they are ripe    John 4:35

When Jesus ventured into non-friendly territory he encountered a thirsty woman, turned her town upside down, and gave his disciples a wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee lesson. “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” He saw the opportunities, but they saw the obstacles. 

• One obstacle was their reputation. “What if people see our boss talking to a woman of ill repute?” 
• Another obstacle was religion. “Why are you wasting time on Samaritans? They are not our target market.” 
• Their third attempt to ‘get out of Dodge’ was practical: “Why don’t you get something to eat?”

"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 

What do you see in your workplace? Is it an environment where people are neutral to spiritual things? Perhaps you see it as disinterested, not caring much about God and all that...

Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. 

And Dan, why did he linger by the ships?  Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves.  Judges 5:17

Not that long ago the New York Giants won their 10th consecutive away game, an NFL record. Winning on the road is tough. There were “away game” players in Scripture with catchy names such as Barak, Benjamin, Ephraim, Issachar, Napthali, and Zebulun. They all played an away game, won, and their names are recorded in history. Let me set the context. Israel had been oppressed for twenty years, and their leader, a woman prophetess names Deborah, called on the nation’s leaders to fight their enemies. The opposition was formidable, but God had given an instruction, and Deborah passed it on. 

“The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his...

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light.  Luke 11:34

Have you considered how much your life is impacted by the way you see things? Most of the time, I am convinced that the way I see things is the way they really are. The sad fact is that my eye does not see, focus and filter the way it ought to. My first problem is not my eyesight, but my worldview. My second problem is my culture which shapes my lenses. I generally attribute dark areas in my life to sin; here Jesus links them to the way I see things. This includes my presuppositions, my thought patterns, my assumptions, and my honed ability to see things in a way that suits my idiosyncrasies. I prefer a bad lamp to one that scatters the cockroaches in my soul. 

I have been pondering the lens through which my three children see life. I love their uniqueness, cherish their differences. At the same time, I want their life-outlook—their eyes—to be good...

till I entered the sanctuary of God
Psalm 73:17

Do you ever lack an understanding of the bigger context of life? Do you think your life is worse than others? Do you wonder why you have a hard time and those who don’t know God do fine? Asaph had the same challenge, and in Psalm 73 as he gives us a good reason to do “scorecarding,” to measure…but it has to be in the right context.

Although he is in a bad place personally, he knows enough about God to start with the general truth. “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.” This is as true as “God loves everyone.” It is true, but it lacks the personal touch.  “But as for me, my feet had almost slipped…”  What follows is verse after verse of bad news for Asaph and good news for the rich. Finally, he arrives at the middle of this song and says, “When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me,...

Baruch was of more noble birth than the prophet Jeremiah yet was his scribe. For many years he had prophecies that were ignored and sometimes burned in the flames. Poor old Baruch had to rewrite them. After a slew of people had been taken captive to Babylon and only the stragglers remained in Israel this remnant came to Jeremiah and asked, “Should we go back to Egypt?” It took Jeremiah 10 days to get an answer from God and it was a resounding “No!” The problem, however, was that the leaders had pre-decided that they wanted to guarantee their comfort and go back to Egypt. They hoped Jeremiah would confirm their predetermined plan. They predictably ignored his counsel and, to make matters worse, dragged Jeremiah and Baruch, his scribe, with them. History says Jeremiah never saw the Promised Land again. 

No wonder Baruch was feeling despondent. When he signed up for the job of scribe to a great prophet he probably didn’t think that Jeremiah would be...

but in the future Isaiah 9:1

I was reading Isaiah 9 and felt it had strong relevance to the challenge we see of getting people out of the common way of doing Christianity and into a kingdom walk. The big hurdle of “recruiting” people for this or that initiative has little to do with leave, time commitments, or finances; it has to do with the possible new future for people, and how our enemy is determined to help people avoid it. The two phrases that hit me from Isaiah 9:1 were “In the past…” and “but in the future.”

As we end another Venture season (which feels much like the Old Testament times when kings returned from war) I am so blessed that the future of many people has been radically changed by God’s interjection these past four or five months. The future of many consultants has been changed forever because of the training they received. They grew spiritually when they had to serve clients in a way that went beyond their skills...

Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting. Leviticus 26:5

Even business leaders whose companies are doing well wonder whether their current business performance can be sustained. What if Scripture showed a possible way to avoid business downturns? The first thirteen verses of Leviticus 26 hold the conditions and the promises of sustained business performance. Our challenge is that we read it and think it is Old Testament mumbo jumbo and therefore miss the truth.

The conditions don’t seem that onerous: No idols of any sort, observe the Sabbath, reverence the sanctuary, follow God’s decrees, and obey his commands. What does this look like if we put that into New Testament speak—make that 21st Century language? 

• Idolatry for ancient Israel meant buying into the worldview and religious system that were not from God. In business, this means basing our business practices on assumptions that are not Biblical....

If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed your children. Psalm 73:15

Asaph was a writer of popular songs, a lyricist in his day. Just because he was a popular religious artist didn’t mean that he escaped the bad day syndrome. He was in a funk, and he points out why. “For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” You might have lost your job while someone you know was promoted. You might be taking steps of faith while others are looking after themselves, and they seem to be doing better financially. You may be hemmed in by limits, while others have no limits. What do you do? What do you say? Much has been said about the pivotal verse in this psalm, which is verse 17: “till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.” What I want us to see this time is the key principle that allowed Asaph to even see this truth. It has to do with what he allowed to come out of his mouth.

You may...

We are living in times when many are being as “stubborn as mules” about things that may or may not be critical. Anyone with a passing thought can post it on social media and, if it is provocative enough, garner the support of international miscreants. We have learned how the more controversial thoughts get more reactions, so we opine without expertise, post without wisdom. Yet there is something winsome about combing grace and truth. Truth on its own can be harsh; grace without truth can be sloppy. The combination, however, builds up and infuses courage. When grace and truth are backed up by action the outcome can be nothing short of splendid.

Income-producing ass

We remember the unusual story about a mode of transportation being co-opted for a historic ride into town. More specifically, it was someone’s means of income or income-producing ass, that was conscripted into greater service. If this happened today the story might read:

“Go to the town ahead of...

 The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. Psalm 145:9

Have you ever been to a gathering and felt that only a few people got touched, or worse, that everyone else was blessed and you were left stone cold? When others saw angels you saw the odd shapes of the people in front of you. When others felt snowflakes fall from the rafters in 100 degree heat, you thought the people in the bleachers were just spitting while they sang. What do you do with your expectations; how do you ensure you stay in a place of hope? Psalm 145 is the antidote to the “everyone else except me” blues. “The Lord is good to all.” This is God’s heart. His default setting is love and inclusiveness. His scope is set to All.  

If you are still thinking “all except me” then read these verses and count the number of ALLs.

All you have made will praise you, O Lord; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and...