After you accomplish something really hard, what do you hope for?
For some it is the satisfaction of a job well done. For others it is a simple pat on the back by your boss. Perhaps it is a bonus or pay raise. Maybe a trophy. The list is long.
Why do I bring this up? Because in Genesis chapter 14, beyond all the names (which are meant to ground us in the fact that a war really happened), we see Abram not wanting an excessive reward. Why?
Read MoreManagement gurus study what makes people successful. The goal is to learn and share the lessons, so we can all be more effective. Throughout the years, while there have been a variety of lessons and techniques identified, Focus and Discipline consistently appear.
It is not that successful people never get off-track. They (we) all do. It is that they know what their Focus is supposed to be, and they have the Discipline to ask if they are indeed focused! (Harvard Business Review, What to Ask the Person in the Mirror, reprint R0701H)
The same is true with our walk with God. In Chapter 13 we see the One Thing we need to do to stay connected with God!
Read MoreNowadays, most TV and Movie superheroes have human character flaws. Not so when I was growing up. My superheroes were perfect! That had (and ridiculously continues to have) an effect on me. I have unrealistic expectations for myself—and somehow think everyone else has these expectations—not just including God—but especially God. Up until recently, writers for centuries would present heroes to be super-terrific people. They would wax over their flaws. It is why I love the Bible. It presents real people: complete, with all their warts. The people of the Bible remind me of me.
Read More“I think God is leading me to be a pastor” I informed my wife. Her response: “Funny, God hasn’t talked to me about it!”
Her next question: “So, how long has God been talking to you about this?” After a big gulp, I said, “About a year.”
Now, as an aside, here is a tip for husbands—don’t wait a year to tell your wife this kind of news.
But what do you do when you are trying to determine whether it is God’s voice, or simply those really old leftovers in the fridge that you ate last night, telling you do something crazy?
Read MoreBy this point, I am not sure if I find the list a break from some of the global catastrophes, or not. Regardless, we have another list. At times in my reading, I welcome passages like this one. They give me a bit of a break. They slow me down. They let me ponder the text. Pondering lets me move from information to understanding. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want more Bible information, I would rather have such deep understanding, that my life is transformed by God. So, what is God up to in chapter 11?
Read MoreIf you pause for a moment, you will notice that we have gone from a world-ending flood to a ginormous earth-shaking-language-confusing-event of sorts, that has scattered humanity across the globe. The Bible is like summer blockbuster movie season! I write that not to be derogatory towards God’s Word, but to point out that you should not be finding this story boring… quite the opposite! More than entertainment, what might you and I be gaining from our reading in Genesis 11?
Read MoreI know, I know, you are trying to read Genesis and keep up with these posts—and then you hit another list of names here in Genesis 10. You’re thinking, “Didn’t I just read one of these?” Answer: Yes. Yes, you did. Beyond reading them, it is pronouncing those names. The question might be, “Do we really have to bother with them?” There are at least two quick reasons I can offer you to read these lists.
Read MoreIf you have been reading along, you may be concluding I am one of those “Bible people”—yeah, I am. After all, I just told you I believe the Flood really happened. Here’s the deal. If I am going to take that sort of a stand, then I better be willing to deal with some of the strange parts of the Bible—like the verses we read today. So just what is going on in this part of Genesis 9? Noah proclaims a curse for what Ham did to him because he “uncovered his nakedness” or “saw his father’s nakedness.” The tricky thing about that is how best to understand what this phrase means.
Read MoreI am a dad. My shortcomings are ever-present in my mind. Please, don’t try and talk me out of them. Partly it is how I am wired: seeing what could have been and lamenting what wasn’t. Partly it is this “bit in me” that wants to not duck my responsibility. Partly it is being raised on TV shows that portrayed families in such an idyllic way, that my sense of reality is warped. (Right now you are probably thinking you need to pray for my wife—you should.) I have written about family before, here, and here, and here, and here… Family is important. Noah and his three sons begin the human family again—or do they?
