The Big Picture

7/13/25 - This life can be really frustrating at times.  We have good times.  We have bad times.  But some of the bad times are really bad.  We have loved ones who get sick, some even die.  We experience loss of a variety of types.  We see things that should not happen, and we wish we could change them.  Some things we can change, but many things we cannot change.   If someone gets cancer, we can't do anything about that.  Yes, they can go through treatment, but will it be effective?  And the treatment is no picnic, either.  But what if we could change it?  What if we could cure cancer?  And why bother with curing, what if we could just eliminate it entirety?  If I were God . . . if you were God, we could change that.   No one would ever have to die from cancer again.  No one would ever have to get cancer again.  Wouldn't that be great!  And why stop at cancer?  Think of all the things I/you could change if we were God.  Let's examine that a little more.

7/4/25 - Who doesn’t like independence?  We even have a holiday we celebrate it.  That is today, by the way.  We have picnics, parades, fireworks and any number of other events.  We tend to celebrate with family, which is always a good thing.  To become independent, there has to be something that we used to be dependent on, or in some cases dependent under.  It’s kind of like being under someone else’s thumb . . . and nobody wants that!  Let’s look at independence and how truly amazing it can be, when we are talking about independence from something truly horrible.

6/27/25 - Solomon was considered to be the wisest person who ever lived.  He was able to build an exceedingly prosperous nation.  He was a man of peace.  He was admired by national leaders around him.  He built a temple for God.  He appeared to have it all.  But he failed miserably.  He turned away from God, the One Who had blessed him with everything he wanted and so much more, and worshipped idols.  Why?

6/22/25 - Every day we go out in public we present an “image.”  We might not think about it, but when people see us, they think.  Sometimes, they don’t think much.  Sometimes, they think a lot.   That could be good or bad.  And sometimes, the things that people think about us are incorrect.  Sometimes we have no control over what people think about us.  But sometimes we do.  Does our appearance matter?  Should it matter?  Does God care what we “look” like?  Actually, He does.

6/15/25 - Well, it's Father's Day, so what else could I be writing about?  Each of us has/had a father.  Some were good; some were bad; some were in between.  But what is a father?  What does it mean to be a father?  In a world where lines are so blurred and there is no norm anymore, how do we even know where to start?  We can start with what it used to mean to be a father and work our way toward what fathers are or are not today.  Then we can finish with a good example we can all learn from.

6/6/25 - Did you ever go outside and just marvel at the beauty?  Looking into the sky on a starry night, it is beautiful.  You can also go on the internet and find all kinds of amazing images of things we cannot see with the naked eye.  There is also a great deal of beauty that is visible with the naked eye.  Mountains, plains, valleys, waterfalls, oceans, seas and the life that exists in all of them.  And there’s so much more.  After your brain has a chance to catch it’s figurative breath, do you ever wonder how all of that happened?  Let’s spend some time thinking about that.  And you don’t need to have a PhD in physics or biology.  All you need is a little common sense.

6/4/25 - Do you have good days?  Do you have bad days?  We have both, although hopefully more good than bad.  How do you get through those bad days?  In the Old Testament, there was a guy who had a lot of good days . . . and a lot of bad days.  He wasn’t perfect – none of us are.  But he knew what he needed to do.  He knew what needed to happen, how he needed to live his life, in order to get through the rough times.  Let’s listen to what he has to say, and hopefully learn something in the process.

5/24/25 - This is Memorial Day weekend.  Memorial Day is the day with think about those in the military who died in service to their country.  I’m not going to remember anyone that way today, but instead I want to think back about my dad.  He died almost one year ago now.  His birthday was about two weeks ago, and Father’s Day is coming up.  Maybe I should have waited until them, but Dad wasn’t very patient, especially in his later years.  I would wonder if maybe I might be the same way, but I already know that I am.  Some dads just keep on giving.

5/16/25 - As people we experience a variety of emotions:  love, hate, fear, joy, greed, desire, sadness, happiness, etc.  And each of us has our own, individual experience with all of our emotions.  Some people feel more sadness, some people feel more love, yet others more fear.  Let’s spend some time looking at how just one person’s experience with fear caused a dramatic effect on his life, and hopefully learn something from his experience that can help ourselves in the future.

5/11/25 - I can’t help but think about moms on Mother’s Day.  Happy Mother's Day to all the moms.  You do so much for us(your children).  We might take them for granted.  We might think they are great.  We might think they are horrible.  Maybe we just don’t think about the topic enough in the first place to even formulate an opinion.  But let’s think about moms for a few minutes.  God gave them to us(Gen. 4:1).  God put us in their care(Prov. 23:25).  They must be important . . . right?

5/2/25 - Have you ever done anything you later regretted?  I know I have.  I could fill pages and pages with poor decisions, bad conduct, less than desirable things said(in hindsight), etc.    The longer I live, the more things I do that are “regrettable.”  It’s not that I’m not learning, but the more time you have to fail, the more times most of us are going to do just that . . . fail.  But what do we do with that?  Can we learn so we don’t do it again?  Hopefully, but there’s still that nagging feeling of regret about that thing we did or said.  Now what?

