Sabbath Meditations

Church - Getting Too Much of a Good Thing

2012-02-25T11:18:00.003-06:00

Squeeze...click. Squeeze...click. Squeeze...click. "I hate these stupid automatic fuel dispenser cut-offs!" I mumbled to myself. Here I was, running late for work, standing in front of a gas pump, trying to fill up my tank, and this stupid dispenser wasn't working properly. Squeeze the handle...click. Squeeze...click...nothing." Why do they need these automatic fuel cut-off thingys anyway?! I

Overcoming Defined - Imperfect Me, Perfect God

2012-01-28T10:57:00.011-06:00

"He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. ...I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." - Revelation 3:12 - 21 Some incredible promises those! A pillar in the temple. A seat next to God on His Throne. Amazing! In return for what? Overcoming? All of us who call ourselves His

Spiritual Over Training

2012-01-21T10:56:00.008-06:00

"Tony, you're overtraining. You need to stop pushing so hard." Those were the words the physical therapist said to me a couple of weeks ago. I was whining to her about the constant ache in my shoulder and the frustrating lack of progress I had made since having rotator cuff surgery. Her words floored me. How could I be doing too much??! Everything I read about therapy warned of the danger of

Practicing Pure Religion

2012-01-14T23:21:00.008-06:00

According to James 1:27, "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to...mumble, mumble, mumble...keep oneself unspotted from the world." Striving to stay unspotted from world. Being zealous to overcome sin. Yep, got that one down, baby! Rejecting worldly teaching and immorality and holding onto Truth? Check that! That's my life, man! That's what I really care about! What's

All Sabbath Keepers are Legalists and other Straw Men Arguments

2011-12-24T11:10:00.003-06:00

Show of hands of those who are already weary of election year politics? It's just getting to be a little too much isn't it? It's almost a full year away from the next presidential election and the mud is flying in every direction. With a media culture catering to the ever shortening attention span of the public, elections these days are won or lost based, not on the strength of ideas, but on

Dialing Down our Bah-Humbug Meter

2011-12-17T10:27:00.007-06:00

"Tis the season to be jolly...fa, la, la, la, la, la - la, la...blaahhh..." Not all of us are feeling all that jolly this time of year, are we? Frankly many of us conservative Sabbath Keeping Christians find much in this season about which to be downright cynical. The empty hype, the commercialism, the rituals and timing of the season adopted so blatantly and obviously from ancient pagan

"Share Your Energy, People!"

2011-12-10T11:47:00.011-06:00

"How you all doing??!!! Let me hear how much you love this!!!!" A few grunts, a weak, "woo-hoo", mostly silence. "C-mon! You can do better than that! Let me hear you!!!" A few more grunts, three or four faint ''woo-hoos." Silence. . . I was about thirty minutes into an hour long spin class, pedaling my brains out on a stationary bike along with thirty or so others who'd signed up for the

Avoiding Spiritual Big Baby Syndrome

2011-12-03T11:17:00.006-06:00

Several months ago I underwent major surgery to repair a full thickness tear to a portion of the rotator cuff in my left shoulder. Eight weeks out of surgery, other than opening and closing my hand, my left arm was pretty much useless. I'd been told to expect anywhere from six to twelve months of therapy to regain full mobility and strength in my shoulder. Little did I know just how

Victory through Surrender

2011-11-26T11:56:00.008-06:00

There was a time when, as a Christian, new in the faith, reading parts of God's Word was sometimes, well, discouraging. Sure, there are the encouraging parts. The "God so loved the world" parts, and the "He who has made us to our God Kings and Priests" parts. But then there are those other parts, the laundry lists of things to overcome, stuff to do, exhortations to change. It's difficult

Foot Washers and Hymnal Guys

2011-11-19T10:28:00.019-06:00

A few Sabbaths ago I found myself watching the "hymnal guy" do his thing before and after services. This guy was everywhere, smiling and greeting members at the door; carrying a hymnal to an elderly woman who was already in her chair, scanning the congregation during the song service for anyone who may have forgotten to get one at the door; And, finally, making his way down each isle to collect

Relationship vs. Reward

2011-11-12T12:23:00.004-06:00

On December 17, 1903, brother's Wilbur and Orville Wright successfully made the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight. The Wright brothers weren't alone in their quest to conquer the air. Their main source of competition was from a man named Dr. Samuel Langley. Langley was the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and, therefore, had many more resources

The Gospel - Preaching the Big Picture

2011-11-05T10:58:00.013-05:00

If you were to ask a Christian in one of the mainstream protestant denominations the question, "What is the gospel" the answer that would more than likely roll off their tongue would be, "It's the gospel about Jesus Christ." But if you were to ask many of us in the Sabbath keeping tradition the same question you might hear something along the lines of, "It's not the gospel about Jesus Christ

Called to be in the Choir

2011-10-29T10:50:00.009-05:00

"You're tone deaf." Those are the words I heard, just minutes into an audition for a small musical ensemble at the college I once attended. Those words landed like a brick on my ego. The irony was that I had actually been a member of this same ensemble the previous year. However, the number of those auditioning had been smaller that year and the acceptance threshold had been set much lower.

