A WHOLE MAN

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”  Psalm 100 (NIV) There is something special about worship. No matter how my day has been or how empty I feel or what is going around me, the moments that I just stop and worship God are the times when I feel absolute peace. Those are the times when my joy is complete and I am fully content with what I am doing. This life is full of things that can satisfy for a moment. I remember when I got my first car, I was a junior in college (Yes, in college). I was overjoyed and excited to drive everyone, anywhere, at any time. I just wanted to use my car. It had great...

“31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 A church had an unusual ritual every Sunday morning. Before the church sang the Doxology, they would stand up, everyone turned to the right facing a blank white wall, and they sang. Every Sunday without fail they did this. A newcomer to the church was confused by this and asked, “Why do you do this?” No one knew. The only answer they could come up with was, “We’ve always done it this way.” But that answer did not satisfy the newcomer. Other people were asked the same question. Finally an elderly man who had gone to church longer than anyone else remembered the reason. It seems that at one time they didn’t have hymnals and the words to this song were painted on the large white wall. Everyone stood, turned to the right facing the wall and sang. Over the years the words faded and the wall was repai...

“Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 (ASV) One command that is very clear is that we are to serve God with all that we are. In fact, evidence of a true change in the life of a believer is the existence of fruit in their lives and the ability for the person to love one another (John15/ John 13:34-35). What I have noticed, and this is not a new thing, is that many believers out there take the Gospel message that they have received, believe it, accept it, but then do nothing with it. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes a very clear statement that because we are the light of the world and, in the same way, we must also shine. A story is told of a man whose job was to be on the railroad tracks and warn with his light the upcoming train of the bridge that had been damaged. That night as the train came the man showed his lamp but the train went right into the ditch. The man was taken t...

"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" 1 John 2:1 (NRSV) There is a familiar story about Muhammad Ali, the man who proclaimed himself to be the greatest boxer of all time, riding on an airplane. The pilot had notified the crew and passengers of some moderate turbulence on their path and had recommended everyone to take their seats and to buckle their seat belts. As the flight attendant came around to ensure that each passenger had indeed buckled up, she noticed that Muhammad Ali’s buckle was not fastened. She asked him to buckle his seatbelt, to which he replied, “Superman don’t need no seatbelt.” She responded, “Superman don’t need no plane.” In my life, there have been many moments where I felt like I was superman. There have been moments where I felt as if there was nothing that could stop me, because I was on top. And I am sure that yo...

“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrew 13:16 (NIV) There was a blackout one night. When the lights went out, I fumbled to the closet where we keep the candles for nights like this ... I lit four of them. I was turning to leave with the large candle in my hand when I heard a voice, "Now, hold it right there." "Who are you? What are you?" "I'm a candle." I lifted up the candle to take a closer look. There was a tiny face in the wax. "Don't take me out of here! I'm not ready," the candle explained with pleading eyes. "I need more preparation." I couldn't believe my ears. "More preparation?" "Yeah, I've decided I need to research this job of light-giving so I won't go out and make a bunch of mistakes. You'd be surprised how distorted the glow of an untrained candle can be..." "All right then," I said....