The POINT of Learning

Monday, September 7, 2026

Teach me, Lord, the meaning of your statutes, and I will always keep them.  Help me understand your instruction, and I will obey it and follow it with all my heart.  Help me stay on the path of your commands, for I take pleasure in it.  Turn my heart to your decrees and not to dishonest profit.  Turn my eyes
from looking at what is worthless; give me life in your ways.  Confirm what you said to your servant, for it produces reverence for you.  Turn away the disgrace I dread; indeed, your judgments are good.  How I long for your precepts!  Give me life through your righteousness.  Psalm 119:33-40

But to Israel he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and defiant people.  Romans 10:21

We start early with learning, sending our 5-year-old children to kindergarten.  In North Carolina there are roughly one and a half million children in the public schools.  With a $19.4 billion-dollar budget, that works out to an investment of more than $12-thousand dollars per year in each student.  If the old maxim of follow the money holds true, we believe in learning.

That statistic makes me cringe when I think of my attitude towards learning when I was in elementary and high school.  I thought getting up every morning before the sun was fully up, getting cleaned-up, fully dressed, and riding in the yellow torture chamber to the brick building, and being forced on threat of having my “permanent record” sullied with red marks, was a form of imprisonment; I was warehoused for seven hours while my parents danced-off to whatever they cared to do in their free time.  It’s odd, isn’t it…how my attitude got a severe corrective when I became a parent, responsible to house, clothe, and find a good school for my little prisoners?

If you re-read that passage in Psalm 119, you might catch the shift in King David’s attitude.  I caught the complete flip when he said he asked to be a good student, obeying God’s ways and commandments; he went so far as to say he takes pleasure in it.  (I wonder if that included the year-end finals?)  This could only have been written by a man who had sinned long enough, and big enough to understand the pain he was heaping up on his life.  If you’ve never taken a trip through David’s sins, let me give you the cliff notes, he did qualify as an adulterer, and co-conspirer to murder his mistress’s husband, and a cover-up that invited Watergate in Jerusalem’s palace.  David was a king with all sorts of power, but he was also a sinner standing in need of forgiveness from Sovereign God, Who, by the way, holds people accountable for their sins and rebellious defiance.

Fast forward a thousand years from David to Apostle Paul who quotes the prophet Isaiah, pointing the long, bony finger at Israel and saying that God says:  All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and defiant people.  Again, the cliff notes on Paul and Isaiah…they’re pointing out that God is gracious, loving, and forgiving, but Israel was like a petulant school child pouting over having to ride the bus, sit through boring classes, and (gulp!) study for tests. 

Life’s not fair!  But “fair” isn’t the point of learning.  And neither is “learning” the point of learning.  It’s all about learning all about living…and living a life that is worthy of the gift of living.  It’s all about finding the center of God’s good will for our lives and camping out there as He gives us opportunities every day to serve Him, by serving others.  That’s the point!

For You Today

It’s no secret that life is tough, sometimes fiercely-so, and a lot tougher than a ride in the bus, or sitting through the class that never ends.  But there is a God Who loves you and has promised to never leave or forsake you.  He will even be with you when you take the finals!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Image by    Sabrina Eickhoff from Pixabay

Unless noted, Scripture quotes The Christian Standard Bible^© 

 

 

Culture Shock

Friday, September 4, 2026

After they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you.  For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him.”  So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt.  He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled:  Out of Egypt I called my Son.  Matthew 2:13-15

Tradition has it that Jesus’ family spent a decade in Egypt after they fled Herod’s massacre of the innocents.  The king’s way of dealing with the prophecy of a child king born in his territory was to kill all the male children under two years of age.  It’s interesting that Joseph and Mary took baby Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod’s murderous plot.  Egypt and Jewish people didn’t get along back in Moses’ day, and that place became the safe haven for the carpenter’s family.

The journey from Bethlehem to Egypt (about 500 miles) is nearly the distance I’d travel in a day to go “back home” to where I was born and raised.  When you leave your place of origin, you must realize there will be odd or new things you’ll encounter… you’ll be in culture shock.  You can verify that with Abraham and Sarah who were migrants at retirement age and became first time parents when Abe was about 100.

