Archive for October 2025

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Living Despite The Past

October 31, 2025

“When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her… Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”  She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” (John 8:7, 10-11)

Saint Augustine said, “There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.” Words that get blurred by today’s ability to bring past words and actions to the present, like as facial birthmark that won’t go away. Our past is incriminating. It’s a reminder that at one time…or a thousand one-times…we didn’t have our act together.

Our past is dotted with rude words, insulting gestures, and hurtful shames. There are moments we’d like to forget, to pretend they didn’t happen, but we live in a culture that is unable to forget. Kids in school may yawn at the mention of their history class, but they can recall in detail the slights and slips others have inflicted on them.

Truthfully, we all have a history… a mixture of good and evil. None of us can stand upright before the Lord based on our merits. I’ve become more and more suspicious of preachers with pointy fingers and church leaders with tendencies to verbally hammer people who have made mistakes. I wonder what injustices and transgressions are floating on the bottom of their murky pasts.

Jesus’ encounter with the woman who has been caught in the act of adultery is revealing of the unforgiving nature of society, but, thank God, the grace-filled forgiveness of God. Jesus looked forward to the lived-out promises of God. As He said to the woman, “Go your way…”, not “Go away!”

Granted, forgiveness is more often a process instead of a moment. Hurtful words need the ointment of reconciliation, not simply a “I forgive you” sentence. The hope and objective of Jesus is always restoration, reconciliation, and renewal. Jesus knows our past, but He does not live in the past. He walks with us toward the promises in our future.

As in many of the gospel stories, I wish there were a sequel or an afterword that revealed the rest of the story. What happened in this woman’s life after being dragged to Jesus and then not being condemned by the Savior? How did her life turn out?

On the other hand, sometimes when a story has an ending, we can only picture our story having to end that way also. The incomplete picture of this story helps us see that our story can be finished in a number of ways, for there are numerous ways that we can experience the redeeming love of God in our lives.

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After “Whys?”

October 25, 2025

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:10)

The prosperity gospel icon, Reverend Ike, used to say he had a diamond ring on his right hand and didn’t want his left hand to feel slighted, so he got another one for it, too. His riches defined him, and there was never enough.

Thus, the sad saga of a life built on sand. The sand has been the home for major housing developments called the NBA. Players and coaches who have been making millions of dollars were suddenly arrested for a gambling scandal, hinted to be connected to the Mafia in some way, that has involved fixing and/or influencing the outcome of games.

It’s the wart that has become visible on the body, known as sports betting. And the sports world has no one to blame but itself and its lust for more riches and revenue. From NIL monies to Fantasy Football to the transfer portal to mega-contract deals, it’s all about the cash. Our backyard tackle football games from childhood, when our love for the game was evident, are a thing of the past. It’s now an enterprise built on present and future riches.

I mean…tell me, why does LeBron James need to be a spokesperson for an online sports betting company? How many families have been negatively affected by his endorsing a family member to wager on a sports team? And he’s just one of many sports personalities who give that subtle message that gambling is a natural part of life, no different than sweeping out the garage.

I cringe when I turn the TV on to ESPN and they feature on the “bottom line” the matchups in the week’s college football games with the over/under betting line in parenthesis following the teams. Scott Van Pelt will sometimes show highlights of how the outcome of a game suddenly turned in the last few minutes in favor or disappointment to the betting spectator, simply on the basis of a missed field goal or an intercepted pass. There are now more fans of the bottom line over/under than there are of the Crimson Tide.

Reverend Ike rephrased the verse in 1 Timothy to read, “The lack of money is the root of all evil.” That seems to be the motto for today’s culture.

To clarify, I do not fault athletes and performers for being well-compensated. I cringe at the attitudes that resound with the idea of entitlement and the greed whose thirst is never quenched.

The truth of the last part of those words of Paul to Timothy should be in bold print: “Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

…And left many people shaking their heads and asking the question, “Why?”

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Alan

October 22, 2025

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17)

As I flip through the chapters of my life, I have become ever increasingly grateful for the men with whom I’ve crossed paths. Not that there haven’t been some incredible women who have influenced me as well. After all, I am married to one of them.

Sometimes the male figures have joined me on my journey for a short time, while other guys have been along for the ride so much it’s like we’re grizzled cowboys sitting around the nightly campfire together. Short-timers and long-rangers have both been instrumental in my personal and spiritual development.

