There’s this thing happening over on our sister station KLRC this week called the Fall Fundraiser. Now, you’re probably familiar with Christian radio fundraisers, right? Less music, lots of talking.
I’m guilty of frequently under-dressing. In fact, if you ever see me in a shirt with buttons on it, you can thank my wonderful wife for lovingly suggesting that I put on a different shirt before I leave the house.
What keeps you up at night? Is it anxious thoughts about the future, or brooding about the past? Or maybe that conversation you keep replaying over and over? Whatever your thing is, you’re probably pretty well acquainted with that enemy.
1 Peter 3:15 says in part, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. ” In this passage, Peter exhorts us to always be ready to explain to others why Jesus is the source of our hope.
I sat across the table, listening to her tell her story. It sounded familiar. She was asking the same questions I had so many times, during what felt like a long season of singleness. Sometimes you just need to say the words out loud.
I’ve heard it said that the Bible reminds us 365 times not to fear – once for every day of the year. It turns out that’s not exactly true, but the point still stands. Scripture does indeed repeatedly exhort us, “Do not fear!”.
Verses like this perfectly illustrate to me why the word of God is depicted as a sword (Eph. 6:10-18): it can be a powerful tool in the fight against the enemy, but can also hurt when wielded without great care.
There’s a moment in one of my favorite British TV series where one character asks/yells at another, “ARE YOU HAVING AN EARTHQUAKE?!” The first time I heard it, it made me laugh. That scene has been running through my mind a lot lately.
I spend a lot of time thinking about thoughts. My thoughts -- and everybody else’s thoughts. Especially their thoughts about me. I like to convince myself that I’m good at “reading people. ” Which is a fancy way of saying, “I’m pretty sure I know what you’re thinking, even though you haven’t told me in actual words.
Do you know anyone who’s notoriously difficult to get on the phone? Maybe somebody who, when you’re trying to get a hold of them, you call their spouse first? I confess, I’m usually “that guy. ” .
