Spiritual Ponderings

The wife doesn't have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise also the husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but the wife. (1 Corinthians 7:4) It might be a bit surprising to imagine wanting to contemplate such a verse as this, but after awakening very early in the morning and not being able to sleep, a new thought came to my mind about the deeper significance of what this verse may actually be trying to convey. To the degree that reading such a verse produces a feeling of angst may indicate the degree to which we fail to grasp the truth about the fundamental nature of how God's kingdom operates. I know most of my life this verse has had potential to stir up feelings of resistance deep inside mingled with feelings of guilt for feeling of resistant. These confusing reactions are rooted in years of being told I was rebellious when in fact much of what I was experiencing was only natural resistance to abuses by authorities...

Pride is the counterfeit of boldness. It strips away the most important foundation of godly boldness, humility. Humility is the secure identity that provides the needed backup for effective boldness unafraid of the opinions or persecutions of others. Because one has a solid base of security in Christ and all value comes exclusively from God, humility becomes bold to boast about knowing God. Thus says the LORD: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the LORD; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24) Pride is a false identity front desperate to convince others of its authenticity. Pride is in denial of the true emptiness of the inner soul driven by fear of discovery of the shame being hidden or rep...

And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, "Is this not Joseph's son?" And He said to them, "No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself ! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'" And He said, "Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown." (Luke 4:21-24) A prophet is a leader, a messenger, a person whom God uses to relay messages to people who are not listening well enough for Him to speak to them directly. A prophet takes words and thoughts from the divine and through a human intermediary passes them on using the language of the people and expressing God's thoughts in ways people might be able to understand. A prophet is a leader, but he is supposed to be a le...

And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called 'Benefactors.' But it is not this way with you , but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves." (Luke 22:24-27) There is a battle royal shaping up over not just the issue of ordaining women to public ministry within the church, but more fundamentally the definition and function of what is referred to as headship, both in the church and in the social structure of the family. These debates are sharpening and the rhetoric is heating up as both sides dig in their positions and even take them to extremes at times. I d...

I had a dream the last night that was a bit different. As usual I cannot remember too many details, but the part that stuck with me after awakening was unusual enough to keep my attention. In my dream I was participating in an ordination service. But this was surprisingly different from any ordination service I have ever heard about. This elaborate public service with all the involvement of church leaders you might expect at an ordination was to lay hands on the church janitor. Sound crazy? Well, sadly it only sounds crazy because we have strayed so far from the clear teachings of Jesus and have been infected with the spirit and practices of the world. In my dream it was clear that the church janitor needed to be publicly affirmed, encouraged and honored for their faithful work, their passion for humble service and their devotion to Christ. It was simply the obvious thing to do. In addition, it was to be arranged for this janitor to be further appreciated ...

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33) Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness Then all these things (your needs) will be added – to your life and heart and soul and joy. I have long meditated on this verse for the purpose of making a part of the very foundation for the way I live life. Whether things are going well or poorly financially, socially or mentally, I have sought to make this the mainspring for my motives in order to stay in right relationship with my God. But for a long time I puzzled over the real meaning of this word kingdom . I have been asking God to show me what that actually means for my own life. The seeking His righteousness part has been becoming more clear to me over recent years, for after I shifted from focusing so much on righteousness in my own life (to 'get ready for Jesus to come') toward celebrating and meditating on how good God's...

So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. (Acts 5:41) Recently this idea of rejoicing because one is considered worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus came to my attention again. I distinctly remember feeling very uncomfortable with this concept many times whenever I read this or heard it discussed and it still is not well resolved in my mind so I feel I need to do some intentional digging into the Word to unpack this for my own peace of mind. What I think might be disturbing me the most about this is that it seems that whenever people talk about this it seems to often be couched in a subtle assumption that somehow 'suffering for Jesus' in some way creates 'brownie points' with God, creating some sort of merit that may count toward a better position in heaven or some other such desirable result. Yet anything that smacks of earning favor with God or contributing to...