Archive for the ‘Freedom’ category
January 17, 2018
WORDS FROM W.W. January 17, 2018
We are drawn to the word free! After all, we live in the land of the free and the brave. Free sells!
Last week’s mail brought a couple of “FREE” offers. I intentionally wrote the word in capital letters there because that’s how it was displayed in the advertisement. “FREE” draws a person’s attention like the smell of your next door neighbor’s barbecuing. I looked closer at the ad for the restaurant. I could go there and get a free breakfast, lunch, or dinner…here it comes…with the purchase of another meal and two drinks.
Wouldn’t that make the free meal half-free? Or, wouldn’t it mean that I’d be getting two meals for a little bit more than half-price ( knowing what they charge for a soda!)?
We love free! Half-off still dips into our wallet. It still costs us something! If we approached a marriage proposal by saying “I’m half in love with you” or “I want to be married to you half the time” the results, hopefully, would be an end to the relationship before the wedding vows were half-said in front of a crowded church sanctuary.
Free is a word that must be untangled from the grasp of an addendum.
Some might say that being a follower of Jesus is like that; that the person who is witnessing for Jesus talks about being freed from sin, but then talks about what it means to be a follower of Christ. It’s that tension between the understanding that Jesus died on the cross to set me free, and then being told that accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior means that I’ll do this and that.
In the days of the New Testament there was the division between those who were free and those who were enslaved. Paul refers to that cultural condition quite often in his epistle writings. Those who read his letters understood the separation, and even though they were slaves to masters they were drawn to the principle that freedom could be experienced in a spiritual sense.
What if the gospel only set us half-free? What if it unchained us in some ways, but failed to unburden us in others?
And from another perspective, are there those who see themselves as followers of Christ but have allowed his sacrifice to only set them half-free?
Half-free is half-hearted.
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Community, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Jesus, love, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: atonement, BOGO, Buy One Get One Free, coupons, free offers, freedom in Christ, half-off, IHOP, set free to be
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January 15, 2018
WORDS FROM W.W. January 15, 2018
Recently a high school women’s basketball team in our area was beaten by 94 points. They were missing a couple of their players that day, but other defeats this season have been lop-sided as well, just not in the same zip code as 94.
In my years as a coach I’ve been on both sides of the final score…on the left side of the hyphen with a way larger number than my waist size…and on the right side of the hyphen with a digit that looks as embarrassed as a naked child in a grocery store.
One of the first games I coached was a YMCA Church League game for middle school boys. We lost 75-5 and my only player who could dribble and chew gum at the same time broke his wrist. That team struggled to score more than six points in any game for the rest of the season. One of our last games was against Bethlehem Lutheran, and their associate pastor, Noel Niemann, was also their coach. Noel knew what our team’s skill level was and he purposely had his players play a packed in 2-3 zone defense and allowed our players to shoot from the outside. They beat us 36-12, but my team was elated that the scoreboard had to use two digits to display our team’s score. That was in 1982 and I still remember Noel’s name, the score, and the sportsmanship.
I seldom see grace filter into sports these days. It’s seen as a sign of weakness. “After all,” say too many coaches, “we’ve practiced hard. Winning in a blowout is our just rewards for practicing hard!”
That argument carries only so far! Winning by a ton of points is usually fueled by a coach’s arrogance, blood-thirsty parents in the bleachers, or players who think it says something about how impressive their skill level is.
In most states high school athletes can choice into schools that ordinarily they would not be going to. Certain high schools are accumulating more than their fair share of the better players, while other schools are encountering cupboards that are bare. Mismatches are evident before the season even begins. And it will continue to be!
So whose responsibility is to be win with grace?
The opportunity to show grace begins with the coach. I use the word “opportunity” because it should be seen as such. Not a requirement, but rather a gift wrapped in the lesson of sportsmanship. Any sporting event is a venue for how we wish people would treat each other. Too often it is a place where the participants strut like peacocks and the observers say things they would not want their mothers, some already in the grave, to hear.
Grace in winning is an opportunity for a coach to teach his/her players a different lesson that is unrelated to the score. Not enough coaches seem to understand that so now there is this thing called “The Mercy Rule.” The name should be a stop sign, but, instead, it has just become a point in the game where one team is a certain number of points ahead of the other team…and mercy has gone out for coffee!
