Harsh and Difficult

Posted on November 27, 2025 by Jason

One of the Desert Fathers, Hyperechios, said:

“Monk (solitary one / alone one), do not show yourself to be harsh and difficult. Be mindful that no one who is harsh and difficult has persevered.”

I need this word, because I’m afraid that I am often harsh and difficult.

My words can cut deeply.

My tone can leave a bruise.

I don’t know why it’s so easy to be difficult.

But perseverance requires repentance, a turning away from these harsher and more difficult inclinations.

Lord, just for today, help me to not be harsh or difficult.

In place of harshness, make me gentle.

Instead of being difficult, help me make for peace.

Thanksgiving 2025

Posted in Desert Fathers, Devotional, Faith, God, Jesus, Prayer, Quotes, Repentance | Leave a comment

The Mission of God: Blessed to be a Blessing

Posted on November 21, 2025 by Jason

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us — so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

Psalm 67:1-2

Why does God bless His people?

Is it because we have earned His favor? Does God bless the “good people” because they have kept His rules better than “bad people?” Does God play favorites with His children?

The Old Testament rejects such claims. Isaac favored Esau over Jacob (Genesis 25:28), a rejection which is repeated a generation later as Jacob makes the mistake of singling out Joseph to receive the coat of many colors (Genesis 37:3). But in contrast to these human practices, the Scriptures reveal that God offers His blessings so that His people will use them to bless others. As far back as Genesis 12, God tells Abraham that he will receive a blessing which will eventually bless the entire world.

I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Genesis 12:2-3

Writing centuries later, the Psalmist picks up on this thread. Invoking the priestly blessing of Numbers 6, the writer of Psalm 67 declares that God’s grace has been extended to us not merely for our sake. No, He has been gracious so that His salvation would be known among the nations. He has made His face shine upon us in order to illuminate His ways in all the earth.

In short, we have been blessed in order to bless others.

And this is the mission of God. This is how the Kingdom comes.

Our God is a generous God, which is most fully evident in the gracious gift of His Son. In receiving this gift — the gift of salvation — we become more than mere consumers. We become stewards of God’s generosity for the sake of the world. As those who have experienced God’s goodness, we seek to share that goodness with others. As those who have been served by the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53; John 13), we seek to serve others in His name. Disciples of Jesus inherit this rich biblical mandate to steward God’s blessings in a way that would bless others.

How has God blessed you?

And how might those blessings be used to bless others?

Over the years, I have known many people who have taken those questions to heart. Some of them have given their lives to serve the local church as ministers and elders and deacons. Others have sought to reflect God’s goodness in the marketplace and in their neighborhoods. Some of my dear friends — like Stephen and Amanda Stockbridge — have heeded God’s call to move to a foreign country to expand the borders of the Kingdom. I greatly admire Stephen and Amanda, both for their obedience to God’s will for their lives and for the humble way they pursue this calling.

Our church family has been supporting missionaries at locations around the globe since the early 1960s. And for many years, we have taken short-term mission teams to support the work in these mission points. A few years ago, Stephen and Amanda were a part of one of these short-term mission trips. And they began to feel a stirring in their spirits, a call to dream a Kingdom dream. What if we moved here? What if we served here full-time? And so they sought God’s will. They prayed. They sought wise counsel. They prayed some more. At every turn, God seemed to be affirming their Kingdom dream. It’s such a joy to see the Stockbridges now — using their blessings to bless others, living on mission for the Kingdom of Christ.

To be clear: God’s mission isn’t just for missionaries who live halfway around the world. Or to say it differently, the mission of God is so much greater than “missions.” The mission of God is to work through His covenant people in every time and place to announce the glorious Good News of Jesus Christ. This call is for all who would respond in faith: fishermen and tax collectors, prostitutes and Pharisees, attorneys and day laborers, ministers and missionaries, Jew and Gentile, young and old, rich and poor, male and female. The mission of God is alive in each one of us who has received the blessing of salvation in Christ. We have received this blessing in order to bless others — wherever we find ourselves.

In his book, The Skeptical Believer, Daniel Taylor offers these compass points for believers wrestling with doubt. But they also speak to the mission of God:

First, I remind myself that I have been invited not into an argument but into a story.

Second, I recall that this story gives me not just something to believe but something to do.

Third, I propose to myself that the real test of any story is what it asks me to love and what kind of life it requires me to live.

A story, not an argument.

A story that gives me something to DO, not just something to BELIEVE.

And a story that asks me to love indiscriminately, to pour myself out on behalf of others just as Jesus poured Himself out for us all.

This is the mission of God, alive in the world today.

How has God blessed you?

And how might those blessings be used to bless others?

Posted in Blessings, Books, Church, Discipleship, Faith, Friends, God, Gospel, Jesus, Ministry, Missiology, Obedience, Scripture, Stewardship, Theology | Leave a comment

Mentone Getaway

Posted on November 16, 2025 by Jason

November is a time for expressing gratitude and today I am thankful for a wife who is intentional about investing time and energy into our marriage. A week or two ago, Sunny suggested that we get away to Mentone for a Friday / Saturday trip prior to the holidays. So that’s what we did! We had the best time making glass Christmas ornaments at Orbix Hot Glass in Fort Payne (highly recommend) and seeing the sights at the Little River Canyon Preserve. Best of all, we had lots of time to talk and laugh and listen to Christmas music even though the temperature was pushing 70 degrees!

