Category Archives: Random thoughts

Some days the longing for Jesus’ return is more intense than other days. I cry out in my heart. I breathe. I carry on.

My wife is listening to Stealth while she is cooking. It is pretty fabulous.

Yesterday, my back spasmed all day. I stayed down and took muscle relaxants. Then I felt guilty for taking time off. I hate anxiety.

Jesus said that some of his servants will figure he isn’t coming and start to beat the other servants and get drunk and party with drunkards. It seems like this is being fulfilled right in front of our eyes.

Jesus also said that he will avenge his people and cut the oppressor into pieces and cast him into outer darkness.

Whether you are single, married, barren, or full of  children; wherever you are called and whatever you do, the purpose for which you were created is to glorify God and enjoy him forever; to live with him in eternal blessedness to praise and glorify him – beginning in this life. When you praise and glorify the Lord, you are living your best life and doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing.

Idolatry is alive and well. What causes you unrest? Where is your trust? what do you believe will make you happy? What uncleanness will you tolerate to get what you think you want?

I’m learning how to sit with myself and look at what is running through my mind and analyze it. As it turns out, I am not very kind to myself. I am practicing setting my mind on better things, but old habits die hard.

If the one who committed a crime against you is brought to justice, whether by God or by man, the consequences of his actions are not your fault. Never your fault.

Be kind to yourself. If there is sin, repent and be washed clean. For everything else, you are wonderfully made and gifted by God to be exactly who you are. Embrace that and then you can embrace others without fear.

Yesterday I watched Ernest and Celestine on Prime Video. It was delightful.

In 1912, Jim Thorpe had his shoes stolen before he competed for the gold in the Olympics. He found two mismatched shoes in the trash, made them fit by adding extra socks, and won two gold medals. You will never be that cool. But you CAN decide to do your best with what God has given you.

Doing your best with honor and dignity is a goal worth striving for.

Today I read this: “I’m sorry for all those who you loved that made you feel like loving you was hard work.” I remembered that time when someone made a speech in front of fellow elders and pastors that used the words, “I love everyone; but Sam Powell is hard to love.” I didn’t know that.

Every new morning, I wake up next to a beautiful and loving woman who never makes me feel like I’m hard to love.

In turn, she is quite easy to love. Love is like that.

When you decide that truth is an acceptable sacrifice to make for the survival of your system, you no longer have a system worth preserving.

When you decide that right and wrong are acceptable sacrifices to make for the survival of your system, you no longer have a system worth preserving.

Bob Seger is my guilty pleasure. My wife puts up with it.

I frequently hear that marriage is hard work and God will sanctify you through that hard work. I have no idea what that means. I have never once thought of marriage as “hard work.”

Speaking of marriage, housework, cooking and dishes have nothing to do with gender roles and have everything to do with being an adult.

A lot of men just need to grow up and learn how to act like adults.

When one is terrified of “losing their place and their nation”, they will do horrible things to each other.

But when your treasure, your place, and your kingdom is in heaven, and your life is hid in Christ at the right hand of God, you are set free to love.

What if “Be anxious for nothing” and “Don’t be afraid” weren’t commands, but encouragements? What if we could tell the difference?

Sometimes, one has to come out of the closet with controversial opinions – so here goes: Jerry Lewis isn’t funny. I hate to break it to you.

If you can label someone and then cut them off, it saves you from having to think and engage. This sums up 2020.

Labels are very rarely helpful or edifying or accurate.

Because labels are so misleading, I’ve gotten into the habit of asking people to define what they mean before engaging with the label. What you mean by “liberal” and what I mean by “liberal” might be two different things. This is why engagement, communication and respect are so important.

Engage with ideas; not with labels.

But dehumanizing an opponent is easier than examining our own belief system. That is why it is so popular.

I long for the day when Christians can disagree with one another without labels and without hatred and without fear. It seems to me that this is the definition of love.

You won’t win playing someone else’s game.

The Christian life is a process of change. Christ’s spirit calls us to put off the old man and put on the new. This means that you will not be the same person you were 10 years ago. If you have never changed an opinion, something is wrong.

I don’t long for the “good old days” for they have never existed. I do, however, long for the future when the fulness of God’s kingdom comes.

One great thing about living in 2021 is streaming television. My wife and I are watching “Mad About You”, and old sitcom starring Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser. It is brilliant. Their chemistry is beautiful to watch. And the characters love each other, which is rare for television couples. They are also extremely funny.

I am firmly convinced that the only reason Happy Days was popular was that there was literally nothing else on.

When I was a child, I had a friend that I hung out with. We used spoons to dig roads and tunnels in the dirt and pretend we were civil engineers designing roads for Hot Wheels. I miss doing that.

I once clogged up his toilet and didn’t know how to process that, so I just got on my bike and went home. Sorry, Rick. My bad.

Bob Hope isn’t funny either.

That’s all. Go outside and take a walk.

When you allow dark thoughts about another believer to fester in your mind, everything that they do becomes another reason to dislike them. Eventually this just turns to hatred. This is contrary to love and impossible to fight.

My wife will sometimes listen to Moroccan music while she cooks. I know that means that Moroccan food is on the menu. Tonight it was a fish stew made with white fish, potatoes, herbs, olives, lemon. That doesn’t do it justice. Imagine seeing the magnificence of the ocean for the first time. Imagine the first time you hear Beethoven resolve tension and introduce a new theme. Imagine a revelation of a long hidden secret. Imagine that majesty, grace and beauty could be made into a stew. If this is what Esau sold his birthright for, he was wrong, but I understand. That is what my wife’s Moroccan fish stew is like.

We all love Bruch’s violin concerto. But his Suite on Russian Themes is breathtakingly beautiful.

I think that the Rothschild’s space laser makes me pee more than I usually do.

Today I heard Kygo’s re-imagining of Donna Summer’s “Hot stuff” and it made me ridiculously happy.

When we were first married, I bought my wife a stuffed lobster for Valentine’s day. When you pushed a button, it danced and sang “Hot Stuff”. I remembered that while I was dancing to Kygo.

I once was overcome with sadness and hopelessness and I wandered outside in the rain. At that moment, God sent a rainbow. I’ll always remember that.

When my wife smiles, it’s a little bit like a rainbow.

I used to have big dreams and big bucket lists. Now, more than anything, I look forward to Sundays. Even sitting outside in the cold while God meets with his people is better than a day feasting in the fine houses of wickedness.

I have a friend that once told me that everyone is just trying to make it through the best that they can. Something in my mind clicked then and I made an effort to give people a break. It is a change of a lifelong pattern.

Once I realized that my neighbor’s viewpoint on current events can’t actually remove me from the peace that I have with God, it became far easier for me to live at peace with them.

You have to listen to people before you know enough to help them.

Speaking of Max Bruch, if you haven’t heard his Third Symphony, you really should.

That’s all.

Think of beautiful things. Meditate on things that make for peace.

Imitate the one who healed the ear; not the one that cut it off.

Good night.