of the world that it creates an “alternate kingdom,” an alternate reality, a counterculture among those who have been transformed by it. In this peaceable kingdom there is a reversal of the values of the world with regard to power, recognition, status, and wealth. In this new counterculture, Christians look at money as something to give away. They look at power as something to use strictly for service. Racial and class superiority, accrual of money and power at the expense of others, yearning for popularity and recognition, these normal marks of human life, are the opposite of the mindset of those who have understood and experienced the Cross. Christ creates a whole new order of life. Those who are shaped by the great reversal of the Cross no longer need self-justification through money, status, career, or pride of race and class. So the Cross creates a counterculture in which sex, money, and power cease to control us and are used in life-giving and community-building rather than destructive ways. 

-- Timothy Keller (1950-2023) in “The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism”  

#6422

THE PATTERN OF THE CROSS – Part 1 of 2

Jesus said, “The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life -- only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”  (John 10:17-18 NIV)

The pattern of the Cross means that the world’s glorification of power, might, and status is exposed and defeated. On the cross Christ wins through losing, triumphs through defeat, achieves power through weakness and service, comes to wealth via giving it all away. Jesus Christ turns the values of the world upside down. As N. T. Wright, in his book “Simply Christian,” says: “The real enemy after all, was not Rome but the powers of evil that stood behind human arrogance and violence… [On the cross] the kingdom of God triumphed over the kingdoms of the world by refusing to join in their spirit of violence. [On the cross, Jesus] would love His enemies, turn the other cheek, go the second mile.”  

-- Timothy Keller (1950-2023) in “The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism” 

#6421

YOUR WITNESS IN WORDS AND DEEDS

“Now someone may argue, ‘Some people have faith; others have good deeds.’ But I say, ‘How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.’”  (James 2:18 NLT)

The single most important factor in your ability to witness for Christ is your own personal faith.  A genuine faith is often shared successfully even when the sharing seems awkward.  Transparent Christian faith is so powerful in its appeal that it is self-commending.

A second vital factor in faith sharing is a passionate and deep caring for others.  Unless you genuinely care about whether or not your friend is brought closer to Christ, you probably will not be motivated to give your witness.  That passion emerges out of your relationship with God and with your friend…

Sometimes we are tempted to believe that deeds, not words, are the most important part of our witness for Christ.  But upon deeper reflection we realize how very important words are.  A record of only the deeds of Jesus would be a treasure, of course.  However, to add His words to the record of His deeds adds infinite richness to our understanding of Jesus.  The words of Jesus help interpret for us His deeds, and His deeds help give credibility to His words.  The same is true of the person who witnesses for Christ.

-- Harold K. Bates in “Witness for Christ”

#6420

I WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE

“Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the [blind] man’s eyes. ‘Go,’ He told him, ‘wash in the Pool of Siloam’ (this word means ‘Sent’). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.”  (John 9:6-7 NIV)

After Jesus healed the blind man, others in his town who didn’t understand wanted to debate all sorts of meaningless issues. When several Pharisees accused Jesus of being a sinner, the blind guy told his story. “Whether [Jesus] is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25)

Even though this newly healed man didn’t know enough to debate theology, he was an expert on one topic -- his own experience. He was blind and now he could see. Everywhere he went, this healed man could tell his story to anyone who would listen, and his changed life was proof of what had happened.

We can do the same. Start with these words: “Let me tell you my story.” Then just fill in the blanks. You might have been forgiven for many sins or saved from a life of addiction. Perhaps you were sick and God healed you, or you were searching for something meaningful in life and your search ended when you found Christ. You may have grown up in church and known about God since Elmo was your favorite furry friend, but you only personally experienced God’s goodness later in life. Even if you don’t feel like your story is powerful or dramatic, God can use it. 

-- Craig Groeschel in “The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living as if He Doesn’t Exist”

#6419

IT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  (John 10:10)

A man in our church [in London] told me recently about how he had come to Christ. He was going through difficulties in his business and had to go to the United States on a business trip. He was not feeling very happy as he rode in a taxi to the airport. On the dashboard of the taxi he noticed pictures of the taxi driver’s children. He could not see the face of the driver, but he asked him about his family. He felt great love coming from the man. As the conversation went on, the taxi driver said to him, “I sense that you are not happy. If you believe in Christ it makes all the difference.”