High school sports, and maybe even more than that, middle school sports, need more coaches who teach the skills of the game, but also the character that a person can have. It needs more coaches that can model for their players that winning is more than a good-looking number figure on the left side of the hyphen.
It needs more “Noel Niemann’s”!
Categories: children, Christianity, coaching, Freedom, Grace, Parenting, Pastor, Story, Teamwork, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: arrogance, blow-outs, character, coaches, coaching, defeat, gracious, loss, mercy, Mercy Rule, Noel Niemann, sportsmanship, win-loss
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January 14, 2018
WORDS FROM W.W. January 14, 2018
This past week a fast food Mexican restaurant chain in Colorado Springs announced it was closing its five stores. There were no protests, no calls to reconsider. Someone or ones had made the unfortunate decision to open each of these establishments in areas where other Mexican restaurants like Taco Bell, Chipotle, and Fuzzy’s Tacos were already established. At least three of the five restaurants were either next to or across the street from Chick-Fil-A establishments. It made me wonder if part of their business plan was to get the overflow business from Chick-Fil-A, which is always crowded!
Each store was new construction. You would think that if one store wasn’t getting business it might tend to make the company think twice before building a second store, let alone four more stores!
It reminds me of a time several years ago when I was picking up my friend, Artie Powers, at the airport. As I walked with him down to baggage claim I noticed several women were giving me looks and smiling. I thought to myself, “I must be looking good today. I am a handsome dude!” My step got a little more strut to it. As we stood by the baggage claim carousel Artie suddenly leaned over and whispered to me, “Your barn door is open!”
“What?”
“Your fly’s open!”
My sense of what was reality had been trumped by my naivety! My infatuation with my mirage of an image had blinded me to the underlying truth.
Stupidity follows closely behind in the shadow of the naive.
Solomon had a lot to say about naive stupidity. He usually summarized the person’s reputation by just calling him/her a “fool”!
“All who are prudent act with knowledge, but fools expose their folly.” (Proverbs 13:16)
That verse gave new meaning to my walking through an airport unzipped for the world to see!
There’s a difference between wise speculation and foolish schemes! Clueless fools are nearsighted in their perspective and rarely think about what’s on the other side of the hill that they can’t clearly see.
In recent years I’ve adopted a couple of principles to live by. I always check my zipper before walking through airports…and if it sounds too good to be true it probably is!
Categories: Bible, children, Christianity, Freedom, Humor, Jesus, Parenting, Pastor, Story, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: being wise, business plan, Chick-fil-A, fool, foolish, foolish decisions, foolishness, fools, influencers, naive, naivety, Proverbs 13:16, stupid, stupidity, Taco Bell, Taco Bueno, wisdom, wise, wise people
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January 10, 2018
WORDS FROM W.W. January 10, 2018
I recognize that I’m inching towards 64. Some mornings I feel more like 84, but other mornings I’m spry and ready to go! Some days I feel slammed and other days I feel like I can slam dunk!
It seems, however, that there are more things in this world that I just don’t get. When I say “don’t get” I don’t mean things like wearing bikini underwear or Flaming Hot Cheetos. I mean I don’t understand, I don’t comprehend the reason why…that kind of “getting!”
So here’s my list for the beginning of 2018 that I just don’t get!
I just don’t get why there seems to be a boatload of personal injury attorney commercials on TV every day. If I hear the nickname “The Strong Arm” one more time I’m going to injure myself!
I just don’t get, with all the concussion concerns, why football players bump helmets with teammates after a good play, especially when the 6’7” offensive lineman bumps helmets with the 5’7” guy who just kicked a fifty yard field goal!
I just don’t get why “Bobby Lee” has to weave in and out of traffic going 80 on a six lane heavily-traveled road where the speed limit is 55! Someone explain to me what driving academy taught those NASCAR methods!
I just don’t get parents who try to justify the wickedness of their kids! When their son sets the house on fire will they justify it by saying that Junior was just barbecuing?
I just don’t get worship services where I can’t hear myself sing because the volume of the onstage singer and the band is turned up so loud! (Does that sound like an old fart or what?)
I just don’t get the football player who makes one good play and poses for the cameras like he just solved the world poverty situation!
I just don’t get why the guy sitting two chairs away from me at the public library is making calls on his cell phone asking for admissions information at different institutions. When did the library become a personal phone booth?
I just don’t get sagging pants! Nuf’ said!
