My childhood music minister Gerald B. Ray died at 92 recently and I was pleased to be able to attend the service celebrating his extraordinary life. His daughter Kristy shared that her father was in the habit of reciting the 23rd Psalm each night as he went to sleep. While he was in hospice care,Continue reading “Lullaby and Goodnight: What’s Your Bedtime Routine? Micah 2:1.”
Author Archives: Steven Wales
Beware: False Teachers are Everywhere. Ezekiel 13:1-14.
This morning I came across some crazy ideas online. There was the guy arguing that Christians do not sin. Another said the Apostle Paul was a deceiver who ruined the faith. A preacher argued James (brother of Jesus and author of the Book of James) did not understand the gospel, and that his book containsContinue reading “Beware: False Teachers are Everywhere. Ezekiel 13:1-14.”
On Modern Art. Ezekiel 41:1-12.
Image: The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali, 1931. I attended law school at the University of Houston, a campus littered with abstract modern art, much of it consisting of odd-shaped works in iron. One day while walking across the campus with a student whom I knew to be a lover of modern poetry, weContinue reading “On Modern Art. Ezekiel 41:1-12.”
Spiritual Leadership. Ezekiel 46:1-10.
How do you learn to follow the Lord? How do you teach it to your children? Perhaps the simplest advice I’ve heard is this: Discipleship is Caught not Taught. That is, people learn by observing good models. Teach people to follow Christ by following Christ yourself. In front of them. Let them see you readingContinue reading “Spiritual Leadership. Ezekiel 46:1-10.”
Ecclesiastes is the Book for Those Overwhelmed With Life’s Disappointments. Psalm 137.
What do you do when life overwhelms you? Even the happiest people can be overwhelmed with grief. Things happen. Circumstances can blindside you. You may be the most hopeful, optimistic person, and suddenly you wake up with only darkness in your soul. It is awful. When the children of Israel were taken captive by KingContinue reading “Ecclesiastes is the Book for Those Overwhelmed With Life’s Disappointments. Psalm 137.”
Don’t Jump the Gun. Genesis 23:16.
One Thanksgiving Day, a single man with nowhere to celebrate the holiday was invited to eat with Debbie’s family. During the meal, the Holy Spirit spoke to him: This is the woman you are going to marry. Mark barely knew Debbie—they had never dated. The voice he heard stunned him, like a lightning bolt outContinue reading “Don’t Jump the Gun. Genesis 23:16.”
The ‘Good Enough’ Work Ethic. 2 Chronicles 5:13-14.
Image: the cockpit of an airbus. The World War Two generation understood how to fight to the death. They knew what it was to live through a world at war, and to fear how things would end up, should the Allies lose. Life for the WWII generation (often called “The Greatest Generation”) must have beenContinue reading “The ‘Good Enough’ Work Ethic. 2 Chronicles 5:13-14.”
Dust in the Wind. Jeremiah 47:6.
Image: The 1951 Golden Anniversary photo of Carl and Gertie Stadtlander, my wife’s great-grandparents who lived so recently, historically speaking, yet about whom we know so little–and our children or grandchildren will know nothing according to Ecclesiastes 1:11. The rock band KANSAS recorded a perfect little song in 1977. “Dust in the Wind” is slowContinue reading “Dust in the Wind. Jeremiah 47:6.”
Diminish Not a Word. Jeremiah 26:2.
It is easy to imagine the prophets as charismatic heroes, as if they were celebrities or movie stars. I picture them something like Charlton Heston playing Moses in the old TEN COMMANDMENTS movie. In my mind’s eye, each prophet—Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and others—is a great orator, a handsome, bearded man standing on a rock, robesContinue reading “Diminish Not a Word. Jeremiah 26:2.”
The Awe of God. 1 Samuel 6:19-20.
Israel disobeyed God by bringing the Ark of the Covenant to the battlefield. Israel lost the battle to the Philistines, and they lost the Ark of the Covenant too. The idol-worshipping enemies of God then brought the Ark to their own temple. The next morning their idol, Dagon, had fallen down. They stood him up.Continue reading “The Awe of God. 1 Samuel 6:19-20.”
Household Words: 