​     This month, I pray that you experience the “good life.” This
“good life” has come up in Sunday school classes, Wednesday Bible
study, and in sermons – and it has usually ended up with the question:
“What is the good life?”

     My first instinctive reaction is how nice it would be to have no
debt and be financially secure, to have good food at every meal (with
no cleanup!), and to fall asleep to a deep back rub every night.

     But that’s not what God means by a good life, that’s a worldly
dream of an easy life. In Matthew 11: 28-30, Jesus says, “Come to me,
all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my
yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my
burden is light.”

     At first reading, you may say, “See, Jesus is saying the promise
is that life will be easy by following him!” Think again. A yoke is
what connects an ox to a plow. Jesus had work to do, and it involved
tilling the spiritual soil and planting seeds of truth – it involved
exposing wrong and knowing truth enough to communicate it. Jesus’ work
included difficult and obstinate people, storms, temptation and
resistance. Jesus’ work was not easy. . . But it’s easier than dealing
with the stress, stirring, and turmoil your spirit experiences when
you’re NOT doing His will.

     Jesus’ burden is light? He not only carried a huge wooden cross,
but also the sins of the world! How is that light?! But is not the
burden of forgiveness lighter than the burden of resentment? The
burden of loving those that are hard to love lighter than the burden
of hate and rejection? The burden of self sacrifice and thinking of
others actually lighter than desperately scraping in all directions to
feed our insatiable wants and needs?

     The good life is not all back rubs and lobster. The good life is
when you need little and want less. It’s when you know God’s working
power and trust in His timing. It’s when you remember to seek him in
prayer and in deed instead of just trying to do it by your own best
efforts or ideas. It’s when you would rather give a good back rub than
receive one.

     Seek God today. Live the good life.  See you at the watering hole.

​Too often we pass through the days in our own little world, interacting briefly with others in their own little world. Our worlds overlap a little, and most of the time it is pleasant. A big change in mindset and approach for a Christian is that we are each to be co-habitants of a much larger world: the Kingdom of God – a realm of goodness – the actualization of the line “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.”


Church is a practice ground, a training ground, a safe place to experiment with putting into place Jesus’ instructions and example and making this kingdom realized and real. Here are a few things we all need to remember as we participate in God’s reality.


1. It is all about relationships. It’s partly up to others to reach out to you, but there are others also needing you to reach out to them. Relationships are directly related to time together and shared experiences. Our Sunday School and Wednesday nights are just as much about the shared time together as it is about mentally learning. Every Sunday we have food after church. It saves money, and gives you an opportunity to get to know those people you worship with.


2. It is others’ centered. The more people we have paying attention to the physical, social, and spiritual needs of others, the more those needs will be met so that they, too can participate in the serving. Instead of “what about me,” ask the question “what can I do?” There is always something to do. I ask God this every day. I can only describe the response as “Pay attention, and you’ll see what to do.”


3. God is king, it’s his rules. Our behavior is not only to be life confirming, but also life protecting and life promoting. Each person is made of equal value, and we are to make sure the value God has placed in us is not only protected but also encouraged and promoted. God’s rules are what works, and we can put it to the test. Sundays we will continue to reflect on the words of Jesus for this very purpose. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”


See you at the watering hole.

​ “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God . . .” This statement by Jesus to the deceiver has been stuck in my head. The very distinction between the physical needs and soul needs speaks volumes to our current societal condition.

We are a well off nation, even though many of us experience shortcomings. Without God, it is a “by bread alone” culture – the less we have, the worse off we are. WITH God, when you scrape away all the physical needs, you recognize the importance and priority of the needs of the soul.

It is the greatest temptation when our worldly needs are met to forget about our spiritual needs. As our soul begins to hunger, we try to stuff it with the physical: more food, more money, more recognition, more beauty, more wine, more push-ups.

But only the spiritual practices meet the needs of the soul. When one has no money, simplicity begets richness. When one has no food, prayer satisfies the spirit. When one has no physical comfort, loving relationships make aches and pains more tolerable.

Whether you are physically struggling or doing quite fine, please take some time right now to ask yourself what you are doing for your soul. Is your life too busy to have stillness and quiet time with God? Are you trying to feed your spiritual needs by physical means? Are you investing time as much time and energy into others’ lives as you are your own?

Whatever state you are in, know that I have prayed over these words and have the utmost hope that you find no obstacle between you and God. And if you’re fine, know that you’ve been called not just to be fine, but to help lead others to the same spirit/body balance. See you at the watering hole.

​Happy New Year friends and family! How appropriate it is that the New Year is celebrated right after Christmas. Not only does our calendar start in January, but our society as a whole tries to hit the reset button around this same time.

2 Corinthians 5:16-20 implores: “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 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 men’s sins against them. And he committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”

This writing has some great resolutions for a New Year Christian:

1. Quit looking at the world from worldly eyes, and pray for the eyes of the divine. Try to see things from God’s point of view, pay attention to the world around you.

2. Quit looking at Jesus from a worldly definition and recognize that he called you his brother and sister (Matthew 12: 46-50). If he is king, does that not give us royal duties in his kingdom?

3. Be new. You have just been hired for a new job: a vessel of God, a person with a ministry, an ambassador of God’s kingdom. Don’t come into this position doing what you did at your old job.

4. Be reconciled with God. He wants to be close to you, He has come to you. Will you let Him in?


What if instead of (or alongside) trying a new diet or exercise routine, we try this year making our goals spiritual. Let us treat the growth of our faith like the growth of a child: with constant feeding, nurturing, observing, boundary setting, training, teaching, and loving.

I hope, too, that you take the chance to join the rest of us in dedicating a year of devotions with you and your house reading from Oswald Chamber’ My Utmost for His Highest. We still have plenty of copies at the church. Imagine the possibilities if our whole church is on the same page for an entire year! Just think of how God can use us for His good and perfect will!

As always, you are loved and prayed for. Let us know if you have any specific needs, or just need someone to talk to. Church is not a building, it is us as the body of Christ. Be well.