Musings from My Sun Porch

                 My last two blogs have talked about developing a passion for the Great Commission. We have settled the fact that the Commission is a commandment, not a suggestion, and it is a commandment for every Christian.   Now, the next question is what does that require us to do?             Let’s start with that little word “go.”   I think that’s probably the word that stops most of us more quickly than others, and that includes me. I remember writing a paper in my High School creative writing class about how I wanted to go into ministry but since being a missionary meant going overseas, that was out of the question (like it was up to me). Unlike most people, I have never had the desire to travel to other nations, not even for vacation. I have only been out of the country four times in my life, and two don’t count since I just crossed over the border into Mexico an...

                 If you read my last blog, then you know that developing a passion for the Great Commission has become a focus of my church’s mission team and for myself.   That post talked about the reasons that Christ gave the Great Commission, and if you haven’t read it, I urge you to go back and do so.   Today, I would like to address two questions that I raised in that post:   what is meant by “Commission” and who were the intended recipients of the Commission?   I think that much of our lack of passion for Christ’s “Commission” can be traced to our misconceptions about the answers to those questions.   First, we probably all understand what it means to be commanded to do something, but do we understand what it means to be commissioned for a specific purpose?   When we hear the word “command” or “commandment” as Christians, our minds immediately go to the Ten Commandments.   Those were clearly ...

  The Mission Team at my church is focused on developing a passion for the Great Commission among our congregation.   Why do I tell you that?   For several reasons.   First, I think there are several misconceptions about the Commission.   They include what is meant by a “commission” and who was the Commission given to.   However, before we even address those questions, I think we need to understand why the Commission was given.               That question relates back to the Great Commandment and the Second that is like it.   In Matthew 22: 37 – 39, Jesus told us that the Greatest Commandment is to love God with every aspect of our being.   I think that most Christians get that!   After all, God is the Creator of all, the King of Kings, the only true God!   As Paul describes Him in I Timothy 1: 17, He is “King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God…” However, it is the ...

  “Therefore, encourage each other with these words” (I Thess. 4: 18 NIV84)             The Scripture calls us to encourage each other, and in our current culture, words of kindness and encouragement are needed now more than ever.   One simple way to encourage restaurant servers is to ask to pray for them.   My friends and I make a regular effort to do that.   Only once have we been told “no”.   A few years ago, after asking our waitress if we could pray for her, she broke into tears.   We learned that she had recently lost a child.   We prayed with her and spent some time trying to comfort and encourage her.   Such a simple gesture but we’ll never know how much it meant to that young mother.             One way that I have sought to encourage my family is by adding Scripture verses to birthday cards.   I don’t write Scripture out...

                 If you have been reading my Blog for a while, you probably wonder why I talk so much about “surrender”. It’s probably because surrendering to God is something that I struggle with constantly.   I am a control freak – I like to have things planned out and know exactly where I am going and God doesn’t work that way.     That is probably the lesson that I continue to learn every day.                    As Christians, it should be a “no-brainer” to submit to God’s will, if for no other reason than the fact that He is a whole lot smarter than we are.   But, as human beings, it is out of our character to willingly submit to someone else’s will.                  As a lawyer, I have put that in legal terms.   It’s the difference between a Power of Attorney and a Guardianship.   When ther...

                 Most people remember hearing the story about the walls of Jericho, but few probably remember the name of the woman who saved the two guys that did the reconnaissance for that battle. Her name was Rahab.   She was either a prostitute or an innkeeper and she put her life in jeopardy by refusing to tell the King’s men where they could find the spies.   She went even further by hiding them and sending the King’s men on a wild goose chase.   She didn’t know those men.   She had never seen them before.   They offered her nothing before the concealment.   In fact, they had invaded her house in what we would probably call a home invasion.             The question then is why did she do what she did.   Why risk the wrath of her own people?   The answer was very simple.   She knew what the Lord had done for the Israelites and she ...

                 You may have noted from my last post that the first week of January is not one of my favorite times.   Three times in the last 12 years, my family has suffered loss during the week between New Year’s Eve and January 6, so I have come to look at that week with dread, always waiting for the other shoe to drop.   This year, my nephew and his family were out of town the week after Christmas, and I knew they would be traveling back around New Year’s Eve.   I tried not to think about it but always in the back of my mind was the fear that something bad could happen.   Thankfully, nothing did, and they arrived home safely.               Worrying or dread about things we can’t control is an age-old problem. Just like so many other things that began with Adam and Eve, I think they also started the worrying process.   After they ate the forbidden...

               Six years ago, today my Mom passed away after a 6-plus-year battle with Alzheimer’s.   My father’s sudden death, six years earlier, had caused the disease to advance rapidly, but we still managed to care for her at home for three of those six years.            It wasn’t easy watching her decline but there were always those special moments that we will cherish:                 Watching her hold a baby doll so lovingly reminded us of how she loved and cared for her grandchildren.              T he smiles that came when we realized that on some level, she still knew that we were someone who cared – like the time that I walked into the Nursing Home and searched the room of elderly, wheelchair-bound ladies, looking for my Mom.  Suddenly, a hand went up in the middle of them and a familiar voice said, “over...

                 Many of you are probably thinking about New Year’s Resolutions or Goals.   Many of you, like me, are also probably thinking back over all the prior resolutions and goals that you failed to keep.   After all, only about 9% of those who make resolutions actually keep them.               Two of my repeating resolutions are to lose weight/get in shape and spend more time with God.   I’m guessing that these might be high on your list as well.   I can’t help much with the lose weight/get in shape, but I do have some pointers on intensifying your relationship with God.               First, you must make an intentional decision to surrender to God.   That’s not always easy because it means giving up control of your life and your decisions.   Since we are normally resistant to g...