Daily Devotional

“How lovely is thy dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yea, faints
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
    to the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may lay her young,
at thy altars, O Lord of hosts,
    my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in thy house,
    ever singing thy praise!”

There are few conversations that take place in the Gospels that are more interesting than the one between Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman.  (I hope you will take a moment to read it: Mark 7:24-30) In this conversation there are theological arguments, cultural struggles, and name calling.  It would even seem that the Syrophoenician woman wins the argument.

The seventh chapter of Mark begins with several religious leaders from Jerusalem eating with Jesus and his disciples. The religious leaders have traveled to meet with Jesus in the area known as Galilee. Galilee is where Jesus does much of his ministry. There they have an argument about what is clean and unclean, because it seems that some of Jesus’ disciples did not wash their hands, according to the “tradition of the elders.” Jesus strongly teaches that, “There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but that the things that come out are what defile.” This conversation was about dietary restrictions found in the Levitical law.  However, it was to teach that God was most concerned about what’s in our hearts and not in our stomachs.

In October of 1997, The Lion King opened on Broadway. It was a tremendous success. It is now one of the most successful Broadway shows in history. It is still on stage today and is now the highest grossing Broadway production in history.

The characters, the music, the movie animation, the musical staging for The Lion King have all helped lead to make this a successful show. However, it takes far more than good music and setting to make a good show. The story must speak to the heart of those who are giving up their time to watch the show.

At the heart of the story is the struggle of a young lion, Simba, to overcome the mistakes of his past…

A special wedding is exactly what Jamie West had planned when she elected to have her wedding at White Castle.  You read that correctly… She married Drew Schmitt in a fast-food restaurant, and they were excited to do so. White Castle is a hamburger chain, known for its small square hamburgers. White Castle holds a special place in Jamie’s heart.

Jamie West had a difficult childhood. By the time she was 4 years old, she was living in a foster home.  She would live in and out of foster homes and shelters until she eventually would become homeless, living on the streets of Arizona and California.  Jamie was 15, homeless, and hungry.  She had not had food in almost a week when she walked into a White Castle late one night.  She didn’t know what to expect.  Jamie was not expecting a warm welcome, but that is exactly what she received.  The manager saw her come in the store and told her to go wash up in the bathroom.   While Jamie was in the restroom…

This past Sunday, Dr. Long started a new sermon series, “3 Questions.” These are questions that we should wrestle with. They get to the core of who we are and our purpose in this world. The first of these questions is, “Who am I?”

I enjoyed thinking about this challenging question. I believe the answer to this question is found in the creation story. The book of Genesis tells us clearly that we are all made in the “image” and “likeness” of God. Although our culture often highlights our differences, the Bible opens with a celebratory statement that we have a common origin. We are God’s creation. We are all God’s children.

Being made in the image of God, we have the capacity to know love, to embrace kindness, and to do good…

When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.” – Psalm 94:18-19

It was 22 years ago today that our world changed. Early in the morning, on September 11, 2001, the United States experienced the worst terrorist attacks in our history. These terrible attacks killed 2,977 people and 19 terrorists. We were gripped by fear as we watched buildings fall in New York City, and planes crash at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

I remember gathering around the TV that day.  I was on staff at First Methodist in Altus, OK.  We only had one TV in the building and it was in our Youth Room. We gathered around and watched as the events of that day unfolded. We were in shock as more and more images emerged. We were in disbelief that something like this could happen in the United States…

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every one who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

“But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out for fear. But immediately he spoke to them, saying, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus” – Matthew 14:26-29

There are moments in life when an opportunity presents itself and that opportunity seems impossible. Fear clouds our judgement and often holds us back from seizing the possibilities right in front of us.

I can only begin to imagine the fear that gripped the disciples when they saw Jesus walking on the water. Surely, as they looked out across the sea, they must have thought their eyes were playing tricks on them…

This last summer, my family spent some vacation time on the road. Along the way we had some great pizza at one of our favorite locations, The Mellow Mushroom. It is a great pizza chain and this one was in a great location, right by the ocean.

This first time we had pizza at a Mellow Mushroom I was not excited! It is important for you to know that I do not like mushrooms.  I don’t order them on my pizza. I don’t like them in my spaghetti sauce. I don’t even like them fried and dipped in ranch.  I know it sounds like I am a little kid refusing to eat his vegetables, but I just don’t like them. Yuck!

I don’t try to keep my feelings about mushrooms a secret and that is why I was surprised when my wife made an off-the-wall dinner suggestion…