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Easter is arguably the most important holiday for Christians. The death and resurrection of Jesus are the foundation of Christian beliefs. So how has a holiday with so much meaning been seemingly taken over by the Easter Bunny and marshmallow chicks? What should we as Christians make of it all? The decorating of eggs for Easter can be dated back to at least the 13th century. One explanation is that eggs were forbidden during Lent and were boiled or roasted as a way of preserving them. They were then decorated as part of the Easter Celebration....
Most, if not all, of us have at one time or another said, “I can’t.” Whenever I uttered those words as a young boy, my Dad would always remind me that, “Can’t never accomplished anything.” In like manner, one of my business partners would always tell our sales people, “If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t, you can’t. Either way you are right.” Both were expressions of positive thinking and reminders to not limit ourselves. Yet the reality of life is that there are some things that are too big (even for a positive thinker)....
“Ecce homo”...“Behold the man.” These are the words, in his native tongue, of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect of Judea, Israel during the trial of Jesus Christ. Jesus had been brought to the Romans with the hope that they would condemn and execute Him, rather than His enemies themselves doing it. But amid all of the other events surrounding His arrest, trial, persecution and eventual crucifixion, there was one particular interaction that occurred just prior to these words being spoken as Pilate presented a brutally beaten and scourge...
I write this having just returned from a snowmobile trip to British Columbia. Seeley Lake has wonderful snowmobiling, world-class snowmobiling, but sometimes it’s nice to just get away on a trip to somewhere else. While out riding, I had a few thoughts and observations that I thought I would share. First, the world is big. Really big! I know that going from western Montana into the land of our friendly neighbors to the north does not pass through any heavily populated part of the world; indeed, driving for many hours covers a very miniscule p...
“Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord pointed out a tree to him. He threw it in the water, and the water became sweet.” (Exodus 15:25 CEB) The notion of “surrender” has a myriad of understandings. On one hand we can relinquish an object, even ourselves, over to the care or responsibility of another. On another hand, we can surrender by giving into something – perhaps a behavior, or going along with the crowd. This season before Easter, what those of us in certain liturgical traditions call “Lent,” provides an opportunity to focus on surr...
My mentor, co-worker and friend Rollie Johnson told those words to me in 2001. My mom had just died and I was entering into my senior year of college. I had mounds of responsibilities (from work to clubs to school to church and everything in-between) on my plate and I was emotionally broken. I didn’t know how to function with this new heaping pile of hurt from losing my mom. So, through my tears and pain, I told Rollie that I just wasn’t sure what to do because I had committed myself to so many things. And I wasn’t just a participant – I was a...
In October of 2006, a milkman by the name of Charles Carl Roberts lost all reason and control. Blaming God for the death of his first child, he stormed into an Amish school without any provocation, released the boys and adults, and tied up 10 girls. He shot the girls, killing five and wounding five. Then he took his own life. Should this have happened to me, I would have been angry, bitter and unforgiving, but the Amish response was quite different. While there was great anguish, there was no anger; while there was hurt, there was no...
In the gloom of all the tragedies in the world; the injustices and corruption in our government and country; the dysfunctional families and abuses; the addictions and life-threatening diseases; the starving and the homeless; the prejudices and the hate; the immorality and the fascination with evil and darkness; the self-centeredness and the greed; and the inevitable certainty of our death, there is still hope! We live in a fallen world where no one is without sin. Romans 3:23 states, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of G...
While reading a recent article in the New York Daily News, I was once again reminded that we often miss the point of prayer. This article criticized Republican presidential candidates for tweeting that they were praying for those affected by the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. This same article praised Democratic candidates for tweeting their support for greater gun control laws. The cover of the tabloid screamed, “God Isn’t Fixing This,” followed by, “As the latest batch of innocent Americans are left lying in pools of blood, cowards w...
Admiral Horatio Nelson is one of England’s greatest heroes, yet his fame was gained not only due to his strengths, but arguably even more so from his weaknesses. Having lost his mother at the age of nine, he began his military career at the age of 13 as an ordinary seaman. From his first day at sea through the rest of his life, he would suffer from constant seasickness. His frailness also left him susceptible to other illnesses, contracting yellow fever, recurring bouts with malaria and an unidentified debilitating sickness in the West Indies....
As a contractor, I have many opportunities to see the value and effects of appreciation. Appreciation is simply defined as “the recognition and enjoyment of the good qualities of someone or something.” There are certain customers that I find more pleasant to work for and certain customers that I find more difficult to work for. One of the differentiating qualities is how appreciative they are of what we do for them. Even a very demanding customer is easier to work for when they regularly express true appreciation for what we have done. And that...
