Have you ever been to an arcade? The noise. The lights. The commotion. There is just so much going on, it is hard to process everything. It is quite chaotic. If you don’t go in with a headache you will likely leave with one.

Since my stroke two years ago, my brain struggles to differentiate between close up sights and sounds and those sights and sounds that your brain knows as background. This excessive sensory input overload creates chaos in my brain. There is often just too much to process simultaneously. Painting helps my brain interpret, communicate, and unload the sensory overload it often experiences.

The world we live in is perpetually in motion. Everywhere we go, there is noise. We are being bombarded with news feeds all day and night. If you are like me, you find it hard to shut off the never-ending stream of activity that fills our minds and souls. And if you are like many people, the thought of silence is frightening. So even in those few times when we get away from the rat race, we fill that void with sights, sounds, noises.

In this fast-paced world, we need to intentionally build in times to slow down. We must push the pause button from time to time to allow our soul to settle. It is often in that quietness that we find the presence of the Lord. While standing on Mount Horeb, Elijah heard God’s voice not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire, but in the low whisper that followed.

Psalm 131, while only three verses in length, expresses David’s walk with God, in which he has complete contentment because of a life fully submitted to, and trusting in, God – “O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.”

Staying in the psalms, we find the psalmist encouraging the godly to “be still” and “know” that the Lord is God (46:10). To “be still” is to cease striving and the word “know,” it is the Hebrew word yada, which references not just a casual “knowing of” God, but rather, knowing God in a very personal and very intimate way. It is knowing deeply not just knowing about. Think of knowing intimately your spouse or best friend as compared to simply knowing about George Washington.

In this world, slowing down does not happen by happenstance. It takes commitment. Often requiring us to go against the flow. Are you willing to be intentional about building a rhythm of quietness and stillness? My brain also can communicate its quietness and stillness, most often through abstract beach scenes, such as the one below.

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.

Another mass shooting. This time in Maine.

Sadly, these days what once seemed unbelievable now has become almost commonplace because of the regularity of evil, hatred, anger, and the growing mental health crisis.

Both on our side of the tracks and on the other side, and all around the world, violence is ever-present. The all too frequent evil acts we witness these days should leave us all shocked, angry, numb, confused, filled with grief. It is natural to ask – Why does God allow this crap, this anger, this divisiveness, this hatred, to happen? If God is really so good, why does He allow such evil to continue?

In my opinion, the answer is simple – our ability to make choices. While we are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), He also gave us the freedom to make our own choices, both good and bad choices (Galatians 5:13). Because of a decision made by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, mankind fell into sin. Romans 3:23 tells us that “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 

This free will granted to us by God is both our greatest blessing and our worst curse. We have the freedom to decide how to act, what to eat for breakfast, who to marry, what to watch on television, whether or not to commit our lives to Him, and sadly, yes, also the choice to do everything from steal Post-it notes from work to commit unspeakable and horrendous acts of violence. We have free will to love or to hate, to do good or to do evil.

God could eliminate the evil done in this world by taking away our ability to make choices. If He did, we would become puppets who do and say what God wants said and done. We would be like marionettes, with God pulling the strings. However, God does not desire us to be like puppets. He desires to be loved by people who freely choose to follow and obey him. Love is not love if there is no other option. Obedience is not obedience if there is no other choice.

You probably know what is arguably the most familiar verse found in the Bible – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

But did you know, just a few verses later, we find out the root of our evil – “This is the crisis we are in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God” (John 3:19, MSG).   

So, that very same God who gave us free will, the ability to do and say both good and bad, also sent His Son into the world as a way for every man, woman and child – yes, even those who do evil – to be redeemed and restored, through which bad people do not become good people, but instead, sinful people become forgiven and changed people.

Change our hearts, O God! And we cry out to Jesus, who is our Prince of Peace – please let us feel Your presence, that life-changing presence, and see Your unlimited power, the only transforming power to change the world!

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.

Have you ever found yourself no longer passionate about something that in the past was what excited you? Has your once raging fire almost totally burned itself out? Think about marriage. A man and a woman get married, they go on a honeymoon, the passion burns strong for a few years, but over time, unless they work hard to keep the spark ignited, the flame soon begins to burn less and less brightly. Maybe today you find yourself simply going through the motions in school or in your job. Or possibly for you, life in general has become mundane. What once ignited a spark in you is these days just ho hum.

In my football playing days, the season was long and draining. Two hot weeks of preseason camp followed by ten weeks of practice, games and film, and several times, and hopefully a few more weeks of playoff games. By the end of the season, the excitement that was ignited right before the opening kickoff of the season’s first game had been replaced by a mind and body wondering if all the pounding was worth it.