I just don’t get why we don’t appreciate teachers more; and, in like manner, I don’t get teachers who lose sight of the opportunity to impact the lives of their students.
I just don’t get why there’s a Starbucks every half-mile…but I appreciate it!
I just don’t get why poker is considered a sport by ESPN.
I just don’t get why so many good three-point shooters in basketball can’t hit free throws. It’s a closer and uncontested free shot, for Pete’s sake!
I just don’t get full sleeve tattoos, and why, when it’s twenty below outside, some guy will still wear a sleeveless shirt so you can see it? Yes, I am really, really old…and “un-inked!”
I just don’t get why some parents will willingly pay $100 for a professional sporting event ticket, but then complain that their kid needs $2.25 for lunch money!
I just don’t get “The Bachelor!” I’d be much more interested in a show entitled “The Pimple-Faced Short, Introverted, High School Junior Who Tries To Get A Date To the Prom!” Winner! Of course, that would be like watching a rerun of part of my own life story!
Categories: children, Christianity, coaching, Freedom, Humor, marriage, Parenting, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: 64 years old, concussions, confusion, Frank Azar, loud music, obnoxious parents, personal injury attorneys, sagging pants, school teachers, speeders, tattoos, The Bachelor, The Strong Arm, things I don't understand
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January 9, 2018
WORDS FROM W.W. January 9, 2018
Two of Apple’s largest stockholders are asking the company to help curb the digital addiction of children and youth. A ripple effect of the iPhone’s popularity, as well as SnapChat, texting, Facebook, and other forms of social media, has been the increasing amount of time the younger generation is “hooked” on their digital devices.
At the middle school that I substitute teach and coach at digital devices are part of the educational tool shed. Students are told to get online on their devices and sign in at Google Classroom for the reading assignment or questions to answer as they read. Research gets done at their desk on their iPhone.
Last spring, however, I experienced the other side of the digital addiction age. Several eighth graders focused on their iPhones when they were to be reading a textbook assignment. They attempted to keep their devices hidden from sight, but I wasn’t born yesterday. I recognize that sneaky look from my days of trying to hide cheat sheets in high school Spanish class.
Social media and iPhones are just the latest of a long, long line of products and vices that grow to the point of being obsessions and addictions. The average American teenager receives his/her first iPhone at the age of 10 and spends four and a half hours a day using it, not counting texts and phone calls. Recent research is connecting the risk of teen suicide with the amount of time teens spend using their digital devices. Adolescents who spend several hours a day using their digital devices tend to feel more isolated and depressed. Teens that spend less than two hours a day on their devices tend to be happier.
We should not be surprised at the negative implications of over-consumption. It fits with the scheme of things. A healthy life- physical, spiritual, emotional, mental- has balance to it. An unhealthy life is often out of balance in some way or several ways.
Several years ago I discovered Chinese buffets. I’d go there for lunch and gorge myself. The afternoon was spent feeling lousy, and I added several pounds to my body weight. I finally wised up and swore them off. I now have not been to a Chinese buffet in about ten years and, I don’t want to say it is the only reason but, my cholesterol has dropped.
There’s a great proverbs of Solomon’s that says this, “Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.” (Proverbs 25:28)
When we become obsessed we become vulnerable. We see in our culture today that obsessions come in different forms and in various venues. There’s greed, drunkenness, gluttony, sexual addiction, workaholic-ism, laziness, and on and on. Any obsession leads to a “broken wall’ where some kind of enemy or evil can enter in.
Pretty much anything in our life is to be practiced, consumed, or done in moderation. There is wisdom in moderation, and there is usually trouble in excessiveness.
It will be interesting to see how Apple and social media companies respond to the request about digital addiction. Apple may simply see it as a way to develop a new product designed for adolescents. In essence, it could be a new way to make money for them. The real question is what will the social media companies do that rely on consumption, exposure, and screen time to make their profits?
Companies, also, more often than not, have no self-control!
Categories: Bible, children, Christianity, Community, Freedom, Jesus, love, Parenting, Story, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: a balanced life, addicted, addiction, Apple, balance, Chinese buffets, consumption, digital devices, drunkenness, Facebook, gluttony, greed, healthy balance, hooked, iPhone, moderation, obsessed, obsession, Proverbs 25:28, SnapChat, social media, Texting
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January 4, 2018
WORDS FROM W.W. January 4, 2018
Recently my son-in-law’s Audi wouldn’t start. One day it had, the next day it didn’t! My daughter lugged the battery to NAPA and got a new one. The new battery, however, didn’t fix the problem. So my son-in-law went online and watched YouTube video tutorials that explained how to fix this problem, and then that problem. Armed with this knowledge and his tools he attacked the stationary vehicle once again.