4/19/25 - We sure seem to have a lot of holidays.  There are special days for Mom's, Dad's and now even grandparents.  I suspect that at some point, every day will have a specific significance.  We have entire months to remind us about.   For example, January is National Mentoring Month.  You probably didn't know that; I know I didn't.  February is Black History Month.  I expect most of us know that.  And there are even more days that have their own, special memorial, which most of us are probably unaware of.   These can all be fine and helpful, but is there any day or days that God wants us to remember?  If so, those must be important.  We don't want to miss even one of those.   Today, let's look into this topic.  It's important, so we cannot ignore it, or we will do so at our own peril.  And nobody wants that. 

4/5/25 - Life can easily get away from us.  Or maybe a better way to put it would be to say that it just goes by so quickly and before we realize it, so much of it is gone.  We all lead such busy lives, so that makes it easy for life to just go by without our notice.  But we probably need to take a step back and look at life . . . consider life.  It would be a terrible shame if we just got on that hamster wheel and never got off until the day we died without thinking about what we were doing, or if we should be doing something different.  I tend to think about this from time to time, and then I realize that I don't think about it enough!  Am I just going to let my life ebb away with no plan, no thought about what I might really want to do with it?  I hope not.

3/28/25 - Sometimes I get frustrated by my lack of progress, or my deficiencies when it comes to knowing more about the Bible.  I have forgotten so many things I used to know over the years.  It is like my knowledge is the sand in the upper part of an hourglass, and the sand just keeps escaping.  Over the course of the past two weeks alone, I have been reading different passages of scripture and thought, "I don't ever remember reading that!"  It wasn't anything big, but they were sections I have read many times before, yet I never remember "reading" them before.  And that's just the knowledge part.  There's also the "kind of person" I am.  I strive to be better, and I am not suggesting that there is no improvement, but it just seems like there should be more improvement than there actually is.  And it's frustrating!!!  I need to learn to be more patient with myself.  And if this sounds familiar, today's article will hopefully be helpful.  And if this does not sound familiar, it's still worth reading.  I mean, come on . . .  it'll only take a few minutes.  Enjoy.

3/8/25 - Why even talk about loving God?  Isn't that kind of something anyone would do, or at least anyone reading a blog that's all about God in the first place?   I think it's because loving God might not mean what you think it means.   The Bible has a lot to say about loving God, but I'm only going to try to scratch the surface.  I know I love God, but what does that even mean?  It can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but it is not supposed to.  It should mean basically the same thing to everyone, or should I say God has told us what it should look like, so it should probably look very similar from one person to the next.  But I doubt it does for many who claim to love God.  Some may think they love God and genuinely just not realize what God expects of someone who claims to love Him.  And if we want to love Him, let's take the time to find out what God wants our love for Him to look like.  

3/4/25 - Funerals are never fun . . . I mean, someone just died.  And we attend a lot of funerals.  You might not want to know me, as it seems like a lot o f people I know die . . . and many die young, or at least below average(74.8 for men and 80.2 for women).  Heaven is often, but not always, brought up at a funeral.  That makes sense.  After all, at a sad time, it's nice to have something positive in the terrible loss that just happened.  But how do we talk about heaven . . . at funerals, or anywhere else for that matter?  Do we present a distorted view?  How much do we really know about heaven?  Let's look into that today.

2/19/25 -Okay, this one is a little late, but I have a good excuse.  On Valentine’s Day, I was busy taking my Valentine out to dinner.  That might not be a very good excuse for the subsequent four days, but there you have it.  I would like to take a little time to think about Valentine’s Day.  So let’s do that.

Fun fact:  my grandfather’s name was Valentine.

2/9/25 - Being falsely accused of a crime you didn’t commit can be a terrifying situation to find yourself in.  I mean, you know you didn’t do anything wrong.  Yet, at the same time there are other people saying, possibly even shouting, that you did do it.  And they may genuinely believe that you did do it; they just don’t realize that you didn’t do it.  Or maybe they don’t even care if you did it or not.  The angry mob is out for blood . . . your blood.  But like I said, you didn’t do it.  Now what?  That this ever happens is a bad thing.  But that this happened to Jesus, someone completely innocent of the crimes he was accused of, as well as every other crime He could have been accused of.  He was completely innocent.  But did that matter . . . to the angry mob . . . or even to Jesus?

1/31/25 - We live our lives based on the value we attribute to both things and people.  If you think something is important, you put it ahead of other things.  That is just how we live our lives, regardless of the fact that we might not even realize it.  Even just those things that we spend a significant amount of time with are things that we value.  And some of those things, we might not even like.  You might not like your job or that you have to work, but you value the income or other benefits generated by that job.  You value it, even if you don't like it.  But home much do we value the kingdom of God?  I suspect that if you look at your life, I mean really look at it carefully, you will find out just how much you value it.  I hope you find that it has a greater value than anything else in your life.  But if that is not the case, please read today's article.  Maybe it will help you to understand just what value you do ascribe to God's kingdom, but also I hope it will help you think about what you can do to make God's kingdom more valuable to you, to make it more important in your life.

1/25/25 - Praying can be difficult for a lot of people.  It shouldn’t be, in some ways.  I mean, God already knows what you are going to say before you say it.  There will be no surprises on His end.  Some of the problems can occur when it comes to what you are going to pray about, but today I’d like to spend some time examining public prayer.  It’s public speaking, which everyone loves to do, combined with addressing the Creator of the universe.  No problem, right?

