Musings from My Sun Porch

                 As the Israelites were preparing to enter the promised land, Moses recounted all that God had done for them and reminded them of all the ways that they had rebelled.   As he reminded them of how many times God had come close to destroying them, he also directed them to abandon their stubbornness and follow the Lord.   He then challenged them with these words, “ And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” (Deuteronomy 10: 12-13 NIV84).   I think those directions still apply to us today.             To fear the Lord is to have a healthy respect for His power.   Anyone who has read the Old Testament knows of...

                 The persecution of Christians continues to rise all over the world.   According to Christianity Today , one in seven Christians live in countries with high levels of persecution or discrimination.   However, the persecution of Christians is nothing new.             John the Baptist lost his head because he spoke Truth to the ruling authorities.   Peter and the other apostles were thrown in jail because they preached the Gospel and performed miracles.   Stephen became the first Christian martyr because he too preached truth and performed miracles.   The apostle, James, was killed by King Herod because he belonged to the Church.   Paul, the apostle who traveled the world, spreading the good news, was beaten and stoned many times, and ultimately imprisoned for his faith.   It is no wonder then that the persecution of Christians conti...

                 Mourning is something we have all experienced.   It is usually identified with the loss of someone that we love.   However, we may also experience that kind of deep sorrow or grief over the loss of a relationship and difficult decisions we must make.   We’ve probably all mourned the death of someone that we loved dearly.   Some of us have mourned lost friendships when our friends moved away, or we just moved on in our lives.   Several of my friends are now mourning the difficult decisions they must make to care for elderly parents.   I’ve been there.   I know that deep sorrow too.             None of us can escape mourning, but have you ever considered that we should be mourning our sinful lives.   By its nature, mourning implies separation—from deceased loved ones, from friends, from happier times.   What more profound ...

                 Romans 13: 1 makes it very clear that “The authorities that exist have been established by God” (NIV84).   When we read this, most of us only consider that those in authority are there to do good works according to God’s plan, but that’s not necessarily the case.   Did you ever stop to consider how many times God has used pagan authorities to fulfill His purposes?   I think you might be surprised. Here are just a few that I thought about this morning.             The Gospel of Luke tells us that the Roman officials ordered a census that would require Joseph to return to the home of his ancestors.   That home was in a small village called Bethlehem, the place of King David’s birth.   Why is that important?   It was a fulfillment of prophecy.   The prophet Micah had prophesied that this little village would be the birthplace of the ...

                 If you are a basketball fan, then you are probably aware that “March Madness” has already begun.   Last night I sat down to watch my favorite college team play in their conference semi-final game.   On the line was a trip to the championship and ultimately an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.   Unfortunately, due to some glitch within my TV provider, I had to watch the entire game while listening to the play-by-play commentary in Spanish.   I tried everything I could think of, including checking the internet only to find that others were having the same problem.   Ultimately, it was a choice to watch the game with Spanish commentary or not at all.   I chose to watch it.             I’m enough of a basketball nut to have a grasp of the ins and outs of the game, even without commentary, but it was still a little strange.   If I ...

  One statement that we can probably all agree on is, “Life isn’t fair!” Good people get sick, while evil people seem to have an easy life.   Drunk drivers kill people but walk away with hardly a scratch. Some people work hard day after day but never seem to get ahead, while others seem to have everything handed to them on a silver platter.   The reality is that life is not fair.             Was it fair that Rebekah favored Jacob over Esau?   No, and where did that favoritism get Jacob—fleeing for his life, fearful of what his brother might do to him.   Was it fair that Jacob favored his son, Joseph, over his other sons?   No, and where did that favoritism get Joseph—sleeping in an Egyptian prison?   Favoritism creates chaos.             When sin entered the world, chaos came right along with it.   Our sinful nature led us to favor one...

                 Yesterday, I heard a well-known actor talking about his faith.   He said that he prays every day that he will live up to his potential.   The more I thought about that statement, the more I thought that he was right.   We should be striving to live up to our God-given potential every day.               In Ephesians 2:10, Paul tells us “We are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (NIV84).   God has plans for us!   He has things that He wants us to accomplish in our lifetime.   He created us to complete those good works.   How do we know what those “good works” are?             First, we know that we were all created for God’s glory (Isaiah 43: 7).   That means that our “good works” must bring praise...

              Tomorrow, March 5 th , my first book, The Shepherd’s Quest, will go on sale on Amazon.   This is a book that I never dreamed of writing because it is a work of fiction based on the Scriptural account of the last week of Jesus’ life on earth.   I praise God for giving me the privilege of sharing this story, and I hope it will give you a better understanding of Jesus’ followers as they endured the ups and downs of that Passover week. Here is a brief description:                 Jedidiah was a teenager when the angel appeared that night outside Bethlehem.   He never forgot the fear, excitement, and celebration that he and the other shepherds experienced.   Now, as an adult with a family of his own, he is faced with the question of whether Rabbi Jesus is the same Messiah that he witnessed in the manger some thirty years earlier.  ...