On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. (Matthew 2:11)

It was one of those unexpectedly precious, heartwarming moments that melt a father’s heart.  My family and I went this past Saturday to an event a local church was doing that included a nativity scene and a “re-creation” of a 1st century village where the kids could do a number of Christmas crafts and have their picture taken.  My boys are 4, 3, and 1, and the older two, Ryan and Will, had a great time going from table to table making cookies, ornaments, and other Christmas decorations, while we tried to keep Nate (our one year-old) from destroying the village and eating the glue.  After the boys had made their crafts, we entered the sanctuary and headed up to the front, where a teenage boy and girl welcomed us and recited their lines about their wonder at God having chosen them to be the parents of the Messiah, Jesus.  Meanwhile, baby doll Jesus laid quietly in the straw between them.  After the teens were done saying their lines, we thanked them and exited the sanctuary to gather our crafts and head for home. 

Then, all of a sudden, Read more »

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.  Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:1-11)

I love this story.  I shared some thoughts about this passage in my sermon on grace a few weeks ago, and I want to revisit John 8 today, especially the words Jesus says to the woman caught in adultery.  Most people remember this story for his words to the Pharisees – “If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  With those powerful words, Jesus forever leveled the playing field, so to speak, by putting saints and sinners alike in the same boat – sinners in need of forgiveness, unqualified to condemn another. 

I’m most struck, however, by what Jesus says to the woman.  Read more »

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. (Ecclesiastes 7:2)

One of the blessings of pastoring a church made up of a younger crowd is that the number of weddings I officiate over the course of a year greatly outweighs the number of funerals.  In my pastoral career, I have actually only officiated one funeral, while playing a part in three others.  A verse that I’ve found appropriate to share on at funerals, no matter if the deceased was a committed Christian or not, is Ecclesiastes 7:2, which I’ve listed above.  It’s a simple verse, reminding us that every life ends in death, and that we would be wise to live in the light of that.  “Begin with the end in mind,” as Stephen Covey puts it in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  Given that one day your life on this earth will be no more, how would you want to be remembered?  And how should you be living today in order to make that goal a reality?
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Desperate – (adj) having an urgent need, desire, etc

Despair – (n) loss of hope; hopelessness. (v) to lose, give up, or be without hope

There is a fine line between desperation and despair, between (as the dictionary puts it) having an urgent need and giving up hope.  Desperation, on the one hand, is an essential (but difficult) place to be in for the disciple of Jesus.  Despair, on the other hand, is a terrible and deadly place to end up.  I have found in my short life that God often wants to bring his children to the point of desperation, to a place where they recognize that they can not make it on their own strength, but that they are utterly dependent on Him for everything.  However, I have also found that Satan is always lurking right around the corner, whispering in our ears, and doing his very best to turn that desperation into despair, to cause God’s children to lose hope and turn away from the only one who can save them.
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