Finally, the tow truck was called and it was towed to the mechanic where a thousand dollars later hopefully it will be fixed.
Some of that story resonates with me when I think of living the Christian life. Let me explain! Yesterday I was walking amongst the book aisles of Mardel’s, the Christian book store a few miles from our house. One of the long bookshelves was occupied with the best-selling books of the Christian faith this past year. I browsed, picked up a couple for clarification on what they were about, and then went on.
What was revealing to me was the fact that most of the books were written to answer questions, like how to pray or how to be a woman of God or a man of God? They were an assortment of self-help guides as to how to live the Christian life. They were about process and executing a plan. I walked away saying how nice it is to have tutorials for living the Christian life, and yet being a bit uneasy about it as well.
The Christian life is a journey, an ongoing relationship with the Holy. Our tendency as flawed beings is to try to figure out how to successfully live out that journey. The rub, however, is that it isn’t about succeeding. It’s about being.
If I’m focused so much on how to walk with God I will barely experience the walking with God. Like an educated adult, if I’m YouTubing how to pray with power I will detour around the childlike words of a simple faith.
Like my son-in-law’s quest to be an at-home Audi mechanic, sometimes as followers of Jesus we must simply surrender to the fact that we can’t do this on our own; that we won’t be able to figure everything out, establish a fail proof plan for reaching the mountaintop with God, and trust the Maker. There is simply not a way for us, as they say, “to be all that” when we acknowledge that the grace of God is intimately mingled into our existence. It’s difficult to calculate where I am on the journey when I forget where God is on the same journey.
Psalm 46:10 tells us to “be still, and know that I am God.” For many believers there is an immediate jump to “how do I be still?” But you see, it isn’t about us! It’s about us being still and letting God be who he is. It’s realizing that I’m in the passenger seat and the one who knows all and is all is driving the direction of my life.
Categories: Bible, children, Christianity, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Holy Spirit, Humor, Jesus, Pastor, Prayer, Story, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: Be still and know that I am God, being a follower of Jesus, Discipleship, following Christ, mentor, reflecting Christ, success, surrendering, the Christian journey, the grace of God, YouTube
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January 2, 2018
WORDS FROM W.W. January 2, 2018
Each day I receive an email from “Trivia Hive” with the trivia question of the day. Yesterday the question was related to New Year’s resolutions. It asked what the date is that the typical resolution last until it is broken?
Negative Nellie here responded January 15. I’m not optimistic about people’s resolve about resolutions. The answer was February 16, a whole month and a half into the cause!
Why only six weeks? Why make a twelve month promise and cut the cord 12% into completing it? One reason, I’m assuming, is that a lot of resolutions are ludicrous and irrational! It’s like if I resolved to not eat any fried foods the whole year. That would be crazy! I was born in Kentucky. If we could eat it we could fry it! My farming grandparents had fried eggs every day, and the eggs were fried in the grease form the bacon that was fried in the skillet before them. Cutting down on fried food would be a more realistic goal, but to cut it out! Come on! Who would I be kidding? Myself!
A lot of people make resolutions that they know they can’t keep. By February 16 they resemble a shot putter running a marathon.
Another reason they hit the wall by February 16 is that some resolutions are too closely related to ingrained habits and routines. If something has become my common practice suddenly eliminating it from my life is going to be a struggle.
So, the question is how does someone make a resolution that goes the distance? I look to Jesus and the early church for answers to the question. At the top of the list is having someone who walks with you in the journey. It’s interesting, and revealing, to me that Jesus sent the disciples out “two by two” (Mark 6:7). The importance of someone joining us on the journey is paramount. When I am in the midst of self-doubt there is someone alongside me to encourage me and to push me on over that next hill.
When I ran cross-country back in college we would often do road runs together. Running with a group for ten miles gives a runner who is a bit lacking in self-confidence the support to finish the task.