1/18/25 - Do you ever see someone do something that confuses you?  Sometimes they are poor or uneducated decisions.  And when someone just does not know any better, that makes sense.  After all, how can you make a good decision when you do not know the information necessary to make a good decision?  True, you might just “fall into” the right answer, but probably not.  But when you DO have the necessary and make a bad decision in light of knowing the necessary information to make an informed decision, that is what confuses me.  Today, I wanted to share an example of when I experienced someone making a confusing decision.  But since I also like to examine myself, we’ll look at that side of it ,too.

1/5/25 - Here we are at the beginning of another new year.  What better time to re-center our thought process?  It’s like a new start.  And if you are a Christian, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been one, because it is always helpful to look back to when your relationship with God first began(at least in a good way).  Remember when you called Him your King for the first time?  It can be easy to forget that Jesus is our King, but it is vitally important that we do not do just that.  We need to remember He is our King.  And His Kingship is so much easier to willingly submit ourselves to when we understand that His reign is all about helping us.  He is not a despot, but rather He is a liberator. 

12/27/24 - It might not be the new year yet, but this will have to suffice.  Every new year is the opportunity to start over.  It might be a starting a new habit, or breaking an old one.  There are so many different things that can be started or stopped or modified.  A new year could even be a whole new everything.

12/25/24 - No article today; just a short post.  As today is Christmas, many people are exchanging gifts, which is nice, but I can't help but think that God does everything better than we do.  Gift giving would be no exception.  For one thing, everything that we have that is good in this life is a gift from God(Ps. 16:2; James 1:17).   Most people do not appreciate those blessings or even attribute those blessings to God.  But He is the one who sends the rain on both the just and the unjust(Matt. 5:45).  We might not understand why God blesses the unjust(i.e. evil) people, but He does.  Furthermore, He provided the greatest gift of all . . . a gift that will never be surpassed . . . and a gift that was desperately needed more than any other.  He gave His Son, Jesus, as a payment for our sins.  That is a gift that will never be topped by anyone.  Let's remember that incredible gift, as well as all the others He has blessed us with, every day of our lives.

12/21/24 - Learning can sometimes be difficult.  Years ago I used to be able to absorb information like a thirsty sponge.  However, over the years that sponge may have become soaking wet.  If my brain were an actual sponge, I could wring it out and make room for more water, but I don’t think our brains work like that.  So now I have to write things down.  When you are someone who is used to being able to remember everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, that can be annoying.  Several years ago I tried to learn how to play the guitar.  It was fun, but I could never remember the music regardless of how many times I might practice a piece of music.  I could practice a piece one hundred times, and I still would not know even the first note to play.  The frustration got to me, because when I was younger, I could have practiced a piece just a few times, and I know that I would have had all the notes memorized.  That is not to say that I would have been able to play them, but rather that I would have known what notes to play.  I have since given up, although every once in a while, I still pick up one of my guitars, since it is so much fun.  Playing an instrument is something we can just give up on, but not all things are like that.

12/13-24 - I am not perfect.  I have said that before, and if given time, I will do it again.  A lack of perfection does not mean that we simply give up, but instead we should look to what is right(i.e. perfection) and try to emulate that, while learning from our mistakes and trying to be better in the future.  On rare occasions, the Bible points out certain people who we can, to a certain extent, look up to.  We can look to their successes and try to emulate those, while at the same time trying to avoid their mistakes.  In Jesus, we have someone who never made any mistakes, so He is the best and perfect individual to follow, but we can learn from the mistakes of others, even people who are highly regarded in scripture.  David is someone we can learn from.  He is highly praised, yet made some very bad decisions(i.e. sins) during the course of his life.  If God was looking for someone after His own heart, and God selected David(I Sam. 13:14), then we should probably take a closer look at David.

11/29/24 - After all the eating we do on Thanksgiving Day, the next day can include a bit of a food hangover.  But that doesn't keep people from going out and starting their Christmas shopping, or just going out shopping for themselves.  This is common in our society, but that doesn’t make it right.  Of course, just because our society does something does not make it wrong, either.  This is just another example of how we need to be careful not to just follow the crowd, but rather examine what we do, and examine what God’s Word says we should be doing . . . or not doing.

11/22/24 - We still have a few more days to go before the arrival of Thanksgiving, but you never start being thankful too soon.  Any time is a good time to think about being thankful, but this concept is probably on people’s minds more now that at any other time of the year, so I thought I’d mention it.  I spend a lot of time in prayer expressing my thankfulness to God.  Some prayers are just a long list of “thank you’s.”  Expressing our thanks can help us have a better appreciation of all the things and people that we have in our lives to be thankful for.  It can also help us see just how greatly we are blessed . . . if we take the time to think about it.

11/17/24 - As human beings, we have physical needs.  One of the most basic needs is sustenance – food and water.  We won’t live long without them, but even with them, we won’t last that long.  Most people only last 80 or so years in this world.  That is nothing in comparison to eternity.  Eternit lasts forever.  There is no end.  Eighty years would not even be noticeable during an eternity.  So when Jesus addressed people’s needs, He would sometimes use our physical needs, which were apparent, to illustrate our spiritual needs, which are not nearly as apparent.  Let’s look at some of His wisdom.

