Here I Am

I remember back in high school when the movie Chariots of Fire came out. I was very inspired by the true story of two British athletes running in the 1924 Olympics. Because of that movie I wanted to start running, so I decided to incorporate it into my daily life. I went outside one day anxious to start and found I could only run a short distance before I had to stop and rest. I was really surprised at how difficult it was and how much time and effort I had to have for the sport. I could only imagine how long and hard athletes in the Olympics had to train.  In the Bible, Paul compares running to our spiritual life with God. 1 Corinthians 9:24 says, “Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it”. Paul wants us to run a race far more important than any physical race, the spiritual race for our Lord Jesus Christ.  Before we run a race we must first condition ourselves to do so. As I found out, runni...

Sometimes when I have extra time in my day I will peruse YouTube and watch funny videos. I ran across one by Mr. Bean called “Mr. Bean Goes to Church”, maybe you’ve seen it, if not, look it up, it’s worth the watch. In this video Mr. Bean is very inattentive at church. His mind is obviously wandering causing him to loose his place in the hymnal, eat a piece of candy and fall asleep. This is an exaggeration of course but it is also a good example of spiritual fatigue.  There is a story in the book of Acts about a young man who was sitting on a window ledge listening to the Apostle Paul preaching. It was well into the night and the young man started to fall asleep. To everyone's horror he fell out of the window and down three flights. (Acts 20:7-12) They thought of course that he was dead but Paul stretched his body out over the boy and he regained consciousness. Was this young man just overly tired or was he experiencing spiritual fatigue?  In this story about Paul’s sermon, th...

When it’s Halloween time we like to dress up as different people. We find it fun to let our friends try to guess who we are; we like to conceal our identity. This is something that Jesus did after his crucifixion and ascension; he hid in plain sight. Jesus would prevent a follower from knowing who he was, but why did he do this? This was true in the story of the resurrection; Mary Magdalene went to the tomb after Jesus was crucified. (John 20:11-18) She looked in the tomb and saw nothing, then she turned around. There in front of her was a man that she thought was the gardener but it was actually Jesus, she did not recognize him. As soon as he said her name, Mary, she knew it was him. Jesus kept his identity secret, but why did he do this? I honestly can’t figure it out.  Jesus’ disciples were fishing on the Sea of Tiberius. (John 21: 1-14) They were catching nothing and then just after daybreak Jesus was standing on the shore but they did not know it was him. He told them to cast ...

“God don’t make no junk” is a popular phrase that has often been used in our society. It was made famous by the African American singer and actress Ethel Waters who penned it in her memoir His Eye is on the Sparrow.  I often read other people’s blogs and find that a great number of people have self-esteem issues and feelings of undesirable self worth. They are facing difficult emotional problems and when reading these posts I find myself saying, “God don’t make no junk”. We are all made in the image of God. What does that mean? It means that we are all specifically crafted to project God’s character. In Genesis 1:27 it states “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them..” We have the characteristics of God and he is not about junk and neither are we.  Because we are like God we are considered very valuable to him. Psalm 139:13-14 says,”For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fea...

I was reading in the Bible today about the Woman at the Well, a story found in John 4:1-42. In this story Jesus was traveling through Samaria, he traveled far and was thirsty. He stopped at a well and found a woman drawing water, he asked her for a drink.  The woman did not understand why Jesus was talking to her because she was a Samaritan and Jesus was a Jew; Samaritans and Jews did not associate with one another. It is also surprising to Jesus’ disciples that he was talking to a woman. Jewish men did not talk publicly to unknown women, especially a Samaritan woman. It is also strange that the woman was drawing water at noon, the hottest part of the day. Most women went to draw water when it was cooler. All of these clues added up to this woman being an outcast, someone others did not want to associate with. She went to the well when others weren’t there, she knows she is undesirable.  Jesus learned that this woman was a great sinner, for she was married five times and the m...

I was reading the Bible and was struck by the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. When Jesus was thirty years old, the Holy Spirit led him into the desert to be tempted by the devil for 40 days. (Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13) When we think of Satan it is common for us first to think of him in the form of a man, maybe wearing a red suit with horns on his head. We all know of course that this is not how the evil one looks but he can take on many forms. In Genesis three he is most famously found in the form of a snake. In the New Testament he is shown several times in the demons that Jesus exorcised. Also in the New Testament Satan confronts Jesus through Judas. In the story of Jesus’ temptation scripture doesn’t say what form Satan takes but I imagine him in human form or as a fallen angel. So with his ability to take on any form we can imagine him alive and well in today’s society. Jesus was tempted by Satan at the beginning of his ministry to prove that Jesus was sin...