What is your job description? Some are clearly defined: ride the back of the trash truck and empty trash cans into the truck at each stop. Others are loosely defined: be my personal assistant, show up at 8 every morning and do whatever I ask until I send you home. What is the job descriptionContinue reading “Don’t Make Your Job Complicated—Obedience is Simple. Jeremiah 22:3.”
Author Archives: Steven Wales
How to Respond to Scandals in the Church. Jeremiah 48:10.
I was the best man in Joe’s sham wedding. The wedding was Joe’s way of hiding his interest in children. I eventually found out about his past convictions in Tennessee, and when he later wound up in prison, I was pleased, having gained knowledge of a great deal of fraudulent acts and crime for whichContinue reading “How to Respond to Scandals in the Church. Jeremiah 48:10.”
Are You Jealous or Envious? Zephaniah 1:4.
Envy and jealousy are not the same thing. Do you know the difference? I like to think in terms of first, second, and third person. Envy is a situation in which the first person wants what the second person has—and the third person plays no part. Envy requires only two persons, where jealousy requires three.Continue reading “Are You Jealous or Envious? Zephaniah 1:4.”
Do You Live in the Kingdom of NO? Nahum 3:8-10.
Small children love to say ‘no.’ They are quick to discover agency and autonomy. They don’t know the big words, of course, but they understand the ideas: I don’t have to do what Mommy says. I can choose to do what I want. Even toddlers will assert themselves by saying No to everything. My cousinContinue reading “Do You Live in the Kingdom of NO? Nahum 3:8-10.”
Be NUMBER ONE! … at Prayer. 2 Chronicles 35:3.
Image: New York City’s famous Chess Tables in Washington Square Park–one of many pastimes available to the recently retired. We raise children under constant talk of college and career: You need to read more so you can get into a good college. You need to practice your lacrosse so you can get a scholarship. YouContinue reading “Be NUMBER ONE! … at Prayer. 2 Chronicles 35:3.”
When Clergy Become Abusers. Jeremiah 5:26-29.
Image. (I have not read this book, but I like the cover.) Eighty-eight-year-old Pope Francis died this morning and rather than the customary few days of kindness in the press, only hours after the man’s death critics are shouting that he did too little to address the clergy sex-abuse scandal in the Catholic church. MembersContinue reading “When Clergy Become Abusers. Jeremiah 5:26-29.”
Old Testament Mercy. 2 Chronicles 33:12-13.
When I was a little boy, a girl down the street told me that God the Father was mean and angry, and that only Jesus the Son was merciful.[1] Have you heard this idea? It goes hand-in-hand with the oft-repeated trope that the Old Testament tells the story of a God of vengeance, and theContinue reading “Old Testament Mercy. 2 Chronicles 33:12-13.”
This Cellophane Life. Isaiah 65:17-25.
Image: cellophane. Cellophane is the original name for clear plastic wrap or “shrink wrap.” Our lives on earth are like cellophane: thin, see-through, and not particularly durable. C.S. Lewis argued long ago that in heaven our lives will be “made of solider stuff,” and weighty, powerful, and filled with meaning. Rather than being flimsy andContinue reading “This Cellophane Life. Isaiah 65:17-25.”
Fasting and Prayer. Isaiah 58:3-9.
Do you ever wonder why God does not answer your prayers? Do you blame God or assume that he must be ignoring you? God always hears our prayers. God can certainly answer our prayers. “Behold, the Lord’s arm is not shortened, that it cannot save. Neither is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. ButContinue reading “Fasting and Prayer. Isaiah 58:3-9.”
The Great Stork Derby. Isaiah 54:1,4-5.
Image: The Timleck family, one of four winners of the Great Stork Derby. One of the craziest contests in history was the one Canadian journalists dubbed “The Great Stork Derby.” In 1926, wealthy Toronto lawyer, businessman, and practical joker, Charles Vance Millar died, leaving behind a will that included several practical jokes. “Millar started offContinue reading “The Great Stork Derby. Isaiah 54:1,4-5.”
Household Words: 