Stopping to Think

Blank Do you ever experience times of feeling spiritually blank? Like no matter how many times you go to church, no matter how many songs you sing, no matter how much money you give, nothing you do is going to make you feel close to God? I go through such experiences on a frighteningly frequent basis.  What causes this sort of blank, bleak, hollow feeling? I think there are quite a few possibilities. It can be how the seasons affect our brains. I can feel blank any time of year, but I can pretty well count on hitting that point in either January or February. It can be derived from the circumstances around us leaving us overwhelmed. We just don't have the emotional energy to operate beyond survival mode. And these just begin the list, so many of which are circumstances genuinely beyond our control. Deafness But I want to focus our attention briefly on a passage that holds the mirror up to my life. Proverbs 28:9  says, If one turns away from hearing the law, even his prayer is a...

When Times Get Tough Have you ever heard the old saying, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going"? There are a lot of tough times recorded in the Bible. Some of the most interesting occur in the historical books, which begin with 1 Samuel. In the book of 1 Samuel, we read the story of Israel's transition from being a theocracy which acknowledged God as king, to being a monarchy with a human king sitting on a physical throne. Standing in the way of that transition, though, were the Philistines. As one comes 1 Samuel 14 , we find King Saul of Israel and his army waiting for battle. The Philistines outnumber the Israelites by an order of magnitude. And not only is the tiny army of Israel outnumbered, they are (to speak anachronistically) outgunned. The whole army of Israel has two swords: the one carried by King Saul, and the one carried by his son Jonathan. The rest of the men have axes, mattocks, plowshares, and sickles.  Which brings us to verse 6 of chapter 14, J...

In the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, we read not only the prophec ies which God made t hrough Jeremiah, but we also encounter much of Jeremiah's life. And as you read his life you are often struck with a sense of pity for this man who faithfully obeyed God year after year after year and seemed to receive little but pain and scorn in return.  Part of why his life proved so difficult was the nature of his message. Jeremiah was speaking to the people of Judah shortly before their captivity in Babylon. He frankly warns them that this i s coming, tells them it's too late to change this fact, and exhorts them to bear up submissively underneath the pain that will come. But the people, especially those in the highest places, resist these words from the Lord through his prophet.  In chapter 36   we find the story of Jeremiah dictating the words of his prophecy to his assistant, Baruch. After Baruch takes the full dictation, Jeremiah instructs him to take this scroll down to the ...

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society by Eugene H. Peterson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I always find Peterson worth reading. These chapters are presented as expositions of the Song of Ascents. Perhaps meditations upon the main subject of each song would be a better way of putting it. I often differ with Peterson on particular points of doctrine, yet he has an incredible sense for the feel of the Christian life. His familiarity with the metanarrative of Scripture, the history of Christian doctrine, and the plain practicality of living as a disciple make this book well worth picking up and musing over. View all my reviews

This is a little more journaly than I normal put up here, because I wrote it straight to me. Hope it's helpful . Yesterday was Sunday. My only day off of the week. Andie made breakfast, we went to church as a family. Surprisingly, both kids sat through the entirety of the sermon. That was a relief. Andie took them home during Sunday School, and I taught a class. Was filling in for another teacher, so I taught on the importance of the preached word, taking Romans 10:13-17 amd 1 Timothy 3:15-4:2 as my primary texts. Rest of the day was wholly unproductive. Took the family to Taco Johns, tried unsuccessfully to nap, then went to my mother-in-law's house (our normal destination on a Sunday afternoon). Spent the rest of the day watching football and a movie. It could have been a relaxing, enjoyable afternoon. Instead, I spent a good part of the time fretting over what I wasn't getting done. I have next week's Sunday School lesson to prep. I have two Absolute curriculu...