New Life out of Old
On a hike I come across an old, fallen tree, its wood rotting. Out of it grows a sapling. The sapling is not growing out of the ground; it’s growing out of the tree. New life out of old. Some might say it’s like reincarnation, but no, the sapling is not a rebirth of the dead tree. It grows from a seed off a standing tree and finds its nourishment in the decaying wood of the fallen tree. The dead tree only provides the place for the new tree to grow. We often talk about this kind of…
The King of Thorns
The eternal Word of God, incarnated in a human body, stands before the Roman governor Pilate. Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, is questioned and scourged. Kings live in palaces. But the day Jesus stands before Pilate, bound and beaten, is the only time he ever sets foot in an earthly palace. Pilate repeatedly tries to let Jesus go, but the leaders of the crowd relentlessly pressure Pilate and manipulate Roman law to corner him. He thinks he has authority over Jesus and fears even more when he realizes he does not. He tries in vain to…
You Don’t Have a Soul
You and I see everything in life through a perspective, usually our own. From a human perspective, we are physical creatures in physical bodies—and we each have a soul. But God does not seem to share our perspective. He sees us differently. Pastors sometimes stimulate people by asking, “Are you a physical creature on a spiritual journey? Or are you a spiritual creature on a physical journey?” Many people don’t even think about that. They’re physical creatures in a physical world, seeking physical accomplishment, physical satisfaction, and physical comfort. Some people indeed seek spiritual things, yet the predominant goal still…
Beware of Fatal Flaws
A massive rain across Southern California taught me a hard life lesson. I had worked on our badly designed church roof for the last twenty years, patching and repairing, then re-roofing the entire flat roof section of the building. Then more patching and repairing. Then more after that. And more after that. Then finally in early January, I concluded I had finally conquered the perennial roof leaks. Yea! My diligence and painstaking care had paid off. Then came the trilogy of rainstorms that drenched us for a week. To my astonishment, grief, and indignation, the roof leaked more than it…
Habits, Habits, Habits!
What’s the difference between a New Year’s resolution that typically fails and a life-long growth commitment that succeeds? It’s usually in the little things, boring habits that go unnoticed. Whether growth is personal, relational, financial, professional, or spiritual, it rarely happens in one big leap. People want it to be that way—and that’s why they fail. I’ve failed more times than I’ve succeeded. That’s why I’m learning the value of habits. Growth, and resulting success, happens through thousands of little steps. And if we do make a big leap, it’s because we’ve first made thousands of small steps. In countless,…
