Jonah 3:6–The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. I remember as a kid when I would get corrected by mom on my behavior or what I said.  Because of my respect for her, I would sense this shame […]

Have you ever gotten an email or a text that you got worked up about? I’ve gotten such an email yesterday. It was perhaps a mistake for me to have opened it right before I went to sleep because I had hard time falling asleep because of it. My impulse was to email right back and […]

Jonah 1:5-6-Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.  One of the responsibilities […]

I was glancing at the Billboard Music Award show last night. All these celebrities, I’m guessing, came up to receive their award and to perform. Janet Jackson – one of the few names I recognized – received the Billboard Icon award for her “achievement” in the music industry. Now, I don’t have any idea who all […]

Be a blessing to others, so that you may be blessed. You’ve heard me say that many times. I pray that prayer when someone provides food or service for the good of the people. It is an absolutely biblical view, coming straight from the bible. “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but […]

James 3:10-11–From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?  One sign that I know I am struggling in my faith is how negative I speak about things.  Most of the time […]

One of the great advantages of living near a big city like Seattle is that my wife and I can go and listen to the world class musicians perform their craft at places like Benaroya Hall. The last concert we went to was one of my favorites – Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3. I counted […]

1 Chronicles 13:11-13–And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza to this day. 12 And David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?”    I’v had the opportunity to speak to many […]

When I was a young, I was taught that God only uses clean vessels. In other words, if you want to be used by God, then you must live a clean life because God doesn’t use junk! And the implication is that if you are used by God, then that meant that you are a […]

1 Chronicles 10:9-10-And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people.  Growing up I was a baseball junkie, my whole family was as I recall.  Along with that came a whole bunch […]