June 1, 2026 Title: Events Prior Exodus 3:1-3 Moses and Sinai Imagine walking around in a field where you are tending sheep. You can see the sheep at all times and you can hear the sheep. You must watch and listen for the slightest movement or sound. You watch and listen because every sheep matters. Literally even today every sheep matters to the genetic diversity of the herd. Because the sheep instinctively know every sheep matters they clump together for a reason…it protect

Series: Life is Good Scripture: Nehemiah 9:20 The Israelites have now returned to their ancestral home after being exiled to another land. Those exiled were primarily from the southern kingdom. They were gone for 67 years. If you count the timeline from 586 BCE until the Second Temple was dedicated and rebuilt in 516 BCE they were exiled in Babylon for 70 years. The prophet Jeremiah foretold, the land of Judah would rest for 70 years. While the landowners and exiled leaders w

Series: Life is Good Scripture: Psalm 69:16 ESV By the time I was a teenager I knew God could speak to me and show me things I did not know. My dad read his Bible frequently snd he talked about God speaking to him. What I had learned from my dad was confirmed the night I went to hear Billy Graham speak in Kansas City. Psalm 69:16 says, “Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.” I knew God still speaks to us today. In m

Series: Life is Good Scripture: Nahum 1:7 ESV Imagine if you will the best day of your life. You had been terrorized by a bully all your life, and now that bully was now becoming powerless. The time period was 663–612 B.C. The Assyrian Empire had been a powerful force in the ancient Near East. At their peak they controlled the area from the Persian Gulf to Egypt. Under King Ashurbanipal Assyria conquered the city of Thebes in Egypt. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had been def

May 25 Memorial Day Series: Life is Good Title: Small Things Scripture: Psalm 107:8-9 Sometimes the smallest things that happen leave us feeling sad. Upon reflection we realize it’s not really the small thing that makes us sad the cause of the small thing. This week a joke with told on television. As is the case most of the time jokes have some truth to them. The reason for that is so we will associate with the joke. It makes the joke more lifelike. In the case of this joke,

Series: Life is Good Scripture: Psalm 34:8 ESV It’s a scientific fact that our senses translate our world to our brain so we have the benefit of a broader experience. David and King Saul did not know any of that. This psalm was penned by David who was on the run from King Saul. In Psalm 34:8 two of those senses are highlighted by David, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” We know that David faced great suffering in his lifeti

Series: Life is Good Scripture: Psalm 33:5 NIV God’s love is one of the most difficult concepts to fully understand and therefore teach. Think about it…what can we compare God’s love to on earth? We cannot compare it to earthly parents or teachers, because they fail. Scripture tells us all have sinned. We could compare God’s love to a parent, but not all parents are loving and kind all the time. We could try to compare God’s love to a dog, or cat or a horse but those can fail

Series: Life is Good Scripture: Psalm 33:5 NIV God’s love is one of the most difficult concepts to fully understand and therefore teach. Think about it…what can we compare God’s love to on earth? We cannot compare it to earthly parents or teachers, because they fail. Scripture tells us all have sinned. We could compare God’s love to a parent, but not all parents are loving and kind all the time. We could try to compare God’s love to a dog, or cat or a horse but those can fail

Series: Life is Good Scripture: Psalm 145:5-7 When I was in Seminary I spent time in a very large city (much larger than where I grew up) and they had a museum that displayed the Dead Sea Scrolls for a time. Looking at the ancient texts that were discovered between 1947 and 1956 was fascinating. The very very old fragments contain were Biblical manuscripts found by a shepherd boy in 1947. The result of seeing the scrolls surprised me. I didn’t expect much beyond learning some

Series: Life is Good Scripture: Psalm 27:13 ESV In Seminary we had the great opportunity of meeting a Hebrew gentleman. The meeting had a great impact on me (which I’m sure is why my professor invited the guest). My first thought when he spoke was that it was the first time I’d met anyone like him. He wasn’t like any American I knew. He was what I’ll call ‘hot blooded’ and very animated. He made eye contact with his heart. His every move, especially hand gestures were were “g