The businessman said to me, “Here was a man speaking with authority. I thought I was the one in authority. After all, I was paying.” The taxi driver said to him eventually, “Don't you think it's time you settled all this by accepting Christ?” They arrived at the airport. For the first time the taxi driver turned around and the businessman saw his face; it was full of kindness. The driver said to him, “Why don't we pray? If you want Christ in your life, ask Him.” They prayed together and the driver gave him a booklet about the Christian faith. The taxi driver was a modest, unassuming person who was there one moment and gone the next, but he had taken the opportunity to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. This changed the whole course of a man's life.

-- Nicky Gumbel in Alpha’s “Questions of Life: A Practical Introduction to the Christian Faith” 

#6418

CREATION SPEAKS OF THE CREATOR – Part 2 of 2

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.”  (Genesis 1:1,31a NIV)

Creation Reveals God’s Beauty. From the delicate symmetry of a snowflake to the vibrant colors of a sunset, to the soft petals of a rose, beauty is woven into the world. “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.”  (Genesis 1:31)  Beauty is not accidental, it is intentional. It reflects a God who delights in goodness, creativity, and joy.

Creation Reveals God’s Faithfulness. The rhythm of seasons, the rising and setting of the sun, the cycle of seedtime and harvest -- all whisper the same truth: God is steady and dependable. “As long as the earth endures… day and night will never cease.” (Genesis 8:22)  Even when life feels unpredictable, creation reminds us that God is not. He is faithful in every season.

Creation Reveals God’s Care. Jesus pointed to the birds and flowers as living illustrations of God’s tender provision. “Look at the birds of the air… your heavenly Father feeds them.” (Matthew 6:26)  “See how the flowers of the field grow… not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” (Matthew 6:28–29)  If God cares for sparrows and lilies, how much more does He care for you.

Creation is not God. But it is God’s artwork -- His signature on the canvas of the world. When we pay attention, creation becomes a daily invitation to worship. May your eyes be open today to the God who speaks through everything He has made. 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™ 

#6417

CREATION SPEAKS OF THE CREATOR – Part 1 of 2

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”  (Psalm 19:1)

Creation is not silent. Every sunrise, every crashing wave, every whisper of wind carries a message. The world God made is not merely scenery -- it is testimony. It reveals God’s character, power, and heart. When we slow down long enough to look, creation becomes a sanctuary where God’s fingerprints are everywhere.

Creation Reveals God’s Glory. The vastness of the heavens stretches our imagination. Billions of stars, galaxies beyond counting -- yet God calls each one by name. “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” (Psalm 147:4) The night sky reminds us that God is both majestic and mindful. If He knows the stars, He surely knows you.

Creation Reveals God’s Power. Mountains that pierce the clouds, oceans that roar with strength -- these are glimpses of His might. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities -- His eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen…” (Romans 1:20)  Creation is God’s sermon without words. Its power points to a God who is never overwhelmed, never outmatched, never uncertain. 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™ 

#6416

LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO MY FRIEND

Jesus said, "I no longer call you servants, for a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you."  (John 15:15 NIV)

“Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”  (John 17:3 NIV)

We talk about God in the third person. We teach about God. However, we don't teach about our spouses or about our good friends. We introduce them, not teach about them. Too often we relate to God as a myth or a theorem to be talked about and not as a friend to be introduced.

-- Adapted from Norman Shawchuck in “A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God”

#6415

WHAT KIND OF WITNESS ARE WE?

Jesus said to His disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”  (John 13:34-35 NIV)

Sheldon Vanauken (1914–1996) wrote that the strongest argument for Christianity is Christians, when they are drawing life from God. The strongest argument against Christianity? Also Christians, when they become exclusive, self-righteous, and complacent.

Dallas Willard (1925-2013) [in his book “The Spirit of the Disciplines”] wrote, "How many people are radically and permanently repelled from The Way by Christians who are unfeeling, stiff, unapproachable, boringly lifeless, obsessive, and dissatisfied? Yet such Christians are everywhere, and what they are missing is the wholesome liveliness springing from a balanced vitality with the freedom of God's loving rule…. Spirituality wrongly understood or pursued is a major source of human misery and rebellion against God."