11/9/24 - I went to a funeral . . . again.  I probably have a slightly different response to funerals than most people.  If the dearly departed was older and lived a full life, I can be happy for them.  They likely were having physical problems near the end, and those would now be ended.   And if they were faithful to God, they would have a wonderful reward ahead of them.  However, when the dearly departed does not appear to have been faithful to God or they were a young person, funerals can be much more sad.  When a teenager or 20-something passes, or worse yet a mere child, a funeral can be a devasting experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone.  But the simple reality is that these are the kinds of things we sometimes have to deal with.  But there is comfort in knowing that regardless of what we experience in life, God is always with us.  That helps me a lot, especially during difficult times.

11/1/24 - Forgiveness is great when we are on the receiving end.  But when we have to be forgiving, well, that can be a little different.  It can be hard to forgive someone when they do something against you.  Revenge or hatred is probably an easier response than forgiveness, but easier does not mean correct.  It just means easier.  And in the case of forgiveness, it is absolutely essential.  Let’s remember to be forgiving, especially considering how forgiven we are.

10/26/24 - Bad things happen that make people sad.  It is simply a part of life.  And there are a lot of things that we simply do not have control over.  All we can do is control how we respond to those events in our lives.  Is there any comfort to be had by those who suffer?  What do they do?  What do we do when we suffer?  What can someone who mourns do?  Let’s take a few minutes to think about it.  And let’s go to the greatest source of wisdom we have available to us . . . God’s word.

10/18/24 - For the most part, people like the things that they are used to.  There is a certain comfort level that we achieve, and this makes us feel . . . well . . . comfortable.  This can be a good thing because, after all, we are comfortable.  But this can also be a bad thing.  Comfort makes us less aware, because we are comfortable.  Comfort makes us less suspicious, which can be to our detriment as we are less vigilant.  Comfort makes us less aware, even of ourselves, so we start missing things.  All or any of this can lead to problems, but none so big as sin in our lives.  It might be true that no one ever wants to find sin in their lives, but it is something we need to be vigilant against.  Upon becoming a Christian, we turn our backs on sin.  We leave it behind.  And we need to be careful that it does not creep back into our lives.

10/10/24 - Sometimes when we meet people for the first time, we have a preconceived notion about what they are like or what they are going to say.  It’s kind of sad.  I understand that when someone presents themselves in a certain way, that can generate certain expectations.  But when we are wrong, it can be a little “jarring.”  Hopefully, the surprise is a good one, like mine was.  And hopefully that experience will help us to look more inward, for both ourselves and others, and less at externals.

10/5/24 – Sometimes bad things happen in our lives.  They are not pleasant, after all, or we would not refer to them as being “bad.”  This can lead us to consciously, or even subconsciously, doubt God.  We likely would not doubt God’s existence, although we could, but more likely we would doubt His goodness or His love for us.  This can be dangerous because it can drive a wedge between us and the Creator and Sustainer.  And that is something we should want to avoid.  So let’s examine God’s “good – ness.”  Sometimes it is obvious; sometimes it is not.

9/20/24 – Men and the role of men in society has been changing quite a bit over the past few decades.  But if God does not change, then what He wants from men should not change, either.  But what does He want?  Is it possible to know?

9/13/24 - Parental Advisory – This article contains information that will be disturbing to some.  Actually, it should be disturbing to everyone.  It is utterly reprehensible! 

I don’t think anyone wants to hear about bad moms.  I certainly don’t want to write about it, but it is a reality and it needs to be dealt with.  This particular article is not about bad moms in general, but rather about some extremely bad moms.  These are not just bad, these are REALLY bad!  In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to think about this.  But we don’t live in a perfect world.  That lies beyond this life, and it is something to look forward to.  But for now, this is the world we live in, and this is the world we have to deal with.

9/7/24 - Technology is neither good nor evil in and of itself.  It is merely a means to accomplish an end.  A gun can be used to acquire food to survive, or it can be used to take an innocent life.  A car can get you from point A to point B sooner, or it can be used to run someone down.  The list goes on.  The internet, and now artificial intelligence, demonstrate the good and evil that any technology can afford in drastic ways.  We are only at the dawn of AI, but even the internet, at least in any real presence, is relatively new.  No one knows where it will lead, for good or ill, but we can be assured that there will be plenty of both.  However, regardless of technology or other people, we need to make certain that our relationship with God is good(Phil. 2:12-13; II Pet. 1:10).

Teaser - Last week was about good moms.  Next week will be about bad moms.

8/31/24 - I've wanted to put something up about moms ever since Mother's Day, but not wanting to wait a whole year, I'm very impatient, I decided to post on "Labor" Day Weekend.  But enough with the funny and on to the serious.  Being a mom, in some regards, is very basic.  And being a mom, at least in some aspects, has not changed much throughout the past several millennia.   But over the past few decades, being a mom has been under attack.  Or maybe I should say, "Just being a mom," has been under attack.  I've never met someone who was "just a mom" any more than I have met anyone who was "just a ______."  Each of us is many things, but being a mom is probably the best thing any woman can be.  When done correctly, it is a single-mindedness to it.  And the end result can be an incredible human being(the child, not the mom).  I am not suggesting that every good mom with raise a good child, or vice versa, but being a good mom definitely increases the likelihood a raising a good child . . .  a good human being.   And every society can benefit by having more good human beings in it.   We need to recognize the good moms.  We need to praise the good moms.  We need to encourage the good moms.  I hope this helps you to see people you already know, but to see them in a different and more appreciative way.