Series: Life is Good Scripture: Matthew 7:11 Oftentimes when I am focused on finishing a writing or drawing task I try to think about what is right in front of me. I try to eliminate distractions as much as possible. My old schnoodle is pretty smart for an old dog. If there is something he needs he will come sit beside me and stare. If I am not paying attention to his needs he has a way of putting his paw on my leg. If that doesn’t work he will lift his paw and scrape my leg

Title: Father of Lights Scripture: James 1:17 ESV The advantage of being old (and there are advantages) is that you often have the perspective of many generations. Every generation seems to specialize and be categorized in different ways. My Mother is part of the Silent Generation. I am a baby boomer. Three of my children are Gen X. My youngest is Gen Y. My five oldest grandchildren are Gen Z. My three youngest grandchildren are Generation Alpha. Why does that matter? Simply

Series: Life is Good Scripture: Mark 10:18 ESV In Mark 10:18 Jesus is making it clear that he is the Son of God, Jesus has the same attributes as God the father, and Jesus is good. In Mark 10:18 we are told, “And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” First off, Jesus was using his words carefully in order to make a point that if Jesus truly is of God, he is good. It’s a rhetorical statement to make a point. The young man was flattering

Series: God is Good Scripture: Psalm 145:9 When people find out I am a Spiritual Director or that I have a Master of Divinity degree from Seminary the often tell me their experience with God. I like that. It’s a good way to get to know someone. They don’t usually say they don’t like God. Instead, they often say God doesn’t like me and that’s kind of a telling statement. It’s the kind of statement that leads me to ask, “Why do you think God doesn’t like you?” Generally, they s

Title: Righteous & Good Scripture: Psalm 25:8 GNT Studying Biblical Hebrew in seminary changed the way I think. That’s no surprise because today’s text was written sometime between 1010 to 970 B.C. Older texts we studied date back to 1500 to 1400 B.C.E. We were told language is fluid. When we read older texts even in Hebrew it was extremely difficult to decipher. There are theologians who have multiple PhD’s who have studied the ancient texts for years. Getting a PhD in Textu

Series: Life is Good Scripture: Chronicles 16:34 ESV When I was very small, I was taught to say thank you for everything. I wasn’t even sure what saying thank you really meant. But I said it because I would get in trouble if I didn’t. As I grew older, I came to understand that saying thank you was something we did in my family. There were times I did not feel thankful. As I grew older, I came to realize thankful was not just something you say because you’re supposed to say it

Series: Life is Good Romans 4:2 ESV James 1:17 ESV There might’ve been a time when I wasn’t absolutely sure that God WAS good all the time. What can I say, I was young.. The problem that I faced is that I wanted what I wanted when I want to do it. Do you see the problem? It wasn’t God. It was my selfish, self-seeking selfishness. As a young adult, I went through a phase where I attempted to negotiate with God. I had studied communication and argumentation in high school and i

Series: April Showers Hosea 10:12 ESV The book of Hosea is an interesting read. As we begin, Hosea, we learn that Israel is not in a good place with God. The bottom line is that God had blessed Israel, and given them what they asked for, but they spent the blessing unwisely. The strange thing about Israel and God and the blessing is that Israel did not spend it unwisely because they forgot. They did not honor God with the blessing he had given them, because they chose not to

Series: Refresh Repair Psalm 23:3 MSG For as long as I can remember (which is a pretty long time) I’ve known I can always count on God to care for me and even get me out of a bad spot. I recently had something very unexpected happen that upset me. Without going into detail, I can’t say I didn’t see it coming. If I would’ve seen it coming, I might have been able to mitigate the problem. I was blindsided. I was caught between two women who both believed they were right about a

Genesis 1:1b I started Seminary in 2007 at the age of 54. I did not want to go to Seminary. It was never part of my big picture plan....