-- John Ortberg in “The Life You've Always Wanted”

#6414

A CHILD-LIKE SPIRIT

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  (Matthew 19:14 NIV)

Faith is sometimes equated with credulity, but it can be so equated only when the profound mistake is made of thinking of faith as primarily a matter of intellectual assent.  As the New Testament uses the word, faith is trust, acceptance, commitment, vision.  It is not a belief in this or that creed, it is a quality which lies rather in the realm of intuition than the intellect. Faith has indeed an element of true simplicity; it is one of the qualities -- perhaps the fundamental quality -- of the child-like spirit without which no one can enter the Kingdom of God. 

-- Anonymous, attributed to Charles Wesley, from “Christian Quotation of the Day” 

#6413

OUR HOPE IS IN THE LORD

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.’  The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”  (Lamentations 3:21-26 NIV)

At a time when I thought my world had all but ended, when the realization was hammering at my heart that my daughter's death was not some nightmare from which I would recover but was for all time, a friend came into the room, put her arms around my neck, and said, "Everything's going to be all right."

I thought she was crazy.  And yet.... and yet.... was it possible that she was right?

I had occasion, some years later, to be the consoler of a young woman whose son had lapsed into a coma from which he would not recover, and my words to her were the same.  "Everything's going to be all right." And I felt my friend from that earlier time standing beside me, nodding - See, that's what I told you.

Improbably though it seems when grief first assaults us we do come to learn, though the surface of our life will often be in turmoil, that on a deep and unshakable level there is indeed a confidence that all is well. 

Until that happens, we cling to the testimony of others and take hope: if for them, why not for us, too? 

-- Martha Whitmore Hickman in “Healing After Loss”

#6412

THE BITTER END

“‘Don’t call me Naomi,’ she told them. ‘Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me.’”  (Ruth 1:20 NLT)

Naomi’s making a pun here that gets a little lost in the translation, unless you read your Bible notes. Her name means “pleasant,” but since life hadn’t been very good for her for a long time, she asks her people to call her Mara, or “bitter,” instead.

Naomi and her family moved out of Israel, when a famine threatened, and went to Moab. After more than ten years, her husband and sons died. Naomi returned to Bethlehem with nothing but one of her daughters-in-law, Ruth. It wasn’t a happy return, so when people asked, “Is this really Naomi?” she responded with the above sentences.

Like Naomi, we may have bitter days. Everything that surrounds our lives seems unpalatable. Perhaps we see no hope for the future and could respond as she did. But like Naomi, when we feel that way, we are not looking at the end of the story. As long as we live, God is not finished writing our tale. This bitter patch may be the dark part of the story that just precedes the happiest parts of our lives. If we give up, we’ll never reach the best part of the story.

When we hold on til’ the bitter end, like Naomi, we may find it isn’t bitter at all. She found herself the center of a loving family, with a grandson to carry on the family name. Best of all, God used that infant to create something of eternal value – he became a forebearer of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Could anything that created the Light of the World remain bitter for long? 

-- Pamela McQuade, from “Daily Wisdom to Satisfy the Soul,” published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission.

#6411

THE GOSPEL MEASURES US

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  (Hebrews 4:12 NIV)

Every now and then someone comes up with a phrase which leaves you thinking, "I wish I'd said it that way." Prof. G.L. Carter did it to me this week when he responded to one point in last Sunday's sermon by commenting, "It seemed to me that you were saying, 'Instead of asking whether the Gospel is relevant to us, we ought to be asking if we are relevant to the Gospel'." I felt that G.L. had summarized the matter perfectly; I wish I had done as well.

You see, this is the forgotten mood in much current theological chatter: not whether Christianity is relevant to us, but whether we are relevant to Christianity. We are not the measuring stick of the Gospel; the Gospel measures us. We do not set a standard for the faith; faith has set the standard, and the only really relevant question is this, do we meet the standard?

There is a certain inherent arrogance in all the talk about relevance. I suppose, in the end, that this is why I usually find the word not only trite but distasteful. We seem to think that we can treat the Gospel the way we treat the television screen, switching to another channel when the theme doesn't please us.

Without a doubt the church sometimes misshapes the Gospel until it ceases to be relevant. But I'm sure that sometimes modern man accuses the Gospel of being irrelevant when in truth it is only discomfiting. He needs then to remember that the Gospel judges him, and it is his own relevancy which is at stake. 

-- Ellsworth Kalas (1923-2015), originally published on December 15, 1966 in the newsletter of First Methodist Church of Madison, Wisconsin. Source https://ellsworthkalas.com/blog.