8/24/24 - It’s easy to say, “I’m not perfect, but nobody is.”  We can effectively hide in the crowd that is imperfect people.  But do we really want to be satisfied with just being in a crowd of people because they provide comfort?  There won’t be any comfort if all of those people are headed in the wrong direction(e.g. away from God).  Instead, we need to try our best to move toward God, in spite of our imperfections.  I am not suggesting that we just try to get as perfect as we can, and this will get us close enough to God.  This strategy is doomed to failure.  I will need be close enough to perfection to be acceptable to God on my own.  I will always need God’s grace.  What I am suggesting is that we need to go to God and try to find out what is missing in our lives, even WITH God’s grace.  The rich young ruler was someone who was willing to ask that question.  As far as we know, it did not go well for him, but his question(s) was good, so that is what we will look at today.

8/16/24 - I don't know too many people who are very fond of "work."  The word itself brings thoughts of difficulty.  Work is not thought of as easy, and sometimes there are reasons for that.  And while it is easy to hyper-focus on work, taking a "Big Picture" approach to things, even work, can change our perspective.  Hopefully, this will help.

8/10/24 - Well, it's been a while since the last post.  There have been some different things occupying my time lately, but they should be settling down now.  I was reading about Jesus being bound on day and I couldn't help but think how easy it is to read over a piece of text in the Bible and just think of it as being basic facts that were are given.  The Roman soldiers binding Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is just one of those "simple factual statements" that I hope you will try to take the time to pay closer attention to.  No every little, factual statement is going to be earth-shattering, but some will be more important than you might think.  Maybe after looking that this one, we will all be able to look at God's word a little more carefully.

5/22/24 - Well, so much for writing about the blessings of mothers for this week.  That can will need to be kicked down the road for now.  Several months ago, I was attending a gospel meeting, and the speaker made some comments that caused me to wonder, "Do we demonize women?"  Since I was wondering, the speaker's comments were not unabashedly demonizing women, but they were enough to make me consider the possibility.  Spoiler alert:  I don't think we do, or maybe a better way of putting it is that I do not think we do it intentionally.  But do we sometimes appear to do it?  I suspect the answer to that question is "yes."  The answer should be an obvious, "no," but we are not perfect.  We make mistakes.  We go further than the Bible says to go.  Or, we do not understand how a point of scripture is being made, whom it is being addressed to, etc.  These unintentional faux pas can have serious effects and consequences that we do not intend, but they can occur, nonetheless.  For this reason, we need to choose our words carefully.  We need to speak where the Bible speaks, as intended.  And we need to be silent where the Bible is silent, as intended.  Let's make sure our words are crafted to build others up, not to tear them down.  Let's make sure our words bring people closer to God, instead of giving them a reason to hate Him.  Women are a tremendous resource, especially godly women(Prov. 31:10).  Don't hurt them.  Don't demonize them.  Don't drive them away from the Lord.

5/12/24 - Happy Mother's Day!  I really should have written something about the importance of mothers, and how they are a gift from God.  Maybe next week.  For now, I wanted to publish something that follows up on the prior article about why we worship God.  I wanted to look even more foundationally at the idea of how we find God.    As a result, I wrote a few words about why I believe in God.  This might be something you never really think about.   You just think, "I believe in God" and you never really dig into it.  I am going to challenge you to do just that.  Think about God.  If you believe in God, that's great, but why?  I don't want to destroy your faith; I want you to strengthen your faith.  I hope this exercise will draw you closer to God.  Praise Him!  And today, praise Him for moms.  Not just yours.  May God bless you and your mom.  [I'll talk about dads later.]

4/30/24 - Worship is something that we can just kind of get into a rut about.  You do the same thing, over and over.  After a while, you can do it without thinking, which is bad all by itself.  But did you ever think about why you worship God?  What's the point?  Toward what end?  What is the purpose of worshipping God?  I'm not going to answer all of those questions in this comparatively short article.  But it is a big question that each of us needs to answer for ourselves.  Before reading this article, I would challenge you to answer the question for yourself first, then read the article.  See if you agree or disagree with me.  Spend some more time thinking about your answer.  It's worth thinking about.  I don't like ruts and I don't believe in doing something just because it's what I've always done, or done for some period of time.  I could be wrong!  I doubt it, but it is possible.  :)  This matters.  If it didn't matter, I wouldn't waste my time, or yours,, writing about it.  And it is foundational to your worship AND your relationship with God.  Do you really need any more reasons than that?

4/13/24 - When I started this blog a few months ago, my goal was to post an article each Friday evening, with the hope that I could help people start their weekend with something good to think about.  Well . . . that has not entirely worked out.  It seems like I end up posting something over the weekend, with Saturday being the best case scenario.  Something or another always seems to get in the way, and this week was no different.  I was just about done with work Friday afternoon, not done, but almost done, when Vicki called me.  She said I needed to come to pick up Bella(our dog who had just had a dental and Vicki had gone to the vet to pick her up) and then take her(Vicki) to  urgent care.  She did not say where they even were, so I had no clue as to what was going on.  She then informed me that she was just getting home, which was a partial relief.  I eventually found out that she had fallen and sprained her ankle.  It was painful, but not life-threatening.  Phew!   But as I mentioned earlier, I was also done working, which meant I needed to go back in the office Saturday morning to finish what I had started on Friday.  That is done too, but upward and onward.