A recent “cowpoke”, so to speak, is an older fella’ named Alan, who sits at the same Starbucks counter as I do. Alan is nearing eighty, drinks his coffee from an actual Starbucks mug (just like my parents did…minus the Starbucks label), and shares the same faith view of life as I do. We talk about chess, our health status, the latest class that he is auditing at the local university, and life. Our lives can not be separated from our faith.

Alan reads my blog and, no doubt, will be slightly embarrassed that he is the prime focus of this one, but it’s true. My life is a little better because of our early morning chats. He tells me about books that he has read, or is reading. John Mark Comer is one of his favorites, while I lean towards Philip Yancey.

Alan shares simple wisdom with me, not wisdom that requires a theological surgeon to decipher. Our wives have the same first name and he hails from my neck of the woods. As we talk, questions arise about the confusing situations of life and how we sometimes have learned what’s paramount in importance by walking through the fires.

We don’t go to the same church, eat at the same restaurants, or drive vehicles of similar models. In fact, I always know he’s at Starbucks by the fact that his anciet Jeep Cherokee is backed into a space. At 5:30 in the morning, it stands out in the midst of the near-empty lot. He’s absorbed in his reading, often his bible close at hand, and unaware of my entry until I say, “Good morning, Alan!” Sometimes he’s in mid-swig as I say it, but at 5:30 he’s usually ready for a refill.

In return, he greets me as I walk the ten more feet to the other end of the counter and deposit my backpack. After I get my Yeti mug of the Pike Place brew, he strolls down to my position, white mug in hand, and we update each other on the goings-on of yesterday and the hopes of the day we have begun.

In some ways, we walk another day together, two brothers privileged to have come together in a most unlikely place, simply because we like coffee.

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Stepping Away

October 21, 2025

“They (Paul and Silas) went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.” (Acts 16:6)

One of the hardest situations to figure out is when to know you’re done versus when to keep going; when it’s time to pull to the side versus when to puish forward. My generation has been more about pushing forward than quitting. We hate that word “quitting.” It resonates to us with immaturity, irresponsibility, and a lack of effort.

I’m generalizing here, but the younger generation seems comfortable with moving on when they feel like it, no matter the cost it has on the lives of others. Not showing up for work is not seen as irresponsible, but rather “I just don’t feel like working today!”

I know…I know, that’s a bit brutal to write, but from my experience it’s closer to the norm.

I came to that crossroads myself this past week. I had been working in a long-term substitute teaching position at the middle school where I’ve coached basketball for the past twenty-five years. This teaching position was scheduled to continue until the Christmas break. The teacher is on maternity leave. My assignment started earlier than it was supposed to because of some concerns about the teacher’s pregnancy. I had spent some time in the classroom before that, observing. Translated that means, figuring out who the suspects were in each class and becoming familiar with the class curriculum.

Three weeks into the assignment I was feeling the effects of the long hours I was having to put in, and the frustration that a few of the students were igniting within me. I had done long-term positions before, two of them resulting in me teaching the whole school year. It energized me. I looked forward to seeing my students on Mondays. However, this time things were different…and I knew it was time. Sometimes God says “yes”, sometimes “no”, and sometimes “not yet.”

Five weeks into my assignment I sensed that the Holy Spirit was nudging me to give it up. I forewarned the assistant principal that I was considering the possibility, and at six weeks, I told her I was stepping to the side. She was disappointed because she knew my history of working and relating well to the students.

Sometimes a person needs to discern when he is grinding versus being grounded. I was grinding myself into the dust to the point that my wife was getting worried. When God closes one door, the Christ follower needs to be cognizant of another open that might suddenly open. Or maybe the Holy Spirit is saying that it’s time for a brief rest, a stepping away before being asked to step up.

I’ve always been intrigued by the verse in Acts 16, where the Holy Spirit forbade Paul and Silas to speak the word in Asia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go into Bithynia. It wasn’t the end of their journey; it was just a redirection that, shortly after, resulted in Lydia’s conversion during their visit to Philippi.

Rest is not the norm for me, although in my thirty-six years of pastoring the Sunday afternoon nap was a gift from God. I’m more comfortable with the words “redirection” and “pause.”

So I’m pausing, like the pause button on my background piano music right now as I write this. It’s only for a few moments before the melody begins again.

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