HARMLESS THOUGHTS

I painted a happy little cloud...

Here it is... Live from Minneapolis, MN... in the middle of a busy restaurant! (If the player doesn't load below, click here to download an mp3 of this podcast .) ... And here are the Chicken Tacos that arrived while recording the podcast...   :)

Painting number two...

My first attempt at acrylic painting...

In my personal Bible reading this morning I came across a passage of scripture that I don't think that I have ever noticed before. It is in Isaiah 25, and what initially caught my attention was the ESV Bible's heading for this chapter: it was titled -- God will swallow up death forever. Quite often, as I am reading through these Old Testament Prophets, my brain will slip into neutral: I will still be reading, but I have ceased to process the words. Sometimes this happens because of my Adult A.D.D. Sometimes it is associated with the fact that it is a pronouncement of judgement against some ancient nation... the Moabites or the Ammonites or such. This isn't an excuse, and I hate that I do it, but I'm just being honest... I struggle. But then, I will come upon a passage that clearly speaks out about something directly connected to me. In this case it rings true to my own benefits found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. After the crucifixion and after Christ is resurrecte...

Here is the second episode of the Edgewood Edge-U-Cation Podcast. Once again coming to you from my basement and fueled by Diet Mountain Dew... (If the player doesn't load below, just click here to downlaod an mp3 of the podcast .)

Here is episode one of Edgewood Edge-U-Cation Podcast. (I am just going to try doing this. No promises that it will last.)

From prayer that asks that I may be Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee, From fearing when I should aspire, From faltering when I should climb higher, From silken self, O Captain, free Thy soldier who would follow Thee.  From subtle love of softening things, From easy choices, weakenings, (Not thus are spirits fortified, Not this way went the Crucified,) From all that dims Thy Calvary, O Lamb of God, deliver me.  Give me the love that leads the way, The faith that nothing can dismay The hope no disappointments tire The passion that will burn like fire, Let me not sink to be a clod: Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God. Poem by Amy Carmichael, quoted in Basics for Believers by D.A. Carson

We choose: we follow the dragon and his beasts along their parade route, conspicuous with the worship of splendid images, elaborated in mysterious symbols, fond of statistics, taking on whatever role is necessary to make a good show and get the applause of the crowds in order to get access to power and become self-important. Or we follow the Lamb along a farmyard route, worshipping the invisible, listening to the foolishness of preaching, practicing a holy life that involves heroically difficult acts that no one will ever notice, in order to become, simply, our eternal selves in an eternal city. It is the difference, politically, between wanting to use the people around us to become powerful (or, if unskilled, getting used by them), and entering into covenants with the people around us so that the power of salvation extends into every part of the neighborhood, the society, and the world that God loves.  —EUGENE PETERSON This quote is in the prelude of the book The Way of the Drag...

I've gone to church my whole life, at least as long as I can remember. I've been involved in several different local churches at a variety of levels, but most recently (for the last 8 years) as the Senior Pastor of Edgewood Baptist Church in Danville, IL.  Over the course of these years I have been forced, by reason of necessity, to consider what the scriptures say about how church ought to be. A week or so ago I posted some of my first thoughts on this topic in When Church Is Done Right: It Is Like Family . In this post I want to discuss a topic that I have had mixed feelings and varied beliefs over the years. The topic is Church Attendance.... So, here we go: Open Doors ( Image Source ) I want to begin with why I have had mixed feelings on this topic. You see, I grew up with the idea that "every time the church doors were opened, we were there." This usually meant Sunday School, Sunday Morning Service, Sunday Night Service, and Wednesday Night Service. When ...