Yokemates

Just yesterday, a dear woman shared with me that “I pray for your church every day.” I was dumbfounded for a moment. She had been praying for our church? Every day? Wow! A myriad of thoughts flew through my mind. “The fruit from those prayers are unfathomable.” “I’m so humbled and ashamed, Lord. I don’t pray for our church every day.” “Thank you God, for this faithful lady and her prayers!” The Church - the Bride of Christ. The Church - the body of believers. The Church – all those who have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior and are being transformed into His likeness. (Revelation 19:6-8) Do I pray for her? How do I pray for her? After some thoughtful reflection, I considered the prayer of Jesus in John 17. He prayed for His disciples and all those believers that were to come. (That’s us!) He prayed for unity among the believers, the church, and that through that unity the world would see the glory of His Father. Now, that prayer, in part, I have prayed for our c...

What if a book was published, Dr. Suess-style, that depicted our family or that of our church? It could be quite humorous to have the images of our day-to-day sins portrayed with a comical slant.  “He pushed me, that's easy to see. I stepped on a tack, so I pushed him back!"  or “You have nice shoes in many blue hues. I want some too, I do, I do!”   After a dozen or so pages highlighting the antics of our lives’ less-than-complimentary moments of vengeance, greed and more the book would come to a clever end. The moral of the story would likely bring us to the Golden Rule.  “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31) Unfortunately, we don’t have to go far to witness mankind’s natural bent toward evil. It is in us and around us every single day. Solomon even declared it in his prayer of dedication for the temple. “For there is no one who does not sin.” Whew! At least we’re in this together - even though the tendency to point out offending sin...

The first thing she said to me in a rather accusatory tone was, “Well, where is your tan? I thought you were going to the beach?”  What a way to start a Sunday morning, right?  Years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to let that awkward greeting go. Instead, I would have had a bit of an internal meltdown. My immediate response would have sounded something like this: “How dare she?” “Who does she think she is?” Truth be told, I might have even wanted to give this retort: “Well, if you weren’t always laying in a tanning bed, you wouldn’t glow golden brown either.”  Thankfully, my lips stayed sealed, but I still have to process through those unintentional, yet awkward jabs to this day. Another greeting that made me squirm for years was when that sweet ‘grandma’ type would pat me on the cheek and say,  “Do you feel alright? You look a little tired and pale.”  Granted, I may have look tired on some of those Sunday mornings, but it seemed to always be said on t...

Queen Jezebel, now that’s a character in the Bible that I do not want to be associated with. She is known for her evil ways and that of her husband, King Ahab. In fact, the Bible has much to say about King Ahab’s character and behavior.  1 Kings 16:29-33 gives us this introduction and synopsis of his reign: “Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him…He did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.” Two key points are then listed - - He married Jezebel, daughter of Eth-baal king of the Sidonians. - This marriage resulted in the import of Baal worship into the Israelite nation. One man influenced by one woman.  The king may have issued the order to build both an altar and temple in Samaria for Baal worship, but his wife's religious practices set the stage.  The huge influence of and addiction to idolatry within the nation eventually resulted in the showdown at Mt. ...