I have a proposition for you: let’s get the prepositions right. When we get the prepositions right, God gets the glory. Let me explain.
We don’t worship God by singing Him a song; we worship God by living His life through us. Yes, I said that right — living His life as opposed to living our life. We can’t live our life for Him. We’re not good enough to do that. We must have His life in us in order to please Him.
The recent operation on my neck was performed by Dr. Chiedozie I. Nwagwu, Neurosurgeon. He goes by the first named of Ched, and his last name is pronounced Wa-goo. The only negative comments I could find about him were how far behind his office appointments run. Once I got to know him, I realized why. He takes time with each of his patients. He is very thorough and explains everything in a manner that makes you feel you are the one patient he really cares about. He will push aside the clock for you if need be. I decided I could handle the wait.
The other doctor I had seen much earlier was the head of neurosurgery at U.C.L.A. His reputation was stellar, his appointments were on time, but I felt like I was on an assembly line with him.
We will pay one last visit to the curmudgeon.
It’s been amazing to me to see all your responses. Yesterday I printed a sentence from each person who emailed me a response to the idea of a curmudgeon’s funeral — over 25 of them. A couple were from pastors who sent me full-on curmudgeon funeral services they have used in their practice. Apparently there are a lot of these guys out there!
Last Friday I asked for advice on speaking at a curmudgeon’s funeral. The response was overwhelmingly kind. Today’s Catch contains one sentence from each one who wrote in, and I was rebuked by the overall attitude from all who took part which was one of compassion. Your hopefulness contrasted my hopelessness. It became clear to me, as I studied your responses, that I had already given up hope for this individual.
I’m sure we all have someone like this, if not in our family, then in our circle of friends. Perhaps these comments will help.
Even though he denied it, he was made by God and loved by God! – Bob
I do believe he was a person in pain. – Laura
I’d dig down and find a few positive things about him. – Greg
God has him here for a reason. – Ted
Call on volunteers in the audience to give their assessment of him. – Dave
As long as there is breath there is hope. – Sandy
There is plenty to say about God’s love and the available hope and comfort He longs to give. – Angela
He was created in the image of God and deserves to be respected if for nothing else. – Ron
You don’t need to stamp the person’s ticket to heaven or hell. – John
We may all be surprised at who we see in Heaven that we thought would never make it there. – Tom
He was a child of God, as we all are. – Colleen
He came into this world as a gift from God, for someone. – Deb
Truth, by itself, is hard. Grace, by itself, is mush. – Michael
Share what we don’t know about this sad man who God loves. – Paul
I can do all the things that people would say are wonderful things for as long as I live, but without Grace, I am hopeless. – Bare
God’s love knows no bounds. – Jeff
I’m not gonna be able to stop [God] from loving me no matter what I do. – Bran
The hope we have is not in the ultimate result of his life choices but in [God’s] eternal desires for us. – Michael
Some kinds of fruit have prickly outsides but deliciously tasting insides. – JW
Here I am after more than 4 decades of pastoring coming up on what will be the toughest funeral I’ve ever officiated (a family member who took his life). – Wayne
We never know what happens at the last breath of someone who passes from this life into eternity. God is not willing for ‘any’ to perish. – Karl
Lovingly share the Good News that he rejected. – Richard
What kind of legacy and reputation are you leaving for the generations behind you. – Randy
He made his choice as what to believe and how to live, but, in my opinion, its not the only choice. – Bud
God never gave up on him. – Tammy
Think of the most ornery cuss of a person you know. This is a person no one likes because he is mean to everyone. There isn’t a nice streak in him, or if there is, he never shows it. He is anti-social. He picks an argument with everyone. He’s an older person, in the last stage of his life. He’s fallen ill, and that has only made him madder. If you are nice to him, he will be even meaner back. This guy has accomplished nothing with his life except to make enemies. He’s simply waiting to die, and to him, and anyone who knows him, his death won’t come a moment too soon.
Jeff and Kelly don’t have much beyond having each other, but that’s a big deal. For years they’ve been homeless, living on the street, and when they’ve been on the street, they haven’t been able to be together. Jeff would sleep near the city center and wake up at 3:30 every morning to get up and out before the police come to move him out. Kelly, for the longest time, slept in a Catholic women’s shelter called Isaiah House, which is where we met her.
Dimitri Clown
So from now on, we do not think about what people are like by looking at them. We even thought about Christ that way one time. But we do not think of Him that way anymore. (2 Corinthians 5:16 NLV)
What do you see when you look at a person? You see their facial structure, their size and weight, the color of their skin, whether they are handicapped or they bear some deformity, or if they are beautiful beyond belief like walking perfection, you see that. All these are the types of things that present themselves to us when we look at a person.
But the Bible says we don’t consider who people are anymore by looking at them. I look at you and see what the Bible calls the flesh, but you are not the product of anything I can see, because in Christ, we no longer know people by their flesh. We know them by their soul, their spirit, their heart and mind — their essence that comes to us in other ways than what we see.
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:27-29
Jesus Christ makes all the difference.
All distinctions fall away when we come into a relationship with Christ. Whatever once divided us is gone. Whatever once could have made us enemies is gone. Prejudice, bigotry, discrimination are no more.
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:27-29
Though the ramifications of racism and the causes that contribute to it can be complicated and very complex, at its root, racism is quite simple, really. It is a dislike, fear and/or distrust of people who are unlike me, and a feeling of superiority that comes from being around those who are like me as well as a feeling of inferiority when I find myself on the outside.
While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. John 17:12
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. John 17:15
Highway to the Danger Zone
I’m gonna take you
Right into the Danger Zone
Highway to the Danger Zone
Right into the Danger Zone
– as sung by Kenny Loggins; lyrics by Tom Whitlock
With the Presidential campaign in America in full swing, and the issue of safety already turning out to be one of the key elements being addressed, I thought it might be good to talk about what the Bible promises about safety, and the answer is a resounding: Not much.
John Fischer The Catch 