Deep-End Discipleship

  “ I said, ‘Mourn for me; I’m ruined! I’m a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips. Yet I’ve seen the king, the Lord of heavenly forces!’”  “Then I heard the Lord’s voice saying, ‘Whom should I send, and who will go for us?’ I said, ‘I’m here; send me.’” - Isaiah 6:5 & 8 CEB - We don’t often use the phrase ‘unclean lips,’ but it doesn’t take much to think about what it could mean. In our society, we classify certain things as ‘dirty words’ or ‘dirty language.’ But I do not think cussing or talking about lewd subjects is the only ways our lips can be unclean. How often do we think about the implications of what we say? Sure we realize that we might not always say the best things. Instead of saying a loving or kind word we simple just say something OK. Sometimes we do not say anything at all and hope that is better than what we wanted to say. After all, there is the motherly proverb of “if you can’t say something nice, don...

“I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from this world. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.   This is because I gave them the words that you gave me, and they received them. They truly understood that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I’m praying for them. I’m not praying for the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours.   Everything that is mine is yours and everything that is yours is mine; I have been glorified in them.” - John 17:6-10 CEB You know those phrases that are natural responses in conversations? Things like, “okay, love you, bye” or, “talk to you later”  are things that we say without even thinking about it. It’s these phrases that we have become so comfortable with so they just roll off the tongue. I also think that the phrase, “I’ll be praying for you” is something that we say without really thinking a...

How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked or take the path of sinners or join a group of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. – Psalm 1:1-2 (HCSB) – TV shows, social media, news pages, advertisements, blogs, friends, family, politicians, leaders, teachers, bosses, books, podcasts, songs… We input large amounts of data into our brains every minute we are awake. We hear people telling us to try this new thing, go back to the old thing, think this way, don’t think that way, and here’s some tips for life. Though we are used to the amount of information we take in daily, it’s undeniable that it’s a huge amount of data for our brains. Sometimes, in the midst of all the voices it can be challenging to know which voices to listen to. Which voices are good or bad? Which voices are helpful or harmful? Psalm 1 reminds us that we have a choice between choosing right and wrong things in our live...

  “ You didn’t choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you could go and produce fruit and so that your fruit could last. As a result, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.” - John 15:16 CEB -  If you could ask God just one questions, what would it be? People have pondered such a question for ages. Do we dare ask God anything at all? What should we ask God for? Or maybe it’s the complete opposite. Instead of being timid to ask, there is something burning in us that must come out. What in the deepest parts of us must we ask God for? What question echoes in us that we feel only God is qualified to answer? Often we hear the back part of this verse – whatever you ask God, God will give you. And how many times this feels the opposite of our experience. We all know what is like to shout what seems meaninglessly to God.   What we think we know about God differs from what we are experiencing. What we try to ask God for in fact doe...

“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him;  future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!” Psalm 22: 27-31 People have always fantasized about the future. What will the technology be? What will cars look like? What is the world going to look like in 100 years? It’s fun to hypothesize about what could happen and what the world could be. For this reason, people have written books, TV shows, and a bunch of movies about future worlds. Even with all the movies, books, and shows about the future, I have noticed that there is one thing that is not always included. What will the...