A Pastor in The Northwest

In Matthew 10 there is a famous statement by Jesus in verse 16 which reads something like "be wise as serpents yet innocent as doves." In context, Jesus said this right after telling the 12 that He is sending them out as sheep among wolves which sounds quite dangerous. Sheep are vulnerable, right? So, to clarify, He commands them to be smart and diligent - avoiding unnecessary danger AND to maintain a good reputation and operate with integrity. John Piper wrote about this several years ago, "So both the snake-intelligence and the dove-innocence are both designed to keep the sheep out of trouble. Jesus does not mean for us to get ourselves into as much difficulty as possible. He means: Risk your lives as vulnerable, non-combative, sheep-like, courageous witnesses, but try to find ways to give your witness in a way that does not bring down unnecessary persecution." As we look to be disciples who make disciples, we would be wise to operate like Jesus tells us here. Le

There's an old song by the Beatles by that title - a song written as a bit of a protest against the higher level of progressive tax imposed by the UK during the 1960s. Turns out, songwriter George Harrison even put some math into the song...verse 1 sings: Let me tell you how it will be There's one for you nineteen for me Then, in verse 2: Should five percent appear too small Be thankful I don't take it all Five percent - who knew rock stars had mad accounting skills? Like the Beatles, many of us feel like taxes are not super fun to pay right? In fact, I have some friends in ministry who opted out of social security out of conscience. Here's what Jesus said, Matthew 22:17-21 New English Translation 17  Tell us then, what do you think? Is it right [ a ] to pay taxes [ b ] to Caesar [ c ] or not?” 18  But Jesus realized their evil intentions and said, “Hypocrites! Why are you testing me? 19  Show me the coin used for the tax.” So [ d ] they brought him a denarius. [ e ] 2

On Easter, I spoke about the new kind of alive that God intends for us. His breath of life transforms us inside and out - first as humans then, in Messiah Jesus, as new humans. It all starts with 'nefesh' and 'neshima' - both Hebrew words about physical breathing and God's divine presence in our lives. These words are found in Genesis 1:30 and 2:7. As one rabbi wrote recently, "It is not accidental that breath is associated both with human respiration and the Divine presence." He continues, "...the very act of breathing inherently connects us to God." Since we breathe over 22,000 times a day so, we are all well aware of how crucial this process is to our lives right? Yet could we consider this process also a powerful connection to the Lord too? There is a breathing prayer I use daily which is the very ancient orthodox "Jesus Prayer" which goes like this: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Breathing sustains our l

THE CURE FOR STINKIN' THINKIN' A few weeks back I shared about my old professor's challenge to cut out "stinkin' thinkin'" as we learned how Jesus raised the bar of righteousness in Matthew 5. It seems simple but hard to practice right? In a book I just finished, the author wrote that "...negativity in any form that we choose to bring into our lives is poison."] What we ruminate about in our minds and hearts has a dramatic effect on our physical, mental AND spiritual health. Paul said it this way: 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. -Philippians 4:8-9 New Living Translation The next thing he says is to keep practicing this - and all we learn from Jesus. How can we better put into practice healthy thinking and avoid stinkin' thinkin'? We fill our minds with what is