“This is how the love of God is revealed to us: God has sent his only Son into the world so that we can live through him. This is love: it is not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as the sacrifice that deals with death and our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us this way, we also ought to love each other… There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear expects punishment. The person who is afraid has not been made perfect in love. We love because God first loved us.” (1 John 4:9-11, 18-19 CEB)...
I love the beauty of a fresh covering of snow. After several days without a new snowfall, the ground begins to look muddy, full of tire tracks and various debris covers the surface. Once a new layer of fresh snow covers the ground once again the beauty starts all over again. As we get ready to step into a new year, I am reminded of the importance of a fresh start. The beginning of a brand new year shows us that we can start over. We may have fallen into bad habits, experienced personal trials or feel stuck. Standing on the doorstep of 2016,...
Tis the season to be jolly. Everywhere you go people are joyful, happy and cheerful. Despite the fact that as a society we see the holidays as a joyous time, many people find the holiday season anything but joyful. Tis also the season to especially miss loved ones that have passed on. For some, it’s the season to be lonely and depressed, and for others, a season of stress and anxiety. If you are one who is struggling this season, my heart goes out to you. I know many right here in our little community with real wounds this season—hurting fro...
I have fond memories of singing in a choir during a Christmas program when I was in the fourth grade in a small east Texas town. In order to be in the choir, you had to learn all the words to most Christmas carols. No one complained that we sang about the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ nor were there complaints that a large Christian cross was hung on the auditorium stage. Things were different then and even though WW II was in progress we were looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior. I believe we knew what Christmas was all...
Recent years have seen increasing attacks on Christianity, one of which has been an attempt to remove Christ from Christmas. Many department stores and retailers have gone to stressing “Happy Holidays” in an attempt to not offend non-Christians. Apparently they are not concerned with offending Christians. Christmas has long been both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Chr...
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3 For a number of Christians, the period between this last Sunday and Christmas Day is celebrated and known as Advent. Named from the Latin verb “to come,” it is a time of special observation and preparation for the incarnation of Our Lord into human flesh at Christmas. Not only do we celebrate His coming to us that night as a newborn child in a manger but we also celebrate His coming to us in its entire...
It is one of my favorite holidays this week - Thanksgiving. Between feasting, family, friends, floats, furlough and football, it always seems to be a fabulous time! There is a long tradition of Thanksgiving in our nation, dating all the way back to the Plymouth Plantation in 1623. Although it is not a holiday found in the Bible, giving thanks is certainly a very biblical thing to do. After celebrating a day of Thanksgiving on a couple of different calendar days, it was in 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, by act of Congress, that...
“Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.” (Romans 12:14-16 The Message) These last few months around here have been tremendously challenging as a community. There have been fires, some unexpected deaths, employment issues at the mill, families breaking up, more cancer diagnoses, increased alcoholism and drug use – all right here in Seeley Lake. Friends...
There is an ancient story in the Bible that speaks of hurt and hopelessness. This story is timeless as there are many around us who are hurting, suffering, and without hope…yet those around are unaware. The Old Testament tells about a woman named Hannah in 1 Samuel. Hannah was unable to bear a child. This is a still a heartache for many women today. Especially in Hannah’s day not being able to bear children was a source of shame to not be able to have heirs to pass on property and wealth. Hannah had a loving husband Elkanah who saw that somethi...
Remember Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? She sang: “I want a party with roomfuls of laughter, Ten thousand tons of ice cream, And if I don’t get the things I am after, I’m going to scream! I want the works, I want the whole works! Presents and prizes and sweets and surprises in all shapes and sizes, And now! I don’t care how, I want it now!” Didn’t she get what was coming to her and isn’t this “Veruca Complex” very evident in our culture today? In a recent sermon on patience, the speaker told of a study conducted at Stan...
We are getting into the time of year where the signature look of the hunter moves from camouflage to orange. When it comes to hunting, there is a tradeoff between not being seen by the animals and being visible to other hunters who might otherwise shoot in your direction. When it comes to Christianity, there might be a similar debate when it comes to how much we should look like the world around us. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes it clear what he expects of us. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be h...
It would be a mistake for us, as Christians, to imagine that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do. The only perfect person was Jesus Christ. And while it is true that we will one day become perfect, that will not be true this side of heaven. God’s purpose is to make us one with Himself. Yet most of us spend more time asking God for things than we do actually seeking God. The more time we spend thinking about ourselves, the greater we hinder God’s work in, and through us. The Apostle Paul touched on this when he wrote to the...