I am so grateful God saw fit to bring Sunny into my life over 30 years ago. She showed up when I was questioning a lot of things, but she has been a constant source of encouragement and a conduit of God’s love for me. She is my favorite!

Posted in Blessings, Marriage, Sunny | 1 Comment

A Bad Idea

Posted on November 16, 2025 by Jason

Some things ought not be wedded together…like pumpkin spice and Cheerios.

Posted in Humor | Leave a comment

Destroying Sinfulness

Posted on November 15, 2025 by Jason

2025 will go down as the year I fell in love with the writings of the Desert Fathers. I have been deeply moved by the words of these hermits — a word transliterated to us from the Greek eremites, literally “the desert ones.” These monastics retreated to the wilderness seeking deeper communion with God and their sayings instruct and inspire me in the way of solitude and silence.

As monastic communities sprung up throughout Roman Egypt in the early centuries of Christianity, many younger disciples looked to these older hermits to glean from their wisdom. The sayings of these “Abbas” or “Fathers” have been preserved for us in writings such as The Sayings of the Desert Fathers.

Abba Poemen said, “Sinfulness in no way destroys sinfulness. If someone does something evil to you, do something good for that person so by doing something good, you destroy sinfulness.”

This teaching hearkens back to the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus advocates an “anti-reciprocal” way of being: when someone strikes you on the cheek, don’t strike back; when someone insults you or slanders you, do not return the favor. Followers of Christ never “fight fire with fire.” Instead, the ethic of Jesus is a second-mile / other-cheek / bless-when-persecuted ethic.

But why should I do this, some will say. This doesn’t work. Not in the “real world.” It seems we think we understand the “real world” better than the Creator. Are we really willing to be so brazen in our arrogance? Have we so little regard for the teaching of the Lord?

As Poemen points out, the teaching of Jesus DOES, in fact, work. It’s efficacy is never aimed at helping us gain traction in a world hell-bent on domination and power. The efficacy of the Jesus way is found in its relationship to sin. Turning the other cheek works as a deterrent to the spread of sin. Loving your enemy works to destroy the never-ending reciprocity of hitting back harder.

When I look at the “real world,” I don’t see a realm where the so-called “wisdom” of fighting fire with fire is self-evident. What IS evident is the carnage left in the wake of this ideology: the violence, the brokenness, the bitterness. Best I can tell, the “real world” is the realm where sin runs rampant. Why would I ever accept any ideology from such a place over the word of Jesus?

As counter-intuitive as it may be, maybe the “real world” could use a dose of Christ-centered anti-reciprocity right about now.

Maybe that’s what is needed to destroy the grip of sinfulness choking us to death.

And maybe that’s one of the ways the true destiny of the “real world” comes into view, the glorious transformation announced in scripture: Revelation 11:15, The seventh angel sounded his trumpt, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.

May the kingdom of the world become the kingdom of our Lord.

Amen.

Posted in Desert Fathers, Devotional, Eschatology, Faith, God, Jesus, Love First, Love Others, Obedience, Scripture, Theology | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Macarius on How We Should Pray

Posted on November 14, 2025 by Jason

Some people came to Macarius of Egypt (one of the desert fathers) and asked, “How should we pray?”

The old man said to them, “You don’t need to keep saying the same thing; instead, stretch out your hands and say, ‘Lord, as you wish and as you know, have mercy.’ And if spiritual warfare threatens, say, ‘Lord, help.’ The Lord knows what’s helpful and shows us mercy.”

As you wish and as you know, have mercy.

Such a beautiful prayer of submission and humility. To pray this prayer is to trust more fully in the Lord’s sovereign reign. I want to see how I can incorporate this simple confession into my routine of prayer.

Posted in Church, Desert Fathers, Devotional, Faith, God, Prayer, Quotes | Leave a comment

The Knowledge to Acknowledge

Posted on November 11, 2025 by Jason

Over the last few days, I have been reflecting on the story of Rahab from Joshua 2. Joshua sends two spies on a reconnaissance mission to the city of Jericho. These spies somehow end up at the home of Rahab, a prostitute in Jericho. (There is no indication in the text that these men were sexually involved with Rahab in any way.) These two Hebrew spies are not exactly “masters of espionage,” because within a few hours of their arrival, the king of Jericho has heard all about them. Not only does the king know that these Jewish spies are in his city, he even knows that they’re staying at Rahab’s house. I’m pretty sure the first rule of being a spy is, “Don’t let anyone know that you’re a spy.” These guys aren’t the Jason Bourne / James Bond kind of spies; more like the Chevy Chase / Dan Akroyd type.