“Cathead biscuits” was a description I’d not heard, and a shock to my mind in 1977.  That was the year we left New York for sunny Florida.  (Since then, we’ve been all over the map).  The first time I heard of catheads was during a men's breakfast held at First Baptist Church of Homosassa Springs, Florida.  When the cook mentioned he was serving some "cat heads" I nearly lost my stomach contents!  Pictures of roasted feline eyeballs will do that!

I heard it often in New Orleans; the cook at our church there was big-time fond of biscuits!  He would serve all the other men at the breakfast, then fry at least a half-dozen eggs for himself in some floating concoction (which I later learned was bacon grease).  When he sat down with his plate, there were four catheads surrounding six fried eggs, but you couldn’t tell there were eggs under all that pepper.  A Cajun culture shock, indeed!

The culture shock Jesus encountered when he traveled from Heaven’s glory to Bethlehem’s manger was much greater than discovering cathead biscuits or a king’s murderous anger; it was rejection by the very people for which he was willing to die.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him.  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.  John 1:9-11

Although there are pockets of revival always going on somewhere on planet earth, the current day’s population is no different than any other time in history…Jesus will be loved or hated; the one thing he cannot be is ignored.

For You Today

There is enough “culture shock” to go around, and I’m not referring to cathead biscuits.  Hatred of one group for another, gender confusion, murder, and the list goes on ad nauseum. 

By comparison, if Jesus bore the rejection of the entire world, and the cross it cost him, so we could be saved, we who hope to be called His disciples must engage our (shocking) culture with the same love that brought the LORD of glory to Bethlehem.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Image by    Gidon Pico from Pixabay

Unless noted, Scripture quotes The Christian Standard Bible^© 

 

 

He Came With a Sword

Wednesday, September 3, 2026

“I came to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already set ablaze! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how it consumes me until it is finished! Do you think that I came here to bring peace on the earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division.  From now on, five in one household will be divided: three against two, and two against three.  They will be divided, father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”  Luke 12:49-53

The “sword” that Jesus brought with him in the first century was not made of tempered steel or iron; rather it was the dividing line of an offer to stand with Him, or against Him.  And the dividing line is so sharp, just as a lethal blade can slice anything in its path, this dividing ideology of for Jesus, or against Jesus impacts eternity for whichever side an individual chooses.

To say that humanity is somewhat divided is to miss reality by light years.  Have you listened to a political debate or newscast lately?  Read the daily reports of crime and violence, or check the statistics on divorce, and even children seeking emancipation from their parents.  And the major reaction from any generation to a former generation’s ideas is the eyeroll that proclaims a definitive statement, did the asylum give you a day pass?

Now that division which Jesus came to bring is not simply generational arrogance.  Rather it is the starting point for any discussion of theology.  To be on board in Scriptural understanding, we must first settle who is in charge; is it the latest fad of cultural bias, old time religion that grandma said, a denominational booklet of do’s and don’ts, or is it the Creator, Lord of Heaven’s host, Son of God, the everlasting King of Kings and Lord of Lords? 

In this text recorded by Dr. Luke, Jesus said He came to bring that division; He claimed HE is in charge of the universe and everything (and person) in it.  That is the meaning of “LORD”!  Forget the earthly “lordship” of kings and land barons, this is THE LORD of time, space and eternity.  He created it all, and has the deed and title, signed, sealed and delivered, from in the beginning!

So, it was this LORD who decided there would be a dividing line.  Now remember, Jesus said He brought the division with Him; He did NOT say He wanted to divide people.  It’s just that when there is a yes and no, up or down, right or left, people will make their choices; that is where the division originates, in the minds and hearts of people.  Jesus was bringing light to the pathway of making the right choice, which is to open your heart and let Him shine that light on the sins anyone has still lodged in their hardened hearts.

For You Today

With His own blood, Jesus offered the free gift of redemption, the forgiveness of all our sins.  Have you made the choice to receive that forgiveness?  That’s important, because there is coming a day when the opportunity to make choices will come to an end.  On that day Christ will come with the sword of judgment for unforgiven sins – those for which you didn’t kneel and confess, and Jesus washed you clean. 

This is what Jesus said that next moment in eternal history will look like:

 A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty.  Revelation 19:15

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Image by    Roger Casco from Pixabay

Unless noted, Scripture quotes The Christian Standard Bible^© 

 

 

 

What is God Up To?