That childhood enthusiasm you once had, maybe these days it is nothing more than a distant memory. Admit it, life is hard, and sometimes we find ourselves simply going through the motions. We get up in the morning, do whatever it is we do during the day, fall into bed exhausted, and tomorrow, the same old same old. There is no time or energy to get passionate. That glow you once had, it has long faded away. I do acknowledge that many life situations, possibly one you are facing right now, make it hard to find joy or passion. You are simply in survival mode.  

After a long week at work, and now that fall weather is here, one of the things my wife and I love to do is sit by our fire ring under a starlit night. We enjoy roasting sausages and hot dogs, sharing a nice bottle of wine, listening to music, engaging in good conversation, while allowing the heat from the fire to warm us as the temperature drops. With each new log put on the fire its intensity increases. But, if we fail to tend to the fire, it will burn out, leaving us sitting in the cold night shivering and staring into the darkness.  

Our relationship with Jesus often follows that same path; the fire that started out burning brightly, if left unattended, soon becomes nothing more than a smoldering pile of ash. When you first become a Christ-follower, you burn red hot, wanting to know and grow in this new relationship. But over time, that passion begins to fade. You still pray, read your Bible, attend church and small groups, and serve the needy, but it has become more about doing all the right stuff, checking all the right boxes, than falling more in love with Jesus and becoming more like Him in the process. Your fire has burned out, you have become lukewarm.

The Bible warns against that very thing. In Revelation 3:16, these words are spoken to the church at Laodicea: “So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Contrasted to that, the apostle Paul tells us this, found in Romans 12:11 – “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”

So, today, if you find that your fire is no more than warm embers, or maybe even burned out altogether, begin taking steps to reorient your perspective, and ask God to ignite a new fire in you, not just for the things of life but also in your relationship with Him. And passion also attracts others; it has a way of being contagious.

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.

Have you ever rebooted? We do it on our computers all the time. When something crashes somewhere within the hardware, what do we do? We shut it down, which allows the machine to reset itself, usually fixing whatever caused it to crash or lock up in the first place. This process also helps to free up memory space and clear temporary files. I do a reboot on my phone and cable box from time to time as well. Once rebooted, these devices are made fresh again.

Movies and television shows are known to reboot. Think of all the Disney movies from your childhood that came back into existence for your own kids. One of my favorite shows as a child was Leave It to Beaver, which ran six seasons, from 1957 to 1963. The show rebooted in 1983, as Still the Beaver, first as a movie, then a show that aired until 1989. My afternoons usually find me allowing my brain to rest and reboot. For many months, part of that “freshening up” regimen was watching all 234 episodes of the original series.

Now, let me ask again. Have you ever rebooted? Sometimes rebooting is nothing more than getting away from life’s rat race for some period of time, to quiet your soul and slow your mind, allowing you to enjoy and appreciate what is often ignored. You know, take time to “smell the roses.” Maybe it means getting away from technology, putting your devices down. Other times, it means making major changes in our thoughts, actions, attitudes. In my opinion, for whatever the reason, to whatever degree it might be, periodic rebooting is never a bad thing. In fact, I have found it to be quite holistically healthy.

When we commit our life to Christ, through the power of the Spirit, we are reborn. This reboot makes us new. The apostle Paul makes this statement – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19).

We are told that through Christ our old sinful nature is dead, allowing us to grow in our new identity (Colossians 3:9-11). Isaiah tells us to let go of our former things and cling to this new identity in Christ (43:18-19).

Not only are we made new, rebooted if you will, this process of making new is fresh every day – “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him” (Lamentations 3:22-24).

And in the closing pages of the greatest story ever told, that of God’s never-ending, never-failing redeeming and restoring love for us, we find this promise – “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true’” (Revelation 21:5).

So, right now, are you in need of a reboot? Big or small, why not ask God, maybe for the first time, the tenth time, or even the umpteenth time, to make you new, make you fresh again, to reboot your broken operating system. He promises to do so if you are willing to be made new.

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.

Who doesn’t like a warm and freshly baked blueberry muffin? Spread a small amount of butter on these goodies, and oh so good! To make these delicious muffins from scratch you need the basics – flour, sugar, salt, eggs, butter, milk, blueberries, maybe some vanilla extract, and a small amount of another very important ingredient, baking powder. Without the baking powder acting as a leavening agent, which produces carbon dioxide gas during baking, trapping the bubbles in the batter and causing it to rise, the muffins will be dense and not the delicious treat you had hoped for.

Do you know the difference between baking powder and baking soda? Both are leavening agents with the primary difference being baking powder already contains the acid needed to create the carbon dioxide whereas baking soda needs another acidic ingredient (commonly vinegar, lemon juice, brown sugar, yogurt, buttermilk, honey) to create the rising reaction.