At any rate, Rahab protects the Hebrew spies, which essentially amounts to treason. Not only does she harbor these enemies of the state in her home, she also lies to the government officials who come to her home and question her.

This is amazing and unexpected. Why does Rahab do this? Why risk so much for the sake of these two Hebrew spies?

Joshua 2:8-11

Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.”

Notice everything Rahab says about the Lord when she talks to these spies:

  • I know the Lord has given you this land.
  • I know He brought you out of Egypt.
  • I know He parted the Red Sea and I know that He has been winning victories for His people.

You would think that these Israelite spies would be the ones preaching to her about the greatness of their God, but it’s the other way around!

When she says, I know the Lord has given you this land, the Hebrew word here has the basic meaning of “I understand” but it also carries an even deeper meaning. Throughout the Scriptures, this Hebrew word also signifies a person’s relationship to God. There is a knowing that is far more than just informational. It’s going beyond knowledge about God to a faithful acknowledgement of God. This is a KNOWING at the level of deep conviction — at the level of faith.

Rahab acknowledges God in v11: the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth. Quite a confession for a Canaanite — and a prostitute at that! But this is why Rahab does what she does: because she believes in the Lord. Her loyalty and her allegiance are with the True King of heaven and earth, not the king of Jericho. In this critical moment, Rahab puts her trust in the Lord.

And the biblical word for this is faith.

Her knowledge about God — His mighty deeds, His deliverance of Israel — is the driving force behind her actions.

How does your knowledge about God prompt you to an acknowledgement of God?

Posted in Devotional, Faith, God, Scripture | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

An Affinity for Joy: Raiders of the Lost Ark

Posted on November 9, 2025 by Jason

As part of my jubilee-year-quest to maintain an affinity for joy, I’m reminded tonight of the simple joy of Indiana Jones.

More than forty years after its release, everyting about this movie holds up, from the adventure to the humor, from Harrison Ford’s rougish portrayal of Indy to John Williams’s iconic soundtrack. I’ve seen these movies so many times I can quote whole sections of the dialogue — but I still love them. And they help me curate this affinity for Joy I’m seeking.

So tonight, I fall asleep to “I don’t know, I’m making this up as I go.”

Because I’m pursuing this affinity for joy.

Posted in Blessings, Movies | Leave a comment

From Victim to Survivor

Posted on November 6, 2025 by Jason

In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning.

Victor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

I first read Man’s Search for Meaning for a psychology class in college. Frankl chronicles his experience being imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. Its influence extends well beyond the world of psychotherapy. With millions of copies sold in dozens of languages across the world, Man’s Search for Meaning has been hailed as one of the most important books ever written.

Frankl examines the horrors inflicted upon his fellow concentration camp inmates, noting that those who were able to ascribe meaning and purpose to their lives often persevered in the face of unspeakable evil. As I recall, Frankl describes the survival of those who sought to share their meager rations of food with others. Despite this severe reduction in caloric intake, many of these individuals survived — either altogether or at least longer than what could be reasonably expected. Frankl concluded that this was due to an ability to strive for meaning in the midst of the suffering.

Frankl’s work is not without critique, but his central thesis has remained with me for nearly thirty years. It seems that we are capable of bearing up under the worst of conditions. And though my own suffering pales in comparison to the extreme conditions Frankl describes, his thesis rings true to my own experience. The intrinsic search for meaning — the meaning for our suffering or, at the very least, the search for meaning in our suffering — is an essential element in reframing the story of our suffering.

This helps us to see ourselves, not as victims, but as survivors.

We need not turn away from the victimhood we experienced — at least not completely. In reality, sometimes we are victims — victims of someone else’s evil choices. But I think Frankl’s point is that we are not exclusively victims. By retaining our search for purpose, we become more than victims; we become survivors. Yes, this awful thing may have happened to us. But by self-ascribing purpose to our existence, we find the strength to live a different story, one of resilience and meaning. We reject the way in which suffering seeks to define us. Instead, we exercise agency over our lives in full, crafting a new narrative out of the suffering — a story of survival. This may take time, but I believe Frankl is right.

Suffering doesn’t have to be the defining feature of my life.

I choose to survive.

This gives my life meaning.

This becomes my story.

Posted in Books, Disappointment, Faith, Philosophy, Quotes | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Forgetting Kindness

Posted on November 5, 2025 by Jason

Kindness has always been esteemed in the pages of Scripture. It is the fruit of God’s Spirit within. Those who follow Christ are to clothe themselves in kindness. And there is an inherent danger in forgetting kindness, especially the kindness of the Lord.

We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.

Psalm 106:6-7

The Psalmist refers back to the generation that died in the wilderness. Though they witnessed God’s mighty acts of deliverance and mercy, they never inhabited the Promised Land. This happened because Israel forgot the Lord’s kindnesses. Even though the Red Sea was the locus of their redemption — God parting the water so Israel could cross over on dry ground — in their amnesia, it becomes the place of their rebellion.

This is an important truth. There is a rebellion that takes place when we forget kindness. 

Posted in Church, Devotional, Faith, God, Israel, Kingdom Values, Scripture | Leave a comment