Tuesday, September 2, 2026

Typology in the Bible is the study of people, events, institutions, and patterns in the Old Testament that foreshadow and are fulfilled in the New Testament.[1]  In a sermon given at Canaan Global Methodist Church^[2] a few weeks ago, Rev. Danny Hossler referred to the typology of Abraham sending his trusted servant on a mission to secure a bride (Rebekah) for his son, Isaac, to that of God’s sending his trusted Servant (the Holy Spirit), to Earth to secure a bride for His Son, Jesus.

The analogy of Abraham as God the Father certainly plays true in the sense of Abraham as the “sender”.  In that culture a father was the overseer of the selection of a bride for his son.  Abraham took authority over the matter by sending his most trusted servant on this holy mission.  The servant, Eliezer^[3], (as type of the Holy Spirit) seeks a suitable bride, depending on God’s direction.  That bride turns out to be a distant niece of Abraham, Rebekah, who is the type (in this sermon) of Christ’s bride, the New Testament Church….us).  To follow Rev. Hossler’s analogy to completion, there is one other character, the groom.  That groom is undoubtedly Jesus, the Son of Father God. 

The entire cast of four persons in Genesis 24 is Father (Abraham), Spirit (the trusted servant, Eliezer), Son (Isaac), Daughter-in-law/bride (Rebekah), representing in order, Father God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, and Us (humanity) which God seeks to redeem and save.

God, like Abraham, caring for the future of his Son, Jesus, sent his Spirit to fetch a bride.  Now, Abraham was exceedingly rich and influential, and so you’d think there would be some bejeweled princesses on the shortlist of candidates to be Isaac’s wife.  But it turned out to be Rebekah, not anyone of special notoriety.  That’s just like the people God sent his Spirit to fetch from earth, sinners-all, unworthy to be in God’s presence, let alone married as the bride of God’s Son. 

As analogies go, this isn’t a bad explanation of how the Old Testament Scriptures are an accurate foreshadowing of God’s plan for His creation.  The characters and their roles fit well when held against all of what the Bible teaches. 

All analogies break down at some point, especially if you hunt long into the wee hours, and nitpick enough to break them apart.  But here, the basic analogy serves the point, that God always shows us something in the accounts of His people in the past that will tell us what His people are headed-for in the future.  After all, isn’t that the most salient motive God would have to give us His Word?  If Scripture is designed to draw us into a relationship with God for our redemption, what better way than to tell us what went wrong, so we can figure out how to do right?

Another lesson from the past that casts a little light on what God may be up to in the present with His people is what Jesus said about another Old Testament family that had to contend with the first global catastrophe, Noah and the flood.

Here’s the backstory on why the ark project was begun:

When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved.  Then the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.”  Noah, however, found favor with the Lord.  Genesis 6:5-8

Fast forward about four millennia, and we find Jesus’ disciples questioning him about when all the troubles will be over.  It’s recorded in the Gospels that when Jesus gave His answer, he picked Noah’s time for how it would be when He returned for God’s final judgment on humankind, the devil, and all who follow evil, rather than God’s way:

As the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.  For in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah boarded the ark.  They didn’t know until the flood came and swept them all away.  Matthew 24:37-39

Jesus pointed to evil covering the earth in Noah’s day, the same earth which God had created in goodness.  Jesus said it would be the same at the end.  He described the final outbreak of man’s arrogant stand against God when all the world’s forces of evil would gather as an army in the valley of Megiddo to fight against God’s chosen people, Israel.  The main armies would come from Gog and Magog, apocalyptic references to God’s enemies in Ezekiel’s prophecy.^[4]  Jesus gave Apostle John the sequence for the final judgment and defeat of Satan and all who reject Jesus:

When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle.  Revelation 20:7-8

As Abraham, Isaac, Eliezer, and Rebekah’s days were a typical foreshadow of Jesus’ first coming for His bride, Noah’s time shows our world in complete chaos.  Noah, representing the remnant of God’s design for His creation is considered by his neighbors a madman, building a humongous boat without a drop of water in sight.  He preached about a coming judgment, and stood for righteous living, that annoying reminder to the world of how their flagrant sinfulness had turned God’s world into a sewer of lust, hatred, and cruelty.  Noah was mocked, much like the church today.  And very much like the nation of Israel, hatred for being God’s people.  In that final battle it will be the world forces of evil against one tiny slice of land atop the Mount of Olives.

Beloved, that scenario is building as we live and breathe. 

·       Consider what we are seeing constantly in the news, the seeds of hatred spewed out towards the nation of Israel. 