You can argue as to which ingredient is most important. But, in reality, all of these ingredients are of equal importance, forgetting one of them, or adding the wrong amount, leaves the warm muffins more suited for feeding the ducks than for enjoying them with a good cup of coffee or nice dessert wine, say a vintage Port or Sherry or Muscat. Personally, I prefer dessert wine over coffee. Its sweetness pairs very nicely with the acidic blueberries!

Meaningful relationships, on the other hand, while also having several key ingredients, are firmly based upon one primary ingredient – love. Yes, in a relationship you need among other things such as respect, honesty, trust, and communication, but without love being first and foremost, none of those ingredients work too well, if at all.

I deeply value the importance of relationships and truly believe that love covers any and all differences we have with other people. The Bible agrees; check out Proverbs 10:12 or 1 Peter 4:8. In the church my wife and I planted when we lived in North Carolina, we wanted to be known for who we were for and not for who or what we were against. We wanted to be known for who we loved, which was hopefully everyone, even our “enemies.” I believe that deep and meaningful relationships can best be nurtured and developed using the acronym LACE, with “L” representing Love. Love is the foundation upon which the other three letters stand. And in case you are wondering, the other three ingredients are Accountability, Challenge, Encourage.

You are probably very familiar with the “Love Passage” from 1 Corinthians 13, often read at weddings. This is so much more than just good advice for a bride and groom; it is great life wisdom! Even if you have heard it a thousand times, I encourage you to take a few minutes and read it again, 1 Corinthians 13:4-13. It begins with “Love is patient, love is kind” and ends with this timeless truth, “And now these three things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Planted smack dab in the middle of these bookends is this – “Love never fails.”

So, unlike baking blueberry muffins, where the proper amount of each ingredient is absolutely necessary in order to ensure the muffins are edible, in relationships you can never add too much love. Just imagine how much better this world would be if we filled it with more love and less hatred. I will end with an anecdote that I saw in a farmer’s almanac – A wise physician once said, “The best medicine for humans is love.” His patient asked, “What if it doesn’t work?” The doc smiled and replied, “Increase the dose.”

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.

The insurance company Allstate markets itself as “The Good Hands People.” They say “You’re in good hands” if you allow them to provide for your insurance needs. According to the company’s website, this well-known advertising slogan was born out of the reassurance one of the company’s executives received years earlier from his wife: that their sick daughter was in good hands with her doctor.        

We have confidence and comfort when we feel as if we are safe and secure. Think of a child who finds themselves scared in the night and immediately runs into the arms of one of their parents. All of a sudden that monster doesn’t seem so scary any more. Or spouses who hold hands, finding comfort in each other, as they sit in the doctor’s office after hearing those dreaded words, “You have cancer.” We all want to feel like we are in good hands, especially when we face things that are not fully in our control.   

The world, both near and afar, is in ever-growing chaos right now. A dysfunctional Congress. Inflation. Crime and violence. Climate Change. Immigration. Racism. Rising cost of health care. Poverty. Turmoil in the Middle East. China. Ukraine. Need I list any more? If you are like me, the anxiety and strain to your mental health is like a leaky faucet, with each new drip, increasing uncertainty and uneasiness. Due to the cognitive and neurological challenges I experience, I find it extremely hard to process so much stuff coming at me (us) from every direction. Let alone understand it.

Despite all that “drips” around us, we have a God who remains in control. He knows the beginning from the end. Nothing that has occurred, is occurring today, or will occur, catches God off guard. God is faithful, He is good, and He is advancing His kingdom.  

One of God’s attributes is that He is omniscient, which means all-knowing. We find these words in the Old Testament book Isaiah – “Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and no one is like Me. I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: My plan will take place, and I will do all My will” (46:9-10).

Because God remains completely in control, even in the midst of chaos, we can have peace. In this context, peace is not the absence of trouble or chaos. Instead, it is the presence of Jesus, our Prince of Peace, who in the midst of trouble and chaos, calms our hearts and minds. In Paul’s benediction in 2 Thessalonians we find this – “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all” (3:16).

The traditional African American spiritual made popular by Laurie London in 1957 has this as its title and main lyrics: “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” I remember as a child regularly singing this song in Sunday School. Maybe you need to sing it right now. Click here to watch Laurie performing on The Ed Sullivan Show.   

So, today, in the midst of uncertainty and uneasiness caused by drip drip drip, we can have rock solid confidence that we are in good hands! Because God is in control of it all, we can have peace, a peace that passes all understanding, in His presence. Do you believe that today?

If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.