#6410

WHAT'S THE POINT?

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”  (Galatians 2:20 ESV)

When I first met the great Jesuit peacemaker and poet Father Daniel Berrigan, I wanted his advice about the life that lay ahead for me, but I didn't know exactly what to say. "What's the point of all this?" I finally asked him. Dan took my awkward question seriously. "All we have to do is make our lives fit into the story of Jesus," he said. "We have to get our lives to make sense in light of the Gospel." 

What a helpful answer! I never forgot it. The Christian life, I was learning, is fashioned after the life of Jesus. As His followers, we have to know His story, enter His story, and make our story part of His story. The Gospel, in other words is the measure of our lives. 

-- Father John Dear in “Transfiguration- A Meditation on Transforming Ourselves and Our World”

#6409

THE POWER OF GOOD POETRY

“1 Blessed is the one
     who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
     or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
     and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
     which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
     whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
     They are like chaff
     that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
     nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
     but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.”  (Psalm 1 NIV)

Psalm 1 contains three metaphors that bounce back and forth in a chiastic structure. This means the ideas of verse 1 match up with that of verse 6, verse 2 connects with verse 5, and verse 3 to verse 4.

The opening and closing metaphor contrasts the picture of a deceptive party seeking to corrupt travelers, and the Lord watching over the righteous, telling them what roads will lead to destruction. The second image we’re given in verses 2 and 5 contrasts the law being a source of delight for the righteous, and the wicked being exposed by it in a courtroom. The middle metaphor shows us someone being planted by rushing streams, and another being blown away by powerful winds. Both are in proximity to forces they cannot control. But whereas one is a source of nourishment to its neighbors, the other is a destructive power that tosses them about.

The use of contrast when mirroring these ideas not only makes the message of the poem clear, but compelling. The message is, “A blessed life is not a destination the wicked can point you to, but the results of enjoying the journey with God.”

The metaphor is simple. But the message is anything but. 

-- Excerpted from Lo Alaman in “Wake-up Call”

#6408

ADMIRATION OF OURSELVES

St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) once noted, “When beginners become aware of their own fervor and diligence… this prosperity of theirs gives rise to secret pride… They conceive a certain satisfaction in the contemplation of their works… They condemn others in their heart when they see that they are not devout in their way.”

The early steps of spiritual growth often feel bright and exhilarating. We discover new disciplines, new insights, new rhythms of prayer, and it’s easy to mistake our progress for God’s presence. St. John of the Cross warns that even sincere devotion can quietly bend inward, becoming a subtle admiration of ourselves rather than a humble turning toward Christ.

Scripture echoes this danger: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”  (Philippians 2:3)

Humility is not thinking less of ourselves; it is thinking of ourselves less. It is remembering that every good impulse, every spiritual victory, every moment of clarity is grace received, not achievement earned. When we forget this, pride slips in through the side door. We begin to measure our devotion against others, forgetting that Christ alone is the standard -- and Christ alone is the source of our growth. 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™

#6407

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT?

“When you present grain as an offering to the Lord, the offering must consist of choice flour. You are to pour olive oil on it, sprinkle it with frankincense, and bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. The priest will scoop out a handful of the flour moistened with oil, together with all the frankincense, and burn this representative portion on the altar. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.”  (Leviticus 2:1-2 NLT)

Musical perfection does not exist. We were taught “practice makes perfect” --  that’s a lie. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t try though!

I didn’t know this in my college years. Our grades depended on “perfection.” We worked for applause. And so, when notes went wrong, even if the error was small, to me it was failure. That’s even tougher for a church musician. You get one shot, but end up reliving the mistake. I couldn’t even take a compliment, because I focused on the flaw. You know that’s pride, right?

It’s taken quite a few years to unlearn that. For me, practice is like gathering up the grain for an offering to the Lord. The more I practice, the more “choice grain” is chosen. I don’t hastily throw it in, just to fill it up. While the world only sees those magical five minutes, … hours, weeks, months have preceded. I want my basket to be filled with the BEST I can give. The work isn’t for people….. it’s for the Lord.

The gift I receive in return is that I no longer focus on the flaws because I KNOW He’s deemed it WORTHY. 

