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Posts in "Essays"

Tough Love vs. Tender Mercy - Which Way Did Jesus Go?

There’s an old joke that’s told in a variety of ways. A man goes to heaven and is getting a tour by St. Peter. Peter is pointing out the various places in heaven that might be of interest and introduces him to various people as they wander the streets. The man looks down a street and sees a doorway, but it is gated and well out of the way, leading into a building. The man asks, “Peter, what is that?” Peter replies, “Oh, that’s for the Presbyterians. They think they’re the only ones up here.”

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Building on the Rock - Practicing Faith for Life's Storms

What do you do when life gets tough? Do you retreat to bed, declaring it a “no good, very bad day,” hoping tomorrow will be better? If so, we might never leave our beds. Daily, we encounter trouble, hardship, heartache, and suffering, even amidst blessings. The news constantly reminds us of the world’s unending problems.

How do we respond? We cannot perpetually hide, waiting for an easy life. The storms inevitably come, and we often live with a sense of impending trouble, even when things are good.

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Shattered Idols - Micah's Vision of Reckoning

We look around at a world rife with hardship, a world that often feels chaotic and unfair. And then, we look at our own lives. Maybe they're comfortable, maybe even good. A nagging question arises: what do we do with this dissonance? Do we turn a blind eye, dismissing the suffering as "not my problem"? Or does something stir within us, a sense that we should, perhaps even must, do something?

This internal struggle, this tension between comfort and conscience, is not unique to our time. The prophet Micah, speaking during the prosperous reign of King Uzziah in Judah, confronted a similar reality. Judah was booming. Wealth was abundant. But beneath the surface, a rot was festering.

Micah's message, like a jarring alarm, cuts through the complacency. He doesn't sugarcoat. He doesn't offer easy answers. He delivers a stark warning: doom and hope, doom and hope. This is the rhythm of his prophecy, a constant oscillation between judgment and redemption.

The Problem of Prosperity

Micah exposes the dark side of Judah's prosperity. Unprecedented wealth had led to unchecked greed. The powerful exploited the vulnerable, seizing land and disregarding God's laws of justice and compassion. The year of Jubilee, designed to restore equity, was ignored.

Sound familiar?

We too live in a world where the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen. Where the powerful often prioritize their own interests over the well-being of others.

The Plague of False Worship

But Micah doesn't just address economic injustice. He goes deeper, diagnosing the root cause: idolatry. The people of Judah, despite having the temple in Jerusalem, had turned it into a "high place," a center of false worship. They had replaced the true God with idols of their own making.

This indictment hits hard. What are our idols? What are we worshipping in our daily lives? Is it power, wealth, comfort, entertainment, or even our own opinions? Are we truly worshipping God in spirit and truth, or have we crafted a god in our own image?

Micah doesn't shy away from confronting the religious leaders either. He condemns the false prophets who offered soothing words of prosperity and ignored the cries of the oppressed. They prioritized comfort over truth, echoing a pattern we see in our own time.

The Call to Repentance and Hope

Micah's message is uncomfortable, even painful. He challenges our "sacred cows," forcing us to confront our own complacency and idolatry. But amidst the doom, there is a glimmer of hope.

Micah proclaims that God will gather a remnant, a faithful people who will return to Him. He paints a vivid picture of joy and liberation, like sheep bursting into a wide-open pasture. This hope is not based on human merit but on God's faithfulness to His covenant.

A Challenge for Today

Micah's words resonate with our contemporary issues. We, too, must confront the dissonance between our comfort and the suffering around us. We must ask ourselves:

  • What are we worshipping?
  • Are we living justly and compassionately?
  • Are we listening to the true voice of God, or the soothing whispers of false prophets?

Micah's message is not meant to make us comfortable. It is meant to heal our souls. It is a call to repentance, a call to return to the true God, and a call to be part of the remnant that will experience the joy of His redemption.

Let us heed Micah's warning and embrace his hope. Let us examine our hearts, confront our idols, and strive to live as a people who truly worship God in spirit and truth.

Jesus in Conversation - The Sales People

When was the last time you walked into a space and thought, “This is not at all what I was expecting”? I grew up going to a historic Presbyterian church in Pontiac, MI. It is one of the oldest churches in the state. The building is magnificent. It is a gothic style church with a massive pipe organ and gorgeous stained glass at the corner of the two main roads in the downtown of the city. Any time I walk into First Presbyterian Church of Pontiac I am left with a sense of wonder and reverence.

It was a magical place to grow up in my faith.

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