·       Recent reports reveal Russia and China have supported terrorist efforts against Israel. 

·       Consider the inroads of terrorist Muslim extremists’ building strongholds in American cities and even Congress, a nation with a history of strong support for Israel. 

It would not surprise me if, in my lifetime, we see a bill introduced in a congressional session to make preaching or practicing Christianity against the law!

For You Today

At this point let me recap the scenario I would like to leave in your mind today…of humankind’s condition, and what God is up to in response:

1.    God is always up to good, as the father fetching a bride for His son.

2.    God always warns us to be aware that human rebellion is no small matter to be ignored…as Noah building an ark before the flood.

3.    God is always up to restoring what has been marred by evil (sin) such as sending his only Son, to take our punishment on a cross.

4.    God always has a mic-drop ending…such as in resurrection!

Everything you see on the newscasts, streaming and screaming about how bleak things are in this world today, are largely designed to keep you coming back to the broadcast for the next jaw-dropping catastrophic episode.  You are kept on edge, because the ratings are everything to those who get paid to push this agenda, or sell that soap.

Is it ever going to be better?  What shall we do?  How shall we live? 

I would dearly love to be able to say that it will all be better soon, and we will get back to normal any time now.  However, beloved, all of my wishes and $3.00 more will buy you a loaf of bread.  Our naïve hope for better times is based upon the settled Biblical fact that God really does want His people to have a peaceful, joyful, even prosperous life!  However, the Enemy, and this world’s system prefer evil and selfishness, and all the chaos and pain it brings.  This is why we have drug problems, relationships blowing apart, wars, terrorist attacks, and news broadcasts.  But our hope is not in the Enemy, or this world’s system of get what you can, keep all you get, and God help anyone who stands in your way.  Our hope is in Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. 

Satan is powerful and not to be confused with a guy in a red suit with horns, tail, and pitchfork, sporting a cheesy waxed mustache and sizzling red eyes.  Satan is a spiritually-fallen angel, who was right next to God, and in charge of way more than even Donald Trump or Elon Musk.  He is very powerful, crafty, and evil; his chief tool is deception and outright lies.  If you don’t believe me, just ask Eve.

What will happen to Satan…eventually?  In the final words of Scripture, we read that Satan (the Enemy) is defeated and thrown into the Lake of Fire[5], an eternal punishment.

So, how shall we live in the meantime?  Is there any good word that comes out of all this.  Yes…live, love, be kind, stand fast in the faith; Jesus has got this. 

Hear what He said to His disciples about the coming days…then and now:

“Then there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and there will be anguish on the earth among nations bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the waves.  People will faint from fear and expectation of the things that are coming on the world, because the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  But when these things begin to take place, stand up and lift your heads, because your redemption is near.”  Luke 21:25-28

So, God’s word gives us our daily marching orders, back then, and now…this day!  Know the times and why the heathen rage[6] but don’t be depressed or enraged. Rather, understand and keep doing what God gifted you to do in serving others, all the while keeping your heart and head lifted up…your redemption draws near.

That’s what God is up to!  And that’s what we should be doing!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Image byPete Linforth from Pixabay   Unless noted, Scripture quotes The Christian Standard Bible^© 

 

[1] EncouragingBibleVerses.org

[2] Sermon “Love is In the Air” Homecoming sermon on Genesis 24, August 2, 2026, Denton, NC

[3] Tradition often names him Eliezer

[4] See Ezekiel chapter 38  (some scholars believe these to be modern day Russia and China)

[5] Revelation 19:20

[6] Psalm 2:1

 

I Will Say

Tuesday, September 1, 2026

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.  Psalm 91:1-2^(KJV)

If ever there was a doubt God granted us free will, the Psalmist destroys that doubt in this emphatic declarative paragraph, particularly in just six words: 

I will say of the Lord…!

The fact that the Psalmist is allowed to say “I will” in connection of the Lord God, the Creator and Sustainer of everything in the universe, is self-evident proof that our free will is God’s gift, and His blessing to everyone who will receive it. 

Let’s explore this dramatic trust which God places in each human being for us to either accept or reject the Creator of the Universe, just like you would “friend” or “unfriend” someone on FaceBook.  Those first three words…

“I”

The mere fact that word can be expressed is an indication of free will; that word separates each of us from anyone else.  It implies we have liberty to move and be independent in where that takes us.  “I” is the difference between us, or you.

