Among hotly debated topics in many church circles for centuries is the question of what is “worship” versus “self indulgence”? Or perhaps, what is “high praise” versus “crass promotion for profit”? Taking a cue from long ago it is good to ask, is it “good for food and pleasant to the eyes”? In other words does it feed our soul and sit well with what our visual perspective of holiness is? Not just in a physical visual perspective but an intangible, spiritual sight beyond mortality, beyond the confines of this world. We are endowed with five basic senses giving us incalculable information for assessing what is pleasant or dangerous, sweet, kind, nice or tacky, cruel and evil. Continue reading
Lord, Can I Know?
Lord, it’s not often that I understand your plan
And I think that’s fine, ‘cuz I’m just a man
Much wiser and smarter ones can stand
To tell why Isaiah just took off and ran Continue reading
Ten Percent
A good life, one that is admired and enjoyed, is a goal for many. It is for me. So far it is turning out much more blessed and wonderful than I could have planned. Some of life just happens, you have little or nothing to say in what happens to you. Someone has said that life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you react to it. Yet that ten percent is largely out of your control. I was born in the United States of America. I had no choice in that event. I was carted about as my parents made choices in my life and included me in their journeys. Still I began exercising my “reactions to my circumstances” very early. Whether or not I was really conscious of my desires and demands, I was responding. As I grew I expressed pleasure with some things. Liking food or warmth or pretty sights were opposed to the dislike for medicine, wet diapers and scowling faces. Continue reading
You’re Judging
It seems to be the ultimate cop out. My recent conversation with another believer spotlights a hole in the ozone of God’s Holiness from our human perspective. Criticism or being held to the discerning lamp of God’s Holy Bible seems to almost be taboo in our time. My rant this time was about a particular person who openly professes being a Christian but practices life contrary to God’s Word. “How contrary is it really?” is often the first step onto this slippery slope. It questions the veracity and validity of our individual interpretation of what it means to be Christ-like. “Yeah hath God REALLY said?” Continue reading