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Published: 16 October 2020

We were having a “marriage moment” in front of a dozen teens and a few sponsors.  Our bike trip group was at the top of Brockway Mountain Drive in Copper Harbor, Michigan.  A “miles long” twisting descent to the bottom was before us, and a couple of teens on a tandem recumbent bike challenged me to race them down the mountain.  What could I say?  Oh sure, I was a grandpa, a pastor, and the Bible Teacher for the week, but seriously, what could go wrong?  Doesn’t everybody think that going 40mph on two skinny wheels sounds like fun?  Diane didn’t.  She thought it was reckless and risky and dumb.  “You are crazy,” she said.  I took it as a compliment but I don’t think that was her intent.  I was winning that race until their youth and gravity began to favor them.  We all arrived safely at the bottom, no skinned up extremities or broken bones.  I was smiling, she said to me again, “You are crazy.” I took it as a compliment but I don’t think that was her intent.  She may have been right.  You know what is really crazy in some people’s minds?  The gospel.  For over 1900 years, we have been living downstream of the events that changed the entire course of humanity for eternity and some people think it is crazy.  It made perfect sense to Paul. It makes perfect sense to millions of people but it also sounds crazy to millions more.  Which side of crazy are you on?  You’ll find out Sunday.

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Published: 02 October 2020

Do you ever feel bad about feeling bad?  Maybe you are in the middle of a spiritual battle or a physical trial.  Maybe you are living in relational tension.  Maybe you are super frustrated with this COVID mess and just want to be “done with it!”  All of the aforementioned bring fatigue, frustration and stress…this affects our emotions.  We feel bad.  Then, in light of all we know, we start to feel bad about feeling bad.  We think about all we have learned about joy and peace and eternal life and think, “I am the worst Christian in the world.”  Or, “If I was a good Christian, I would be living the triumphant life, rising above my circumstances to the glory of God.”  It’s not wrong to aspire to such ideals and we could probably live “there” more than we do but even the Perfect Man endured the afflictions of this life and was “sorrowful and deeply distressed.”  We know that He was a Man who understood sorrow and was acquainted with grief.  Some of us try to hide our emotions and/or deny their reality.  To be fully human is to be healthy emotionally and to be healthy emotionally is to recognize and confess our emotions.  “It’s fine, I’m fine, everything is fine,” is not a verse from the Bible, it’s from a T-shirt.  If you are fine, don’t look for a reason not to be.  However, if you are struggling, maybe you need to confess it to someone.  Maybe you need to talk about your struggle.  Perhaps you could bring it to the throne of grace where you will find mercy and His active assistance in your time of need.  The struggle is real, He knows!  More about this on Sunday…