Today's article is about prayer because, well, prayer is important.  Jesus prayed. . . a lot, or at least that's the title I used.  It seems to be something He focused on, so I am focusing on the subject today.  It is an opportunity to speak to God.  But I want you to think about that statement.  You are speaking to God.  He is the One Who spoke everything into existence.  He just said it, and it happened.  And you can talk to Him.  Better yet, He will listen.  How cool is that!  And we can tell Him anything.  No need to be embarrassed.  Let's face it; He knows everything, so when you admit(confess) something to Him, He already knows.  Of course, you could ask, "then why even mention it, since He knows."  Good question.  Why does God want us to talk to Him when He already knows everything, when He already knows everything we will say before we say it?   I'll save that for another time.

This article focuses more on Jesus praying that us praying, but He is the One we are to look to for inspiration.  He is the One we are to follow.  He is the One Who leads us to our Father in heaven.  Let's follow Him.  Let's learn from His example.

4/6/24 - Some of what is in the Bible can be viewed as positive or negative.  One of the great positives is that we are told that we do not have to worry about any new gospel.  In some ways that might sound like a bad thing, since our society loves "new" and/or "improved" things.  That is part of what drives our consumerism(or materialism, to use a Bible word).  But not having to worry about a new gospel can be a great comfort, as we don't need to worry about whether or not what we have is the newest version, since it is the only version.  And if someone else comes along with a "new" or "improved" version, it really isn't.  This can make our lives easier and less stressful.  And more stress is something you don't want at the end of another stressful week at work.  It's nice to know that some things do not change . . . ever!  So relax.  Enjoy some time with God's message.  Remember that you have one less thing to worry about - God changing things on you.  He wouldn't do that.   He loves you and He wants you to know His message.  And you can.

3/30/24 - I like to try to post a lot of positive articles, not because I'm a "people pleaser," but because there are so many good things to think about when looking at God's interactions with us.  It can feel like God has NO interaction with us; He just wrote a book(the Bible) and left us on our own.   But that is FAR from the truth.   In reality, every blessing that we experience during the course of our entire lives can be traced back to Him.  It's also really easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind of life and simply forget to look around and notice(and realize) any of the things that God does for us.  That is why I wanted to spend some time today thinking about just SOME of the ways that God shows His love for us.  There are others, more specific to you, that I hope you will think about.  I'm not suggesting that you ignore the bad things that have happened to you or your loved ones in this life.  Those things happen and they deserve to be addressed(like maybe next week or the week after).  But for now, try to focus on just some of the wonderful ways in which God shows His love for YOU.  Then share with others.

3/24/24 - Some articles are easy to write and publish.  Others are not.  This is one of those "others."  It's easy to sit back and admit that everybody sins(Rom. 3:23).  It gets a little more dicey when we admit that we sin.  But when that admission is a generic admission, it isn't too bad.  But when we start admitting to specific, individual sins, that can get uncomfortable.  And that is what I am doing this week.  We need to admit that we sin.  We need to confess it.  We need to be forgiven of it.  But all of this starts with our admitting that we do sin, AND being specific about it.  I'm not suggesting that we have to go out and tell everyone we meet every bad thing we ever do.  But there will be times when telling others is helpful.  Let's not be shy in our admissions.  They make us stronger, not weaker.

Sneak peak - Next Week - Some of the Ways God Shows His Love for Us

3/16/24 - When you look around in the world, something seems to be missing.  Actually, a lot of things seem to be missing, but I'm just going to look at one of those things today.  Maybe some others in coming weeks.  There does not seem to be a lot of compassion out in the world today.  People seem to be more and more self-centered.  And although you do need to take care of yourself, if not you will be useless to others, it does not, or should not, stop there.  After we take care of ourselves, we need to do what we can to help others.  Compassion plays an important role in that, as compassion consists of two parts: (1) seeing a need in anther; and (2) the desire to help that person.  It is important to understand that we cannot do everything for everyone, but that should not cause us to do nothing for no one.  We probably need to see that other person as just that . . . a person.  A person just like me.  A person just like you.  Only different.  Let's do what we can, instead of focusing on what we can't.

3/9/24 - This article really went off topic, in my opinion, but I guess that's okay.  I wanted to emphasize the fact that we are so much more than our possessions, etc.  However, it rather quickly made a 90 degree turn and went in a completely different direction.  It would up being about our need to love others . . . all others.  Even the difficult to love others.  And let's face it, that is not always easy.  Some people are really hard to love.  However, God loves them, so we need to love them, too.  Yes, even the really difficult ones who we are absolutely certain do not want our love, or anybody else's for that matter.  Yes, those people, too.  By loving them, we are not trying to change them, we are changing ourselves.  We are becoming more like God, who is love incarnate.  Let's do that!

3/2/24 - ***Parental Advisory*** -  I never thought I would write an article that would need a parental advisory, but I think it's appropriate given the subject matter of today's article.  In the Song of Solomon, the main person(a woman) gives a very important piece of advice to some of her girlfriends.  She warns them about love.  However, she is not speaking about the internal feeling of love for another person, but rather the physical act of love.  It might seem like an odd thing to warns her friends about, but she speaks from experience.  She knows what it means, as she is married to man, and she clearly loves him very much.  She wants her friends to know that physical love can be passionate, and because of that, it is not something to be trifled with.

