A Pastor in The Northwest

One of my favorite ancient hymns of the church is Be Thou My Vision.  I like the depth of the lyric and the lilt of the melody.  What I didn't know, however, was just how ancient it is, which was discovered in my devotional time today: Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Nought be all else to me, save that Thou art; Thou my best thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. Be thou my battle-shield, sword for the fight; Be thou my armour, be Thou my might; Thou my soul’s shelter, Thou my high tower; Raise thou me heavenward, O Power of my power. Irish, c. 8th century tr. Mary Elizabeth Byrne, 1880–1931 versified by Eleanor Henrietta Hull, 1860–1935   Manser, M., ed. (2015). Daily Guidance (p. 238). Martin Manser. Today, Lord, be my vision! Photo by Ion Fet on Unsplash

  In Proverbs 10:19 (NLT) we read this: Too much talk leads to sin.      Be sensible and keep your mouth shut. I must admit, this is hard for me! In a group of people, I like to keep the convo going and avoid the awkward lull in the dialogue.  Yet, the wisdom of this Proverbs verse would caution overuse of words and endless talking. This isn't the only 'less talk' statement in Scripture. For instance, there's this statement (also likely from Solomon):   Don’t make rash promises, and don’t  be  hasty in bringing matters  be fore God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your  words   be   few . So there we go. Lord, give me wisdom to talk less and listen more! Photo by Kane Reinholdtsen on Unsplash

This morning, as I was praying and listening to Scripture, I was confronted again with Jesus' strong words about being His follower recorded in Matthew 10: 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Mt 10:37–39). (2016). Crossway Bibles. Whoa. Take up the cross - that's rough. His disciples knew that this meant death. In fact, scholars estimate that the typical Roman crossbar used in crucifixion was anywhere from 50-100 lbs. Ugh. In following Jesus, we may face disapproval from family and friends, but even more than this, we face the end of life as we know it. That is a tall order. So I wonder, what does Jesus want us to hear today in those statements? As a follower of Jes...

I read a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. today that I've been pondering a bit. Here it is: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” -Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963 The letter was written to fellow pastors and church leaders with the hope of ending injustices specifically with regard to people of color. To be honest, sometimes I'm not sure how to pursue justice (and conversely stop injustice). I find myself regularly praying for what justice looks like in the here and now, where I live, work, and have friends and family. How about you? I guess for me, in this justice discussion, there is a grand call for Christ-followers to pursue justice anywhere and everywhere. I think back to the words of the prophet Micah calling God's people in the centuries before Jesus was born to justice and mercy and walking humbly ...