Who will come alongside you as you resolve to attempt something that will improve your life in some way? That companionship, that sense of community, was essential for the early church. Following Jesus today becomes difficult because of all the things in our lives that have the potential to be more of a priority. Following Jesus in the first century was difficult because of the persecution and cultural expectations and practices. Thus, the first church had to hook their arms together and stand together.
For me personally I need to find that person or persons to journey with. Since I pastored for 36 years I’m used to being the one who supports and encourages, not the one who seeks support and encouragement. Several guys who have come alongside me in the past have moved on to other places. I was blessed to have them be my companions for a period of time, but now I need to seek a couple of guys for the next part of the journey.
That traveling companion is essential for each one of us stumbles along the way. Who will be there to pick us up and push us ahead? Who cares enough about us to not let us fail? Who cares enough to get us to the point where February 16 is in the distant rearview mirror?
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Community, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Jesus, Pastor, Story, Teamwork, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: breaking promises, church fellowship, Encouragement, encouragers, February 16, goals, new year's resolutions, pack of runners, resolutions, resolving to, running together, support
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December 31, 2017
WORDS FROM W.W. December 31, 2017
Two years ago today I retired…kinda’…from being the pastor of a church. I used that day at the end of 2015 to finish packing up my office, moving the 2,000 books to the confiscated fourth bedroom of our home which had been repurposed to be my home study. I remember piling the books in there making it resemble a book-burning pile…minus the burning.
Now, two years later, many of those books have been handed off to a couple of guys who are in ministry- Bill Hale, just beginning his first pastorate in Kelso, Washington and Rich Blanchette, Air Force Chaplain at the base in Los Angeles. My study has become more organized…sorta’!
Two years into retirement makes certain things fade into the background and other things become more dominant. That is, I now get to make choices on what I invest my time in and what I could care less about. It’s a pastor’s reward for surviving all those church council meetings and church members who were bitter about life and thought you were the cause of it!
Today also happens to be the end of another calendar year. It is that traditional time of reviewing and resolving. I look behind me and see the swerves of the past year’s journey and look to chart the new course ahead.
Today is a time to evaluate what worked and what needs to be cast off, what should be continued and what needs to be put out of its misery.
Here’s my short list:
NO MORE!
Playing early morning basketball at the Y
Basketball Officiating
Serving on committees
Subbing for Kindergarten PE class
Subscribing to Sports Illustrated
Eating green chili
Reading instruction manuals!
Reading Amish fiction (OK! I never actually started!)
Watching CNN or Fox News
KEEP ON KEEPING ON!
Writing this blog
Wrestling with the grandkids
Continue writing the “Fleming” book series
Substitute teach, especially 7th graders
Coaching basketball
Eating blueberries
Getting together with old friends because I want to
Working out at Villa Sports
Preaching to the saints at Simla First Baptist
Increase my laughter
Figure out what brings me joy
Listen to the whisper of the Lord in the midst of the noise of the world!
Read, and try to read without falling asleep!
Go on vacation with my wife!
Go on vacation with the whole family!
That’s about it! Two years into retirement I’m getting a firmer grasp on what needs to stay and what needs to go. In essence, I believe it’s getting more grounded in what God would have me do and be. And that’s a good thing!
Categories: children, Christianity, coaching, Freedom, Humor, love, Pastor, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: becoming more grounded, enjoying life, evaluating, evaluating the past, evaluation, finding your purpose, goals, joy, new year's resolutions, organizing your life, priorities, Purpose, resolutions, review
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December 30, 2017
WORDS FROM W.W. December 30, 2017
The year 2018 will be a telling experience that will show just how generous middle-class Americans are. New tax laws will reduce the benefits “kinda”… for many of moderate-income to give to charitable organizations.
One of the changes in the new tax laws includes a doubling of the standard deduction. That means an individual filer can deduct $12,000 and a married couple $24,000 without itemizing their deductions. Estimates are that less than 10% of taxpayers will continue to itemize their deductions. Thus, the incentive to give to charity will go to how genuine a person’s generosity really is!
Except for this year! Charitable organizations are seeing an increase in giving as the year ends for givers to take advantage of itemizing deductions. In other words, some people are being charitable in 2017 who will think twice about giving next year. It smacks of self-centered generosity. “What do I get out of this?”
To be honest, churches have been scrambling for years to make ends meet. In 2016 the typical church attender gave about 2.5% of their income to their church. During the Great Depression of 1929 the percentage was estimated at 3.3%! Generosity has not exactly run roughshod through the pews as things are. Now most ministries are expecting a decrease in giving to budgets that are already looking pretty threadbare!
