07/27/2023
The Jesus Guilt Cure
When I was in seminary, I remember reading a psychologist who said that guilt is healthy if it lasts no more than five minutes or results in a change of behavior. I put the book down and thought: “Lord, my life is nothing but an onion with layer upon layer of unhealthy guilt.” Later on, I read a theologian who said that guilt is destructive to the soul unless it is first openly and completely confessed to God and then taken to the one we have offended to confess again and ask for their forgiveness. Again, I despaired when thinking of all the people in my past I would have to seek out and make amends to.
Guilt that lingers, regret that nibbles around the edges of our thoughts are termites to the soul. It is to be chained to the past when Jesus tells us to do all we can to focus on the here and now. There isn't anything Jesus can’t forgive. His grace is always greater than our sin and brokenness. Asking for his forgiveness, listening to his response, carrying out a dialogue which allows us to 'let it go and trust it into his hands' is not an easy thing to do. Not by a long shot. But it is a prayer that he is eager to hear and ready to say Yes to. It is the only way I know of to rebuild the bridges we have damaged and strengthen the relationships we need to become the women and men God has created us to be.
Archived Posts
The Perfect Church
There is an old joke about the perfect church. We talked just a little about the perfect pastor, but turnabout is fair play. It goes like this:
The Clothes You Wear
Sunday I talked about Joshua the High Priest having his filthy clothing replaced by a cleaned and beautiful garments. I also used the illustration of a boy becomes a dragon—who ‘wears’ dragon scales—and is stripped of those scales in order to be restored to a boy. In fact, I could have done the whole sermon around all the clothing imagery in scripture.
What just missed the cut for Sunday’s Sermon
Naaman’s servants may actually become one of the hidden gems of the sermon. They say, essentially: “If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it.”
One of the Longest Benedictions I Ran Out of Time to Share
Maybe you know the story of how Joseph and Mary accidentally left Jesus at the gas station on their way home from Jerusalem. Well, not the gas station bathroom in Jesus’ case. Joe and Mary are far down the road before they realize Jesus isn’t with them...
So many quips and quotes...
So little time to preach
I wonder what Mary and Martha’s phones might look like:
* Martha = the open browser with 27 tabs
* Mary = the single window that matters
* Psalm 46 = God saying, “Close the tabs.”
Quotable Outtakes That Didn’t Make the Sermon This Week
“When you try to control everything, you don’t just exhaust yourself—you quietly replace trust in God with trust in you.” & more
There is a challenge when it comes to preaching the Word of God.
Preachers are called to open up and interpret the word—inspired and written down thousands of years ago—and make it relevant to a very different world. On top of that there’s a degree of persuasion that goes along with the process.