 -- Allie Sewell McGuire

#6406

GRACE THAT STILL AMAZES

“Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…”  (John Newton, 1772)

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”  (Galatians 5:1)

Two hundred and fifty years ago, a nation took its first breath. America’s story began with a longing for liberty -- a conviction that people should live free, speak free, worship free, and hope free. That longing ignited courage. That courage demanded sacrifice. And that sacrifice wrote the early chapters of our national story in blood.

Around the same time, on the other side of the ocean, another kind of freedom was being born -- not in a nation, but in a soul. John Newton, once a slave trader, encountered the transforming mercy of Christ. His life was turned upside down by grace so powerful it broke chains no government could touch. Out of that encounter came a hymn that has outlived empires, comforted generations, and become a soundtrack for redemption: “Amazing grace! how sweet the sound…”

As America celebrates 250 years, it’s striking to remember that both our national freedom and Newton’s hymn emerged in the same era -- one declaring political liberty, the other proclaiming spiritual liberty. One was secured by the blood of patriots. The other was secured by the blood of Christ. Both freedoms matter. Both freedoms cost something. But only one freedom lasts forever.

The founders fought for a nation where people could live unshackled from tyranny. Jesus died for a Kingdom where people could live unshackled from sin. The Revolution opened the door to earthly liberty. The Cross opened the door to eternal liberty.

Newton’s hymn reminds us that the deepest freedom is not found in documents, declarations, or anniversaries -- but in God’s grace. Grace that rescues. Grace that restores. Grace that rewrites stories. Grace that still amazes.

So as we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, we give thanks for the gift of living in a land shaped by courage. And we give even greater thanks for the grace that shapes our souls -- the grace that found us, saved us, and set us free. 

Lord, thank You for the freedoms we enjoy in this country. And thank You for the grace that gives us a freedom in Christ that no nation can grant and no enemy can steal. As America marks 250 years, we pray that grace -- not fear, anger, or division – would define how we live. Help us live as people amazed by grace and committed to sharing it. Amen. 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™

#6405

PRESIDENTIAL PERSPECTIVES

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”  (Psalm 119:105 NLT)

“Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make good use of it!”  (President John Adams, 1735-1826, in a letter to Abigail Adams, April 26, 1777)

"It is essential, my son, in order that you may go through life with comfort to yourself, and usefulness to your fellow-creatures, that you should form and adopt certain rules or principles, for the government of your own conduct and temper… It is in the Bible, you must learn them, and from the Bible how to practice them.  Those duties are to God, to your fellow-creatures, and to your self."   (President John Adams, writing to his son, John Quincy Adams, who at that time was Ambassador to Russia)

“So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it, the more confident am I that they will prove useful citizens to their country.”  (President John Quincy Adams, 1767-1848)

“This great Book is the best gift God has given to man. But for it, we could not know right from wrong.”  (President Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865)

“Every thinking man, when he thinks, realizes that the teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally -- I do not mean figuratively, but literally -- impossible for us to figure what that loss would be if these teachings were removed. We would lose all the standards by which we now judge both public and private morals; all the standards towards which we, with more or less resolution, strive to raise ourselves.”   (President Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919)

“People in the New Testament church came to Paul and asked him what things they could depend on if they changed their way of living and adopted the Christian faith that he espoused. He replied, "We look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). The things we cannot see are paramount, and do not change -- those about which Jesus taught. Can we see truth, justice, forgiveness, or love? I have tried to remember this verse during some of the more trying times of my own life.”  (President Jimmy Carter, 1924–2024)

“Within the covers of the Bible are all the answers for all the problems men face. The Bible can touch hearts, order minds and refresh souls.”   (President Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004)

#6404

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

“You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God.” (Ephesians 2:8 NCV)

This is the gift that God gives. A grace that grants us first the power to receive love and then the power to give it. A grace that changes us, shapes us, and leads us to a life that is eternally altered. Do you know this grace? Do you trust this grace? If not, you can. All God wants from us is faith. Put your faith in God. 

And grow in grace. More verb than noun, more present tense than past tense, grace didn’t just happen; it happens. Grace happens here.

The same work God did through Christ long ago on the cross is the work God does through Christ right now in you.

Let Him do the work. Let grace trump your arrest record, critics, and guilty conscience. See yourself for what you are -- God’s personal remodeling project. Not a world to yourself but a work in His hands. No longer defined by failures but refined by them. Trusting less in what you DO and more in what Christ DID. Grace-less less, grace-shaped more. Convinced down deep in the substrata of your soul that God is just warming up in this overture of life, that hope has its seasons and death has its due date.

