Living Unfiltered for God

We often hear the expression, “Be a light!” If you are a Christian, we are taught that we are to shine Christ’s light – to emanate His Light that lives within us to the world around us. Have you ever really thought about what that means, though? Or how to practice this on a day to day basis? He said to them, “ Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open . ( Mark 4:21-22 NIV )   Several weeks ago, I was reading through a devotional with some others that posed a question I had never thought of before. In the “For Reflection” area, it stated the following: “There are different kinds of lights (traffic lights, flashlights, spotlights, florescent lights, candle lights, lighthouse, torches, lamps) - which one best describes you? Why?” This really got me thinking. Like anything else when it comes t...

(Continuing some reflections from Youth Devotions and Communion at Florida Family CFO camp last month...) The purpose of our discussion on the third day of the week, was to go a little deeper into the story behind one particular, well-known verse. I’ll start this post the same way I began the lesson that morning with the teenagers… Which verse in the Bible do you think is the most popular to quote, or at least the most well known? Who said it? Who was He talking to? After the first question, there were several good answers provided, but the consensus of the group settled on John 3:16. (I’ve said before, this was a smart bunch of kids!) Of course, I had to follow it up with the question, “Where is that verse found?” After a few seconds of looks of confusion, they realized I was just seeing if they really were awake that early in the morning! The second question was trickier. Their initial answer was John. A logical and reasonable choice. But then, they zeroed i...

In recent years, there has been a lot of controversy about whether we should say, “Merry Christmas” or, “Happy Holidays” this time of year. Unfortunately, like so many things these days, it has become a divisive, political issue. Let me say from the outset, I’m solidly in the “Merry Christmas” camp. That said, I recognize that, at least from a purely religious standpoint, it does not apply to everyone. I have Jewish friends for whom, “Happy Hanukkah” would be more appropriate. But, also non-believing friends who, while they may not be followers of Jesus, still celebrate Christmas in its secular form (if that can really be a thing.) And of course, many others that fall across the spectrum. I’d like to offer here, though, a different way to think about all of this. Will you give me a few more minutes? Sitting in church this morning, as our Pastor was talking about Jesus being the fulfillment of certain Old Testament prophecies, I was struck with the following thought, “ Don’t just s...

We are almost done with walking through the Peace Prayer of St. Francis and dissecting what it would look like if we truly walked out its message. As we've already seen, each component thus far has been much more easily spoken than lived out. And to live it out, you have to approach life in a much different manner than what the world would accept as typical or appropriate. So... let's look at the next two lines: where there is darkness, (sow) light; where there is sadness, joy.  This may be the easiest of the admonitions we've looked at so far. I say "easy" though, only in comparison to the what we've already looked at and also in the sense that it is easier to be a generally "happy" person than to be one that is quick to forgive, for example.  Many people who have been trying to live the Christian life for any time at all have probably heard the expression, "be a light in a dark place." I think it's interesting tha...