In Richard Foster’s book, Celebration of Discipline, the author offers 10 Principles for Fleshing out Simplicity for today. They are listed as follows: 1. Buy things for their usefulness, not their status.2. Reject anything that produces control (obsessions, addictions) over your life.3. Develop the habit of giving things away.4. Be skeptical of the promise of…
Category: Enough
How Much is Enough? (part 2)
Jesus devoted much of the Sermon on the Mount to a discussion about wealth and riches.Matthew 6:19-33. In this lengthy text, Jesus advocated favoring heavenly treasures over earthly treasures. He gives three supporting reasons for his argument.1. The world is an uncertain place (Matthew 6:19-20). Stuff will deteriorate, if it is not stolen by thieves…
How Much is Enough?
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” (Luke 4:18-19,…
The Impact of Blessings: Psalm 128 (Part 3)
By way of quick review, Psalm 128 begins with a word of instruction on how to become a blessed and happy person. It all hinges on having the fear of the Lord at the center of your life and the Word of God at the circumference of your life. When the center and the circumference…
Psalm 128 (Part 2)
When the fear of the Lord is at the center of our lives and the Word of the Lord is at the circumference of our lives, the Psalmist announces four blessings that become readily available to God’s children: 1. God will take care of our needs. Psalm 128:2 says, “You shall surely eat what your…
Psalm 128
Since this weekend was Mother’s Day, I spoke on the family from Psalm 128. As far as I can recall, I’ve never used this text for a sermon, but was amazed at how it spoke to my life as I began poking around in it. The key to the Psalm is verse 1, which reads,…
Principles of Sabbath Rest (Part 2)
Yesterday I posted three principles from God’s example of remembering the Sabbath. Today I want to finish with a couple of additional thoughts. In Sabbath observance the Christian is encouraged to rest, reflect and rejoice. Those three steps lead us to a fourth principle: renewing our trust in God. In Genesis 1:29-30, Adam was reminded…
Principles of Sabbath Rest (Part 1)
While the command to remember to observe the Sabbath comes after the giving of the Law in Exodus 20, the concept of Sabbath is as old as creation itself. God instituted Sabbath on the seventh day following his creative work thus modeling it for all. What can we learn from the creation account that will…
Mary and Martha
Thinking about Sabbath and time and pressing schedules reminded me of a great story in Luke’s gospel. In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus is visiting in the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. It’s a simple thing, probably just conversation about the Old Testament Scriptures or the Kingdom of God or something like that. The scene is…
Living the Sabbath
One of the benefits of my education has been the wonderful people I have met along the way who have been superb resources to me in ministry. One such person is my friend of nearly 30 years, Dr. Ken Gore, chair of the Department of Religion at Williams Baptist College in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. When…