Of Time and a Season Part 6

 “a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,”

 This verse may carry one of the more constantly recurring themes in the passage, killing and tearing down which is certainly amended by the positive themes of healing and building. First, consider this. The world leads from negativity; the ‘woe-is-me’ variety to…

Of Time and a Season   Part 5

Let’s continue our trek through Ecclesiastes 3. When we use the Hebrew Scripture it’s important, we follow Jesus’ lead and see everything in a spiritual perspective. When Jesus talks about time it is always in a spiritual context. When He teaches, it is the same. His miracles and healings are loaded with spiritual intention. When Jesus becomes central it is the Holy Spirit who brings Him…

Of Time and a Season Part 4

 There is no more timely passage right now than the timing passage that names timed activities for our timing needs, Ecclesiastes 3. Let’s break it down, dissect it, or as the Brits say, ‘unpack it.’ For us in the season of a particular crisis, which lasts for a physical season, there is a spiritual season and the moments within that season the…

Of Time and a Season Part 4

 There is no more timely passage right now than the timing passage that names timed activities for our timing needs, Ecclesiastes 3. Let’s break it down, dissect it, or as the Brits say, ‘unpack it.’ For us in the season of a particular crisis, which lasts for a physical season, there is a spiritual season and the moments within that season the Lord has provided. Social distance give us a…

Of Time and a Season Part 3

Note how Ecclesiastes 3:1 uses two words to define the idea of self-conscious being, seasons and times. “For everything there is a time (a specific happening, choice, decision) and a season (the context in a choice and decision is dealt with) for every activity under heaven (the ultimate context). A specific example…

Of Time and a Season Part 2

 Why all this talk about time when we are facing a national crisis? Because following God in it depends on knowing what time we have and how to use it.

So, let’s continue looking at our time subject spiritually. Again, there are two kind of time, world time, chronos, and God’s time, Kairos. A world time event is what we do, where it takes place,…

Of Time and a Season Part 1

 “Would you like to “turn back the hands of time?” Hold on. What is time and its hands? First of all, time is a concept. Concepts are invisible. If there are hands, they are figurative. It’s us who give them ‘life’ by believing that ‘the hands of time’ exist and have some ethereal power to guide us. Time machines and time travel, time fascination and treating time as a living reality are…

A Time and a Season

 When I was in college, I ran track. I was a distance runner and had to run every day to get ready for track season. Each day called for a routine of early rising, classes, study time, exams, afternoon practice and working at night in a shipyard. When the first meet of the season came, the usual nervousness set in. You stand on the track ready to start, waiting for the starter’s gun to go off.…

Virus Victims or Virus Victors?

 If there is anything a crisis does it is to make you conscious of time. And when we speak of time we have to keep before us that there are two times, world (calendar) time and spiritual time. I have put three ‘time’ articles out there for you to peruse with the idea that spiritual time is primary. Though the word ‘time’ is used, they are totally different in nature and purpose. Like…

Real Clockwork

 I’m sure you’ve heard the expression ‘running like clockwork.’ Dwell on that for a moment. As Paul called us to understand the need for love in ‘the present time (Rom.13:11),’ it seems to me that the fruit of the Spirit gives us the atmosphere in which to practice ‘clockwork.’ So, the first thing he wants us to do is understand what the present time is.  …

Understanding the Present Time

 That’s part of vs.11 serving as a context for us to look at authority and Paul’s take in Romans 13. There are three authorities we have been given: God’s, man’s and self. The last obviously, is the most important because it opens the door to what God is building in our minds and hearts through the self-sacrifice of obedience. When the self puts God first, then the source of authority…

Is It Ever the Right Time?

A husband and a wife are having a confrontation. She wants to bring up a touchy relational issue. She is coming out of deep concern about a child’s behavior. The husband has just come home from a tough business meeting. “We’ve got to talk and it’s now,” she says. He replies, “Can’t we talk about it later? I’m done in. It’s just a bad time.”…

The Three’s of Paul

The Spiritual Nature of Language

The Spiritual Purpose of Language

Consider language.as a gift from God

Paul has a way of speaking and writing that is completely Trinitarian. Actually, it’s quite amazing. He delves…

The Other Side, the Other Shore

 Jesus never seemed to have stopped. He was always headed to another side, another town, another person (Matt.8:28, 9:1, 35). When He did stop, it was to teach (Matt.5-7) or pray (John 17). But there was always another side in His vision. Whether it was a lake, a valley, a hill or a mountain, He was always reaching another side. That has to say…

Here’s the real drive in which we strive to arrive and be alive; not to be spiritual (everyone is to some degree) but to be filled with the Spirit. That changes the way we look at ourselves and others as images of God. It changes our focus from me to others which in turn builds me as a person. That’s when I find out who I am. My identity is always in construction. The more I extend myself, the more I learn who I really am. Examples: I was in a meeting of…

It’s Time to Take a Breath

Every once in a while, we just need to stop and take a breath. This is especially true when we’re faced with being an image of God in the valley of choice and decision. Follow me in this:

 Spiritual

The foundation of everything is spiritual. The reason is simple. God is the Creator of both the visible…

A New Passover

 When I say ‘every next moment’ I am really talking about every next ‘event’ in your life and my life. It’s a consciousness of what is actually happening as we move about from one place and person to another. It may be a planned meeting, a person-to-person encounter, something unexpected, an awareness of the scenery, a daily task; you name it. This is life as we…

The Meal of a Lifetime

There is a common form of behavior in almost every culture when you want to know people better, understand who they are and even approach the possibility of relational intimacy. It’s a shared meal. Conversation can start with the most mundane topics, ‘That jacket, where’d you get it? “, “Did you see that game last night?”, “I really love how you…

Mary and the Magnificat

 When the Father picked Mary to bear and raise Jesus, this was a specific choice based on quality. Read the Magnificat, Luke 1:46-55, which is her response to the angel announcing she would bear the Lord Jesus and be His mother on earth. It is loaded with information about her. Every verse reflects a deep understanding of the Hebrew Scripture, its…