2/25/24 - It's been another long week, thus my not posting until Sunday night.  It's not an excuse, just a reason.  Unfortunately, we tend to get very consumed by the things of this world.  And I'm not suggesting that we can entirely ignore the physical things of this world.  We won't last long without food, and we'll last an even short time without water or air.  So there are physical things that are essential, but not to the extent of ignoring spiritual things.  It is spiritual things that are the most important, in part because they have the longest(eternal) effect.  See Are We Distracted By the Cares of This World?  I hope this article will help you see the dire and time-sensitive nature of reaching out to the lost.  In the mundanity of life, it can be easy to think(or maybe not think) that time is of the essence.  But the lost need Jesus . . . desperately.  And you might be the only person they even know who can show that person the truth.  If the situation were reversed, wouldn't you want them to tell you about Jesus?  I would!

2/16/24 - Someone once asked me if I thought if Jesus spent any time in hell after His death on the cross.  I thought it was an interesting question, so here's my attempt at an answer.  In reality, I guess the answer is a moot point.  I mean, either He did or He did not.  However, the question does give me the opportunity to dive into some interesting ideas, and hopefully I am able to help unravel a few things that are probably confusing to people.  And I suspect that for many people, they do not even know there is confusion on some terminology used in scripture.  Words are sometimes used in a way they were not intended.  Sometimes the meaning of words changes over the course of time.  And sometimes people just don't know what certain words even mean, and they never take the time to figure them out.   They just keep reading.  And that is sad.  We need to know what those words meant when they were written, otherwise, we will not be able to understand the message the writer was trying to convey.  And since the Bible is God's message that He loves us, we should probably do everything we can to understand that message properly.

2/10/24 - Last week's topic was a little bit of a downer.  So this week's topic should be very encouraging.  One of the great things about God is His total willingness to help us overcome ourselves, to overcome our own failures.   That's just one of the great things about God.  He will forgive me regardless of my past failures.  How wonderful is that?    Our God is greater and better and more loving that we have any right to hope for.   Don't sell Him short.  I can guarantee He will not sell you short.  Peace.

2/2/24 - Failure is not something anyone wants to experience or talk about, but it happens . . . to all of us.  How we deal with our failures matters.  And although it's easy to say, "You pick yourself up and trudge forward," that is not always the best thing to do.  Sometimes the answer is different.  That is what this article is about.  It's not about "giving up."  It IS about accepting reality and not being so pig-headed that you move forward when that is not in your best interests or the best interests of others affected by your decisions.  It was not easy to admit.  It was not easy to write.  I hope it will be beneficial.

1/26/24 - One of the things I am trying to do with the articles I post is being positive, in part because there is SO MUCH positive above God's word.  That is not to say there there are no negatives . . . there are.  Some prior articles, like the Are We Distracted By the Cares of This World? article come off on the negative side.  But the simple fact of the matter is that when we are erring(i.e. sinning), there needs to be correction, which actually is a positive thing, but it is often perceived in a negative manner.  Today's article is about heaven, so it's mainly on the positive side.  I especially wanted something so positive before next week's article, which will be a little on the negative side, to say the least.  But for now, check on just some of the wonderful things that we as God's faithful children have to look forward to.  Remember them and take them with you through the rest of the week, and beyond.

1/20/24 - Last year I received a religious circular in the mail.  Usually I just throw them out, but this one caught my attention.  No, I don't have it to share, but today's article is a letter I sent to the sender of the mailer.  I don't know if my letter was ever read, but I sent it.  Here is my response.  I hope you enjoy it.  I hope it makes you think.

1/13/24 - It is cold and getting colder.  If you are living in part of the country about to experience polar weather, stay warm.  And if your team made the football playoffs, enjoy . . . and stay humble.

One day I was asked why Jesus didn't just stay on earth.  He could have, but He didn't.  The Bible never specifically states why He didn't, although Jesus does say that He is going to prepare a place for His disciples(John 14:3-10).  However, He certainly could have stayed if He wanted.  I'm not big into speculation, so I try to refrain from it when possible.  Sometimes we are confronted with with questions, either our own or from someone else.  All we can do is take what we have(God's Word) and try to apply as much as we can to the attempt to derive an answer.  This is my response(I would not go so far as to say "answer") to that question.  I hope it helps.

1/1/24 -  Happy New Year!  If you stayed up past midnight, well done!  I barely made it past 10 pm.  Each new year comes with new challenges and new opportunities.  It can be easy to get overwhelmed by either or both.  With the beginning of the new year, let's try to be more intentional in our actions.  Instead of re-acting(and sometimes that is all we can do), let's try to be more pro-active.  Let's also try to be better at being good.  Today's article helps by providing some examples of people who did what was right, even when it might not have been all that easy.

12/28/23 - It's almost Friday, so it's time for another article to be published.  The holiday season can be a great time of year, but it can also be distracting from what is most important in life . . . our relationship with God.  I wanted to write this article because it is so vitally important for us to seriously consider our lives, and how we live them.  Are we being distracted by the things of this world?  It can happen so easily.  Read.  Enjoy.  Learn. Contemplate.