Grace. Let it, let Him, so seep into the crusty cracks of your life that everything softens. Then let it, let Him bubble to the surface, like a spring in the Sahara, in words of kindness and deeds of generosity. God will change you, my friend. You are a trophy of His kindness, a partaker of His mission…

This happens when grace happens. May it happen in you. 

-- Max Lucado in “Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine”

#6403

FREEDOM IN CHRIST

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery… You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  (Galatians 5:1,13,14 NIV)

Christian freedom is not the right to do what we want, but the power to do what we ought. It is the release from the bondage of self so that we may become the servants of God. 

-- William Barclay in “The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians” (The Daily Study Bible Series), 1958

#6402

CITIZENS OF HEAVEN, WITNESSES ON EARTH

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20 NIV)

In a world of flags and factions, it’s easy to forget where our true allegiance lies. We live in nations, vote in elections, and care deeply about the direction of our communities. But Scripture reminds us: our ultimate citizenship is not of this world. It’s of heaven.

That doesn’t mean we disengage. It means we engage differently.

Movements like Christian nationalism seek to blend faith with political power, often with good intentions -- desiring moral clarity, justice, and truth in public life. But when Christianity becomes a tool of nationalism, we risk distorting the gospel. Jesus didn’t come to build an empire. He came to establish a kingdom not of this world -- a kingdom marked by humility, mercy, and sacrificial love.

Peter urged believers to live as “foreigners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11), not because they didn’t belong anywhere, but because they belonged to Someone greater. Their lives were meant to reflect Christ -- not conquer in His name, but serve in His Spirit. 

Lord, remind me that I am Yours before I am anything else. Let my love for You shape how I love my neighbor. Help me to speak truth with grace, to seek justice with humility, and to live as a citizen of heaven while serving faithfully on earth. May Your kingdom come -- not through force, but through faithfulness. Amen.

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™

#6401

JESUS’ LOVE DRAWS US NOW

I cannot prove to you that Jesus will accept you, should you come into His presence to let down your guard. I can tell you that the whole character of Jesus as we meet Him in the Gospels suggests this kind of love. "Come to Me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest," said Jesus in a famous passage (Matthew 11:28).  I can tell you as well that this love has been true for me and others… In Jesus' presence we may safely drop our strengths and reveal our weakness…

It takes faith, in the presence of all the voices that condemn us, to open up the old wounds before God. Jesus' love… draws us now. One elicits the other: faith and forgiving love. They circle around each other in glorious harmony.

I wish you the courage to enter that loop and be swept up in the healing love of Jesus. 

-- Gerrit Scott Dawson in “Heartfelt”

#6400

GOD’S RELENTLESS LOVE

It's safe to give ourselves up to God's love.  He created us out of love and His love is never wearied or worn out by our sins.  He is relentless in His pursuit of us and in His determination that one day we will be pure love, at whatever cost to us or to Himself.

"Good and upright is the Lord," the psalmist reminds us, "therefore He instructs sinners in His ways.  He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way" (Psalm 25:8-9, italics added).  The only requirement is humility and the patience to wait for His working.  God is not known for haste, but He does mean business. 

-- David Roper in “Growing Slowly Wise” 

#6399

HOW FAR CAN GRACE REACH?

“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save…”  (Isaiah 59:1)

There are days when the distance feels real. Distance from God. Distance from who you hoped to be. Distance from the life you imagined. Sometimes it’s failure that convinces you you’ve wandered too far. Sometimes it’s shame that whispers you’ve crossed a line you can’t return from. Sometimes it’s simply the slow drift of a tired heart.

But grace has a longer reach than your longest detour. Grace is not limited by geography, history, or the mess you made yesterday. Grace does not check how far you’ve run before deciding whether to chase you. Grace does not measure the distance -- it closes it.

The prodigal son tried to rehearse his apology, but the Father ran to him before he could speak. Peter denied Jesus three times, but grace restored him with three invitations to love. Paul persecuted the church, but grace turned him into its greatest preacher. Every story in Scripture shouts the same truth: You are never farther than grace can reach.

Lord, thank You that Your grace reaches farther than my failures, fears, and wanderings. Draw me close again. Remind me that no distance is too great for Your love to cross. Help me accept that and live today as someone found, forgiven, and held by grace. Amen. 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™

#6398