paravanes:meditations

There is no single correct answer to the July Week 2 quiz. There are, however, a few things to consider. If you had no problem praying for five minutes for each of the last five days, congratulations! Continue to enjoy conversing with God. If you had a problem or difficulty praying for five minutes for each of the last five days, and if you define yourself as a Christian or a Christ-follower, consider these things: 1. How important is it for me to listen to what God has to say to me, to me only , on a daily basis? 2. Am I trusting other people to tell me what God has to say to me? Is this why I feel prayer can be put on hold or ignored? 3. Where do I lose the five minutes of my day that can be spent on prayer? Possibilities are: gaming, TV, talking/texting on my phone, general lack of planning, daydreaming, or some form of mindless time wasting that I can't account for? 4.  Do I believe reading the Bible is a substitute for praying? Some people believe this, but there i...

Procrastination has been called the "thief of time." More than anything else, time is an irreplaceable gift from God. We can make more money. We can make more friends. We can even create new families. We cannot make, or add, more time beyond what God allots to us. Jesus tells his followers we cannot add any time to our lives by worrying. In Matthew 6:27, Jesus said "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Is there a connection between procrastination and worry? Why do we put things off, or delay beginning a valuable or important task? Do we fear a negative outcome?  Do we fear we are unable to successfully complete the task? Do we feel deeply stressed by starting to work on an unfamiliar task? Do we feel unable to face a possible failure? When you and I think deeply about what's behind the tendency some of us have to procrastinate, we'll probably uncover fear and worry, along with the unhelpful tendency to seek perfectionism. Perfecti...

Several Sundays ago, we had a last minute emergency regarding a guest minister and I was asked to preach if the guest was unable to make it. I agreed, and began to think about what I would say to the congregation. I meditated on what is the most important reminder the church universal needs regarding who we are and why we are here.  I was led to this passage from 2 Timothy 1:12: “…I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.” Here are the words of a man facing execution, a man  who has been abandoned by his associates and betrayed by those who thought he could rely upon. This man, Paul the apostle, is facing death because of his testimony for and about Jesus Christ. Paul, a man who was widely regarded as a powerhouse intellectual in his day and time, had been cajoled and laughed at for believing in fairy tales and false truths as he traveled, taught, and...