Read MoreI sailed in the Merchant Marines. When I first went to sea, I had to “get my sea legs” which is a polite way of saying that I did not get sea sick. It takes some getting used to, being at sea. I remember my first time on dry land after a 20-day crossing—it was a weird sensation, walking around and not having a ship move under my feet. Today we read about Noah and his crew coming ashore, on solid ground—and what’s the first thing they do? Thank God!
Read MoreWhy do I ask how you read your Bible? Because how you read/interpret your Bible will have a lot to do with how you process the Bible’s first chapters (which we just read), and how you are going to deal with the chapters we are about to read. Many people will say the Bible is the Word of God. Okay, sure. What do you mean by that phrase? And then, how do you read the Bible? Let me tell you what I mean by saying the Bible is the Word of God.
Read More“EVERYTHING IS WRONG!” I would cry as a young child, when my world was upside down. My mother would often point out that perhaps—as I was throwing my tantrum inside a heated home with a non-leaking roof, and only after I had eaten my latest meal—that perhaps everything was a bit of an overstatement. However, when in Genesis 6, God says, “the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.” …when God says everything is wrong, perhaps we need to have the courage to look in the mirror.
Read MoreHuman emotions: there are days I embrace my emotions, and days I wrestle with them. Many a self-help book has been written in an effort to help us get control over our emotions. Many a prayer said. What about God? Does God have emotions? Genesis 6 says God regrets…
Read MoreWe would sit around my grandfather’s red leather chair, on the floor, as he smoked Tiperillo or Huntington cigars. We would beg him to tell us family stories. We would ask him over and over how different relatives were connected into the family tree. Family, we long for it, even though all of them have issues. The Bible celebrates family—with all its pluses and minuses—with all its beauty marks and warts. As we read the fifth chapter of Genesis…
Read MoreOur lives are not Disney movies. As followers of Jesus, we sometimes forget that. We even project to people who are not following Jesus, that “if they just followed, they would live happily ever after.”
At times we quote a verse, Jeremiah 29:11 and note that God has great plans for us. He does. The point however is that His plans may not involve us having the perfect lives we are dreaming of.
Why do I say that? Lots of reasons, but one is that, if you know anything about Jeremiah’s life on earth (from whom we so often quote), you would know it was not prosperous by human standards—quite the opposite. I also say our lives are not Disney movies for another reason: our sin has consequences—generational consequences.
As if things weren’t bad enough with Adam and Eve having to leave the Garden, we now read about a murder. Cain and Abel… how do you process this story? Is there anything to learn from it? Asking these questions leads me to look at this story of Cain and Abel from a few perspectives. First, I want to simply look at why God might not be impressed with Cain’s gift. I don’t want to stop there. I want to then note what God does. Finally, I want to simply ask, “What is Cain’s problem with God?”
Read MoreThe image we have of people affects how we “see” every action they take, and “hear” every word they speak. One day, one of my managers said to me, “If people think I’m a liar, I will give them plenty of proof!” I was a bit taken back, “Do you lie that much?” He laughed. “No, what I mean is, they will hear my words through a filter that can twist my meanings into their meanings.” The same is true of events we are witness to or read about. In Genesis 3, God has five main actions…
Read MoreIn these early chapters of Genesis we see not merely a tale of something that happened long ago, but something that happens every day. Every day God creates. Every day God breathes life into the world. Every day I take a bite from the forbidden fruit. Every day I make decisions to make myself the most important person—more important than God. These scenes play out over and over again in the lives of human beings… and if that is the point, then perhaps we should consider how this story is our story.
Read MoreWhen was the last time you learned a new skill? Maybe a new language, a musical instrument, or a hobby, like painting or golf? You have to start at the beginning. Getting better at something, creating new habits and routines, building our “gut responses” and “instincts” – all that takes time and repetition, doesn’t it? We have to “drill” the basics in order to get somewhere, and to know how to respond when we’re met with a challenge.
Read MoreMost guidance for a blog is that you say whatever you are writing in 500 words or less. So, in 500 words or less, describe how connected you are to your spouse. For Adam, it was easy – “She is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh!” If this were an onstage competition, I imagine Adam “dropping the mic” and walking away.
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