Kindness
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness…” (Galatians 5:22, NIV) Let’s stop right there. Is it just me, or is it getting ugly out there? Everyone seems angry all of a sudden…and I’m not just talking politics. I recently read the heartbreaking story of a beautiful young girl from Miami […]
St. Thomas on Facebook Fights
Do you sometimes watch the fights back and forth on social media? Do you participate? Why do we care what others say or think? Why does it bug us that their opinions are different from ours? Why do we feel the need to get involved and say our piece? In last week’s Catalyst, I quoted […]
Fake News and Alternative Facts
I hear so much talk these days about “Fake News” and Orwell’s “alternative facts.” How many times have we seen untruths foisted upon us? What do we believe? Who do we believe? Pondering these questions, I was reminded of the following prayer from the 15th century German monk, Thomas a’ Kempis. May the Lord give […]
Praying through the Inauguration
“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to […]
Appreciation
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.” (Romans 1:8, NIV) The Apostle Paul said this, or something similar, in every one of his New Testament letters. He appreciated the church. That Latin word, “appretiare” means to estimate the quality of […]
Offended!
This last year I noticed an interesting paradox in our society. First, our culture has a continuing love-affair with fame. It seems folks will do or say almost anything to be noticed by others. But in 2016, the pursuit of popularity ran headlong into another emerging trend in our society: we are offended easily and, […]
Recognize Him!
“He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him.“ (John 1:10, NLT) My wife shared this the other day and I thought it was worth hearing again. It is easy for us to get distracted by the chores and the busyness of the season, to-do lists, shopping, and even the […]
Symbol of Hope
“But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.” (Luke 11:20, NIV) You may not have thought about this lately (or ever), but symbols are very important to humans. I had this thought the other night while my wife and I watched a movie. […]
In Everything (or “17 Things for which You Should Be Thankful”)
“…in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NKJV) Thanksgiving week – we’ll all eat too much and watch too much football. And hopefully, we’ll spend some time thanking the Lord for our families, friends, and country. I preached about gratefulness on Sunday and […]
Phonies, Posers, and Thanksgiving
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a […]
Prediction: Who Loses the 2016 Election
Tomorrow we will have a new President-elect. By now, you’ve heard all the predictions. Who will win? Not us. Whether she wins, or he wins, the American people lose. Even if MY candidate wins…I lose. The reason? For the first time in American history, we have two candidates who both hold worldviews different from our […]
Decisions, Decisions
“How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!“ (Proverbs 16:16, NIV) The Wisdom Literature of the Bible is filled with instruction like this one, encouraging us to make wise choices. But as we all know, some choices are easier to make than others. Every decision we make is a […]