“Will”

The will of a human being is the evidence we are granted independence, and superiority above the other created creatures and plant life, or even the earth, stars, and all the cosmos, seen and unseen.  We make sentient choices based not merely on primal instinct, and expediency, but moral honor (or in some cases turpitude).  We can choose to either honor or dishonor Godliness.

“Say”

This third word is certainly a game-changing dance with truth.  To “say” is to articulate what your will has chosen.  It means to take a stance for others to see, whether “said” orally, written, or simply the placard of your life’s actions.  I knew a man who was difficult to deal with.  His hostility was fueled by the alcohol he consumed hour by hour each day.  I suspect the thirty years he spent on Navy ships, with uncertainty and danger on the other side of every ocean wave, combined with alcohol’s control, made anger and pushing the envelope expected.  He once said he believed in Christ; he was even baptized.  In one conversation he claimed to be wise and was going to teach me what it means to be a minister.  The next week he committed suicide at the end of a standoff with police in front of K-Mart.  He said much about being wise; with his revolver he said much more about his foolish hopelessness.

That brings us back to the “friend” or “unfriend” kind of choice we casually select on Facebook.  Your free will with Mark Zuckerberg’s creative social media is a matter which may well be forgotten before you shut down the computer today.  However, to exercise your free will towards the Creator God, by rejecting His “friend offer” of the cross, is an eternal matter.

For You Today

So, let’s make this personal; say it with me,

I ( your name ),

will say of the Lord

He is my refuge and my fortress:

my God; in him will I trust.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Image by Jose Weslley from Pixabay  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The Christian Standard Bible^© 

 

Walking Towards the Light

Monday, August 31, 2026

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  Hebrews 11:1

This passage of an epistle to the Jewish Christians is often called the “roll call of heroes of the faith”.  It could hardly be complete without Abram and Isaac’s journey to Mt. Moriah, where the father was to offer the son as a sacrifice.  What faith must have inhabited Abram’s insides to even entertain such a notion.  Yet, by contrast, the complete story of Abram’s lifelong quest and journey was filled with struggle to trust God.  At times his (so-called) “faith” took a back seat to expediency.  This patriarch of the Jews, essential cog-in-the-wheel of the lineage of God’s promised Messiah, was what you and I are – not just human; Abram was a sinner, loved, cared-for, trusted, and forgiven by the Lord of Heaven’s host.

If faith is the substance, the “stuff” of what lies within each of us, the ideal of where we long to live, and it is also the evidence (the reality) of that life’s possibility, then Abram’s journey is the type of what God has placed within each one of us.  And isn’t that a fact?

Have you had times of sorrow and loss…like Abram?

Did you receive blessings that were unexpected…like Abram?

Were there times when you played loosely with truth or morality…like Abram?

And how about those times you just about hated God for what He led you through…like Abram?

And of course there were battles you had to fight, and hard decisions, and crises from which you had to pack up and just walk away. 

With that list of life’s hard stuff, let’s not leave out those times – good times – when you had that almost inconceivable thought:  “How can life get any better”?  And then you had teenagers…and Sara’s sarcastic laughter didn’t seem so ‘unholy’ after all! 

Did you, in your life’s struggles, knowing you were trying to serve God obediently with all your best strength and effort, still feel like Abram on the death march to Moriah?

If all that rings true, you and I must be related; at the least we’re distant cousins of Abram.  Like fingerprints, our lives are all unique, yet as alike as He who created us in His own image.  Our lives are interlinked like bees of the same hive, and that is all the evidence of the unseen Hand guiding us through the chaotic pathway we call life’s journey. 

To quote Bill and Gloria Gaither, He was there all the time!  He was there, even when you were taking your beloved child, laden with firewood on his back, to the hill of sacrifice, and it hardly looks like the substance of a life you had hoped-for; and yet, you still put one foot in front of the other and moved forward.

And, like Abram, eventually, faith wins out, and your heart settles in calm, steady breaths of renewed hope…and deep-down you know you’re not forgotten…and never will be.

For You Today

If today is one of those days you find yourself caught in wondering how any of what you’re trudging through can possibly be God’s actual plan for your life, take heart and a little leading from Abram…Abraham, the one our Jewish brothers call “father of the faithful”.  And then keep walking towards the light.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Image Pixabay.  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The Christian Standard Bible^©