pastor’s corner
God’s Amazing Creation
As I write this article, I am with my family on vacation in one of the most beautiful places on the planet-Wyoming and specifically visiting the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. The land and its geography are incredible, and the animals enhance its overwhelming beauty.
Helping the Poor
The budget just passed by Congress provides for cutting SNAP and Medicaid for the poor by $1,000,000,000,000 (One trillion dollars). There are plans to eliminate agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as well. We need to ask ourselves why did the government start those programs? During the Great Depression, Catholic Charities asked the government to step in to help the poor. The need was more than the universal Church could handle. Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army, and many church denominations supplement what the government is doing, through food pantries, soup kitchens, and assistance with utilities, etc.
Until All Are Free
It’s natural for us to look to the successful for wisdom. We love stories of those who overcame obstacles—whether in sports, business, or faith. But if we’re not careful, we fall into what’s called survivorship bias—the mistake of only studying the winners, and ignoring those who didn’t make it.
About the Golden Rule
I recently finished a series preaching through the Sermon on the Mount. This section in Matthew’s Gospel has some of the highest standards Christians are supposed to live up to. While much of it seems impossible to accomplish, I believe Jesus would expect us as his disciples to at least try. Of course, I don’t have the space in this brief article here to expound on the entire Sermon on the Mount.
Calvary Puts Satan’s Empire Out of Business for Good
The problem with forgiveness is that it puts Satan’s empire out of business. That’s why, since Calvary, Satan and his corporate goons have been feverishly rebranding violence, revenge, addictions, murder, adultery and idolatry, sometimes in packaging that, from sufficient distance and distraction, looks Christian. They’ve even tried to strip “love” of its true meaning, selling us the lie that love is no more than a feeling, or an activity. When we buy into his rebranding campaign, Satan knows we won’t stop to listen to God’s still, small voice. We’ll be too busy, suspending both common sense and compassion, which leads to a gradual descent into savagery and isolation. He’s done it before, and once again, the rebranding seems to be working like a charm.
Holy Week
At First Christian Church one year, we used a string of Prayer Beads to help us meditate upon the events of Holy Week. Each day we had a Scripture passage and a colored bead that we could hold to make the time of meditation more tangible. Unfortunately, I can’t send the prayer beads through the newspaper with this article. But I share with you the Scripture and the color of the bead for each day in case you want to make your own prayer bead string. I hope you will at least meditate on the Scripture each day through Holy Week.
When behold Jesus Christ
[Jesus says,] “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” - John 10:11
About faith
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” The author of Hebrews makes this statement (11:1 NIV) just before giving us a Who’s Who list of the faithful of the Old Testament. We cannot see God, but we can see what God has created. Of course, believing that everything around us was created by God is an act of faith itself.
Reach for altruism
Arrogance. Pride. Self-righteousness. Self-centeredness. Narcissism.