Mental Musings

We have all experienced times when we knew we were in over our head. We knew that nothing we could do or say would fix the situation. We were at the end of our proverbial rope, which was fraying at the top and on fire to boot. It is at that moment that we usually realize that we only have one option: prayer. Now, I realize that sometimes we find ourselves in these situations even when we have been praying earnestly about our problems, but more often than not we wait until nothing else will work before we bring God in on what is happening. Why? Generally it is pride that keeps us from wanting to admit that we have a problem or that we need help in fixing the problem. "Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire" 1 Thessalonians 5:17-19 In all circumstances we are to pray. Now, it is easy to pray when everything is great. God is blessing and we are just buzzing along. But wh...

Notes from our bible study in Ephesians. This is the final lesson. In a Nutshell Prepare yourself for a victorious life by learning obedience. “Look both ways before you cross the street.” “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” “Look before you leap.” These are all sayings that we have probably heard before. They are in the imperative case, meaning that they are commands. When our parents said things like these to us, what did they expect from us? Perhaps so that we do not have to learn a horrible lesson from our failures or mistakes Verses 1-4: Paul starts off this chapter by using an imperative sentence, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord.” He tells us that this is one of the ten commandments, but he also tell us that God provided an incentive for this commandment. What was that? I am someone who needed to know about the incentive. I was the type of kid who would have listened and obeyed more if I had known that doing so would be good for me. ...

I remember one of my finer moments when I was a youth. I was out on a date and we went to McDonald’s to eat. Obviously it was not a first date or it would probably have been the last after showing her what a big spender I was. But regardless of how long you have been dating, guys always want to impress their date by not doing something really lame. Unfortunately for me, this was not one of those nights. As we stood at the counter to order our food, I decided that I wanted to get a milkshake with my meal. The young girl behind the counter, probably younger than we were since McDonald’s has the famous from the cradle to the grave hiring policy, looked tired as she gave us that now unusual McDonald’s smile and asked if she could help us. I placed our order and at the end asked for a milkshake. The young girl then asked me, “What kind of shake?” I looked at her with a confused look on my face and smartly replied, “Milk!” Not to be intimidated, the girl asked very slowly as if speaking ...

As I stood on the rooftop of the World Trade Center in 1983, I looked down upon the New York City skyline. I believe it was called the Top of the World Observatory. The view was amazing that day with very little smog or clouds to obstruct us from seeing all of Manhattan and into New Jersey. I also remember thinking how cold and windy it was way up there above everyone else. And I must admit that I was slightly afraid to get very close to the railings. I have looked for the photos I took that day with my Canon AE1 35mm SLR camera. I imagine that they are sitting in a shoebox somewhere collecting dust. It is possible that they were among the photos we lost in Florida when a hurricane ripped open our roof and rain poured into our home. But no Kodak moment can be erased from my mind because of a little rain. I was 18 when I visited the World Trade Center and I would never have thought that just 18 years later that building, its twin, and several others would be gone forever. As ...

There was fire. There was a lot of fire. And thick, black smoke was billowing everywhere. The fire spread amazingly fast. But I guess I am going a little fast as well. Let me back up and start again. If you met me today, you would think to yourself, “This is someone who has lived an average life. He never did anything worth notice. After all, he is a pastor and their lives seem rather boring.” Just because someone grows up in a Christian family, it doesn’t mean that they will come out squeaky clean. Actually, it is almost impossible to make it out of a Christian family without some horrible happenings. Christian families tend to have more rules than the Sanhedrin. Besides, our sin nature gives us a built in desire to do things we know are wrong: to push the limits, to stretch the envelope, to color outside of the lines. Christian families are often so strict that anything fun is considered sinful. It is sort of like my favorite diet saying, “If it tastes good, spit it out.” I ...