Day of Atonement - It's Not About Us

2011-10-08T09:10:00.008-05:00

The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. An incredibly joyous occasion. There is so much to celebrate that will occur on this day, yet future. The Saints will have risen to meet their returning Lord in the air and will descend with Him on the mount of Olives. All who come to make war with the returning King will have been vanquished. Satan, that old serpent, the devil, who enslaves the whole world

Cure for the "ism's"

2011-10-01T11:10:00.001-05:00

I love my teenage son. He's a joy to have around and I couldn't be a prouder father. But like most teenage sons, from time to time he is afflicted with that dreaded malady, teenage know-it-all-ism. Thankfully, I've found a wonderful defense in the battle against this dreaded disease: Google©. My last opportunity to deploy this powerful weapon came just last week when I found my son standing

Chronic Gift Wasting Disorder

2011-09-24T16:34:00.005-05:00

Thursday evening my wife and I attended a very inspirational seminar sponsored by my daughter's High School. Courtney had heard the presentation at a school assembly and had been so moved by it that we just had to see it for ourselves. The presentation was called "Rachel's Challenge." Rachel Scott was the first of thirteen people killed during the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999

"What Not To Wear - Examining Our Spiritual Wardrobe"

2011-09-17T10:58:00.001-05:00

I heard a comedian joke the other day that when it comes to clothing style, we men are hopeless. Basically, most of us pick out a point of time in our lives when we felt at the top of our game looks wise, and whatever style we were wearing at that time we just ride out for the rest of our lives. You can walk down the street and see a guy over 40 and pretty much pick the year: '79, '82, '68.

In God's Eyes - A Pretty Good Egg

2011-09-10T11:00:00.007-05:00

My wife would tell you I have egg issues. In a nutshell, or, ummm, should I say...an eggshell?, when it comes to the preparation of scrambled eggs, I demand perfection. They have to be prepared just so: consistently yellow through and through, not too under cooked, sliding around the plate, and not overdone, having the consistency of silly putty. Any of these are simply unacceptable. But perhaps

Driving the Straight and Narrow

2011-09-03T10:34:00.006-05:00

This week my little girl passed her driving exam. Though I did my share of coaching along the way I can't take most of the credit for helping her earn her "wheels." My wife Elizabeth gets that honor. Of course, getting there hasn't been without a few challenges to overcome. One being, her proclivity for driving a little too close to the right side of the road. How she managed not to take out

Godly Selfishness. Huh?

2011-08-27T11:32:00.019-05:00

Once upon a time there was a guy who was physically active. He worked out three, sometimes four times a week, enjoyed pick up basketball and tennis on the weekends and because, in his early twenties, he still had the metabolism of a teenager, didn't really think too much about what he ate. No matter how much or what kind of food he put down his gullet, it just didn't seem to impact his weight or

For or Against?

2011-08-20T10:41:00.006-05:00

It's that time again. The U.S. presidential election season is getting into full swing. I have my political opinions just like anyone else, but the whole process just makes me tired. You can't read the paper or watch the news without being bombarded with political "talking points" or over the top rhetoric. Does anybody notice that these elections seem increasingly to be less about offering

Paul's (and Jerry Seinfeld's) Guide to Avoiding Christian Burnout

2011-08-13T11:45:00.015-05:00

I stumbled on an old Jerry Seinfeld clip the other day. It was a video of his appearance on the Jay Leno show just after his popular sitcom, Seinfeld, had come to a close. In this clip, Jerry announced to Jay Leno that he was taking a break from being funny because after nine years of spending every day trying to make people laugh he was just plain tired. "Being funny, he exclaimed, is exhausting

Avoiding the Ruts of Christian Tradition

2011-08-06T11:33:00.036-05:00

Did you know that the space between rails on all railroad beds is exactly 4 feet, 8.5 inches, no more, no less? Why? Because that was the standard distance between the wheels of a Roman war chariot. Sound ludicrous? It's true! Chariot wheels on ancient dirt roads created deep ruts. As Roman chariots gave way to covered wagons, it was necessary that the distance between the wheels remain constant

The Flash of Faith, The Thunder of Works

2011-07-30T12:16:00.007-05:00

We have an annual ritual in our house. Typically every spring, during the height of the storm season, this ritual occurs about one to two times per week, usually in the late evening. It begins with a bolt of lightning. Upon seeing a flash through the window, the countdown begins. "One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four one-thousand." Sound can travel approximately one

Christians Satan Loves - Pt I

2011-07-23T09:41:00.012-05:00

I awoke this Sabbath morning to the rumble of thunder and the drum beat of rain on our bedroom window. As I lay there enjoying the sounds of nature it struck me that something was missing from this scenario. Years ago, when our children were little, storms, especially violent ones, would have sent one or both of our children scurrying down the hall to crawl into bed seeking refuge. At that age a