Intentional Faith

References: Matthew 12:35; Luke 6:45; Romans 8:5 – 11

Set against Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, Erik Larson’s bestselling book The Devil in the White City tells the true story of two men, each serving as an extreme example of the good and evil in humans.

Daniel Burnham, one of the greatest architects of his day, was the driving force behind the Chicago World’s Fair, transforming it into a phenomenon that forever changed his country. In less than two years, Burnham supervised the construction of more than two hundred buildings along the coast of Lake Michigan. The largest exhibition, called the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, had enough interior volume to have housed the U.S. Capitol, the Great Pyramid, Winchester Cathedral, Madison Square Garden, and St. Paul’s Cathedral, all at the same time.

The fair attracted more than 27.5 million visitors at a time when the nation’s total population was 65 million.

Dr. H. H. Holmes also achieved notoriety during this era, but not for creating beauty. The year before the fair, Holmes constructed a block-long, three-story building that included a soundproof vault, several gas chambers, and a specially crafted furnace designed to eliminate odors. Holmes called it “The World’s Fair Hotel.” In it he murdered at least twenty-seven men, women, and children. At least that’s what he confessed to. Investigators believed the number was much higher, since fifty young women alone were traced to Holmes’s hotel and were never seen or heard from again.

Burnham was quoted as saying, “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.” Holmes, by contrast, stated, “I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing.”

The Devil in the White City symbolizes the present condition of humanity. Even when we achieve our highest dreams and potential, there is evil afoot.

Go carefully into this day.  Give thanks for God’s goodness and cast a wary eye on the world’s imaginings.  God has been good to us at Brownstown but there is much work yet to do.

Michael

O Lord, how grateful I am for your revelation. What a privilege to know you and to know about you. Yet the more I know you, the more I realize how much I do not know. The more I see you plainly, the more I recognize that I will never see you fully, at least not until that day when I see you face to face.

Help me, gracious God, to know you better. Yet preserve me from the temptation to shrink you down to the size of my religious understanding. On the contrary, may my knowledge of you  lead me to worship and wonder.

All praise be to you, O God, for your unimaginable greatness and grace! In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

References: Psalm 16:8; Proverbs 3:5 – 6; John 16:13; 2 Corinthians 3:17 – 18

Recently I was shopping at our local grocery store. After picking up some staples, I headed to the all-important potato chip aisle. Unlike my usual routine, I had already decided what kind of chips to buy. With my eyes set like flint, I walked down the center of the aisle, ignoring the siren calls of various brands until I reached the Mike Sells chip display.

After I had picked up two bags of Mike Sells chips, I heard a familiar voice behind me saying, “Thanks a lot, buddy.” It was my friend Chuck, a member of the congregation I pastor and a deliveryman for Mike Sells.

Now, imagine how I would have felt if Chuck had seen me hugging a bag of Ruffles. Thirty minutes earlier I had run into Chuck at the local bakery. He and I had spent a few minutes talking together, and then we each went our way. When I arrived at the grocery store and began considering what chips to buy, I remembered that Chuck worked for Mike Sells and would probably be pleased if I purchased the brand he sold. So, spending some time together influenced my choice.

The whole experience reminded me of something important. Spending time with my heavenly Father and being reminded of what pleases him will likely result in making decisions pleasing to him. Perhaps I’ll even get a “Way to go, Van!”

— Van Morris, Mount Washington, Kentucky

But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree. [Romans 11:17]

Dear Lord, as a Gentile Christian, I thank you for grafting me into your tree. How grateful I am to be able to enjoy the blessings of being in a covenant relationship with you, those blessings that you first granted to Israel.
Even as I embrace my identity in Christ, help me Lord never to be disconnected from my “trunk.” May I always show kindness to Jewish people. Preserve me from any hint of anti-Semitism.

And help me, Lord, to grow in my understanding of the Old Testament. Though I’ve studied this portion of your Word for years, there is still so much that I have to learn. Amen.