So 2018 will be a year of indicators! Are Americans, especially followers of Jesus, generous or only generous when it helps their tax burden?
It’s not like there won’t be people in need next year. In Colorado Springs there are not enough available beds to take care of the growing homeless situation. The various shelters are looking for options to increase capacity, but more capacity requires more money to fund the ministries to the poor…and where will these funds come from?
The optimistic faith-based view of the coming situation is that the nation will see the heart of Jesus in the incredible outpouring of financial support from his followers; that Christians will take seriously Jesus’ directive to care for the poor, the widows, and the orphans. That’s a view that could indicate a spiritual renewal in our midst!
The pessimistic view is that the tax law changes will show just how greedy and self-centered we really are!
Categories: Bible, Christianity, Community, Faith, Freedom, Grace, Jesus, love, Nation, Pastor, Story, Teamwork, The Church, Uncategorized
Tags: charitable giving, charitable organizations, charity, financial support for churches, generosity, generous giving, generous spirit, giving, greed, greedy, new tax laws, new tax laws on charitable giving, new tax laws on deductions, self-centered, selfish, supporting ministry, tithing
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December 24, 2017
WORDS FROM W.W. December 24, 2017
Our nation has always had a battle over who belongs and who doesn’t, whether it be in certain areas, positions, occupations, or institutions. It goes back to even before the patriots of the 1770’s.
American history is dotted with issues over who could own land and who couldn’t? Who was allowed to vote and who wasn’t (which in many cases was also tied to who owned land and who didn’t)? Immigrants who came into the country in those days, and even for the rest of our existence, were pushed into certain locations. In the late 1800’s Chinese immigrants were viewed with suspicion and often mistreated.
In the early 1800’s many Protestant families in our country didn’t celebrate Christmas because it was seen as being too Catholic! Talk about religiously biased!
When I was growing up the phrase “they live on the other side of the tracks” was an indication of division based mostly on race, as well as economic class.
In recent times the debate about who belongs and who doesn’t has taken different shapes, and the battles have been fought in various venues. Agreement rarely raises her beautiful face. Instead the ugliness of humanity- our amazing ability to mistreat one another- often emerges.
A wedding cake battle in Colorado brings the issue of accepting everyone into the arena to go up against a couple who have deep religious beliefs about same-sex marriage. It has been a case where neither side has yielded.
In another area of life illegal immigrants are being sent home. Higher walls are seen as being part of the answer. Churches have offered sanctuary to those who could be deported. It’s a battle over what is legal versus what is humane? 9-11 will always make Americans suspicious of those who are noticeably different than white middle-class citizens…although Timothy McVeigh was about as white as you could get, and he bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City.
Here’s a hard statement that Christians who are also Americans have a difficult time hearing: Our Christian faith is not always in line with our American pride and ways. That is never more apparent than at Christmas time when we talk about the birth scene of Jesus. His very pregnant mother and his father couldn’t find any space in the inn so they were pushed out into a stable. The birth was witnessed by livestock. Shepherds may have arrived a bit later, and wisemen from the East came sometime later on, perhaps even months.
The idea of our savior not having a place where infants usually were born is an indication that the gospel is not just for the normal folk, those who are accepted and valued. Shepherds were not to be seen or heard. They were expected to just stay out there and take care of the sheep, and yet Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd.
Christmas reminds us that God welcomes everyone, and that his people are to be welcoming. We may not agree with everyone, their life choices, lifestyles, and opinions, but we are to be purveyors of grace and peace.
Each of us comes into a different arena from time to time where the battle between being a devoted follower of Christ wrestles with our passion for our nation. Those two often become entangled and difficult to discern which is which. What is Christian is often also American, but sometimes that “arm” that we thought belonged to Christ was instead the arm of patriotism that got mistaken for belonging to Jesus.
And the thing is, it’s always been that way in our nation!
Categories: Bible, children, Christianity, Christmas, Community, Faith, Freedom, Jesus, love, Nation, Pastor, Story, The Church, Uncategorized, Youth
Tags: agree to disagree, American christian, American History, immigrants, including everyone, inclusive, inclusiveness, manger scene, no room in the inn, patriotism, same-sex marriage, Supreme Court
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Words from WW Blog 