Also, I plan to post a special article on New Year's Day, a bonus themed around the beginning of the new year.   Until then . . . .

12/25/23 - Merry Christmas, everyone!  On a day when a lot of people are probably thinking about a very special woman(i.e. Mary, the mother of Jesus), I would like to direct your minds to one of the most inspirational people we can read about in scripture . . . Hannah.  She is probably not who you thought I was going to mention, and you might not be familiar with her.  If you aren't, you need to read this article . . . and learn from her.

12/3/23 - Migraine + Nausea = Me Not Posting in a Timely Manner

My apologies.  I was not able to post as soon as I would have liked this weekend, but I hope it will be worth the wait.  This weekend's article is titled Context and the Parable of the Rich Fool.  It can be very easy to read something and miss the message, or get the wrong message.  That is why context can be so incredibly important.  Our preconceived notions about what is correct can also cloud our understanding.  Don't let that happen.  Do add your own thoughts to Jesus' words.  Let Him tell you what He wanted to tell you.  Listen. 

I have wanted to start a blog for some time now.  Why?  Because I ask myself a lot of questions, and I suspect a lot of people are asking themselves the same or similar questions.  My thoughts will be just one more set of thoughts to consider.  Take them for what they are, nothing more and nothing less.

I lay no claim to being an expert on anything.  When I look into God’s word, I try to do so openly and honestly with no preset opinions.  I am trying to learn and become a better person.  Sometimes that growth is easier, and sometimes it is more difficult.  Few things in life that are worth anything are very easy.  Improving your life with godliness can be difficult.  It might be unpopular.  It might not be very much fun, especially at first.  Over the course of time we should become happier(or more joyful) as we come to a better understanding of who we are, Who God is and what our relationship with Him should be.  And hopefully the changes make us truly more like God, drawing us closer to the Creator and Sustainer of this universe we live in.  This will make us better people today and tomorrow, as well as giving us a greater understanding of our eternal salvation.

My intention is to post one article per week on Friday or Saturday, although there may be some weeks when I post something additional.  I hope you will find them beneficial.  And even if you disagree, I hope that my thoughts will help you to dig deeper into God’s word to have a better understanding of how He wants you to live your life and how to have a better understanding of the person Gods thinks you should be.

It is important to remember that everything God tells us is for our benefit.  Everything He tells us to do is for our benefit.  He isn’t trying to ruin our fun; He is trying to protect us against things that are harmful to us.  They might appear to be fun, but in reality they are killing us because they are separating us from the Giver of life.  If you separate yourself from the Light(John 8:12) and the Life(John 14:6), you are left with only darkness and death.  Why would anyone consciously choose that?

Always feel free to leave a comment, positive or negative.  Be respectful and loving to myself and others.  My intent is to be positive and uplifting, not to drag people down.  I have no intention of telling everyone that whatever they do, they are just fine.  God never said that, so I will never say that.  He specifically communicated to us through His word because we were doing things wrong.  If we did everything right, He would not have needed to help us because we wouldn’t need any help.  And we desperately need His help!  The good news is that He is patient, loving and merciful.  We need that from Him; and we need to implement those qualities in our own lives:  patience, love and kindness.

I titled this blog as “The Big Picture” because I like to look at God’s word from a “big picture” point of view.  This is not to say that I will not look at details, because I will, but I like to pull back and try to look at issues from a fuller point of view.  If God’s word is 100% consistent, then my understanding of it must also be 100% consistent.

I like to condense God’s word into three simple statements:  (1) God is holy(i.e. perfect, only good); (2) I am not(holy, perfect or only good); and (3) God has a plan(sometimes referred to as the Gospel plan of salvation).  In a nutshell, this is the Bible.  You may have never thought of it this way, and that’s fine.  It’s just one way of looking at it from a “big picture” point of view; there are others every bit as valuable.  The details still matter, but the big picture helps us to remember where we are(unholy) and where we are trying to get(holiness, as revealed through God’s plan).

Remember that God loves everybody(this is a universal approach).  Also remember that God loves you(this is an individual approach).  Both are equally true; they are just different ways of looking at the exact same thing.  So don’t forget that God’s loves you.  And if you think He doesn’t love you, for whatever reason, you are wrong.   He does love you.  I will not discount that you might not feel loved, but just because you don’t feel loved doesn’t mean that you are not loved.  And if you cannot see His love for you in your life, that does not mean that His love is not there; it just means that you don’t see it.  If either is the case, you are not alone.  You are not alone because others feel the same way.  And you are not alone because God loves you.

I do not hold myself out to be better than anyone else because I am just like everyone else . . . I am a sinner.  So it is important to understand that a flawed sinner is writing these articles, albeit with the best of intentions.  I am not perfect.  I fail . . . a lot.  I will continue to fail, but I will continue to attempt to improve(Rom. 7:14-20).  I will continue to try to grow closer to God.  I will continue to need His forgiveness, but I can be rest assured that God’s love is unfailing(Ps. 143:8).  I can do this, not because I am strong, but because God will provide the strength needed to succeed(Rom. 7:24-25).  Instead of relying on self, I will rely on my Creator.  I hope you will be benefitted and blessed by the forthcoming articles.  God has blessed us all so much more than we realize.  I hope to be able to help you see at least some small part of those blessings.