Offer a prayer for those in the Holy Land today.  Michael

Jesus knew who He was: both the Son of God and the child of human poverty. He knew the innuendo surrounding His birth, how His expectant parents had been ridiculed by judgmental neighbors. He also knew that the good news of His birth had meant death to Bethlehem’s infant sons. He knew what it was to be misunderstood by those closest to Him. He knew the oppression of life in occupied territories, under often inequitable rule. He knew, as He faced the great temptation, that the kingdoms of the world were, in some mysterious sense, Satan’s possession to offer. He knew that the land was filled with the sick to be healed, the demon-controlled to be delivered, the captives to be freed. He knew He would face betrayal and excruciating execution. He knew that we who follow Him would also fail Him.

He was not naive.

He knew.  Do you?

Michael

I am saying all this especially for you Gentiles. God has appointed me as the apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this, for I want somehow to make the people of Israel jealous of what you Gentiles have, so I might save some of them. [Romans 11:13-14]

Dear Lord

I must admit that this whole notion of jealousy seems strange to me. But as I reflect upon what Paul is saying, I realize that I do want people to be jealous of what we Christians have in you.

I want people to see in me the joy of knowing you, the comfort of your forgiveness, the love that flows from you through me to others.

Though I don’t think I’ve ever prayed quite this way before, I would ask that people might be jealous of the spiritual blessings you have given me, so that they might turn to you and receive your abundant grace for themselves.

May I live in this world in such a way that people want what I have in you. Amen.

Almighty Creator and gracious God,

Indeed, the heavens do proclaim your glory. How I thank you for making me so that I could see the stars in the  sky. Even more, how I thank you for allowing me to marvel at their beauty.

Even more, how grateful I am for the way the heavens proclaim your glory. You have filled the natural world with countless reminders of your greatness. Thank you, Lord!

Help me never to take for granted the beauty and grandeur of your creation. May the signposts of nature continually remind me of you, calling me to wonder and worship. Amen.

Three sisters, ages ninety-two, ninety-four, and ninety-six, lived together. One night the ninety-six-year-old drew a bath. She put one foot in and then paused. “Was I getting in the tub or out?” she yelled.

The ninety-four-year-old hollered back, “I don’t know; I’ll come and see.” She started up the stairs but stopped on the first step, shouting, “Was I going up or coming down?”

The ninety-two-year-old was sitting at the kitchen table having tea, listening to her sisters. She shook her head and said, “I sure hope I never get that forgetful,” and knocked on wood for good measure. Then she yelled, “I’ll come up and help both of you as soon as I see who’s at the door.”

Anne Graham recounted a conversation with her father, Billy Graham, on the subject of aging. “All my life, I’ve been taught how to die,” Billy told her, “but no one ever taught me how to grow old.”

She replied, “Well, Daddy, you are now teaching all of us.”

Anne said she has already learned from her father: “When you get older, secondary things, like politics, begin to fall away, and the primary things become primary again. For Daddy, the primary thing is, as Jesus said, to try to love God totally and to love our neighbor as ourselves.”

Remember, you are teaching others how to grow older.  Teach them well.  Enjoy the day and make it count.

Michael

Gracious God, there have been times when I’ve felt like I’m dangling from some vertical rock face, soon to fall to my death. How thankful I am that you have been there to save me! In so many ways you are my faithful guide.

But you are so much more, dear Lord. You not only keep me from falling, but also give me strength to succeed. You help me do what I could never do on my own. Thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit resident within me.

Give me boldness, Lord, to attempt great things for you. May I live each day with the confidence of David, knowing that I can scale any wall when you are helping me.

Let my praise for you today be one of glory.  Amen.

Lord of Life

We look now at the promise of spring.  The winter has been long and filled with much trouble.  Our nation languors and our health suffers.  Your promise of seasons is like the warm spring air.  It renews us and reminds us that you are ever present.  Help us today to shed the misery and sorrow of these dark days.  Even in the presence of so much trouble, let us remember that you always bring the spring.  Amen.