February 2012
7 posts
Get on with it and LEAD...
Come on, Mr. President, force Iran to either back up their huffing and puffing or shut up. I do NOT want a war of any kind. I am disgusted that Iran can so publically mock my President and it goes totally ignored. Mr. President, you are constantly running your mouth, please stop the fancy speeches and do something for our benefit as a country. People who understand leadership are not impressed by...
Get Real!!!
I am sick and tired of people talking about all of Obama’s great deeds. What world do you all live in? I am as middle class as it comes, here is the real deal; since he came into office he has supported “green” companies - nearly all have filed for bankruptcy or gone out of business. When will you admit we only have two extremely effeciant means of transportantion; 1. a bicycle...
Get a grip...
According to the Bible, you are not yet glorified, so your flesh is still pre-programmed with a prideful operating system. So you are not immune…
Religion and The Bible...Strange Bed Fellows
I have to admit, I don’t get it. I don’t get why a person has to have the Bible mean what they want it, need it, or desire it to mean. Why can’t it mean just what it says? If God is all that the name God implies (and I believe He is), isn’t He big enough to have said it plainly in the Bible? If your Bible is confusing, there is a very simple remedy…get a different...
How Brave Are YOU?
“Dream dangerously! We currently live among a generation of people whose dreams are too realistic to do the world any good!”
January 2012
3 posts
Things I Don't Understand:
Things I don’t understand; Rev Jesse Jackson… you make money in keeping racial tensions alive, you cloak divisive rhetoric in calm slippery words, and you invoke the name of Rev Martin Luther King, yet you do nothing to further his dream, which as I understand it was to make all men (and women) equal, that we live in a country that does not see color…so why do you keep crying...
No title...
I’m not really sure who reads what’s on this thing…I get asked a lot of “why” questions; I guess it comes with the territory of my career, a pastor for those that don’t know. The thing is, I honestly don’t have answers for most of the people that ask. Sure, I can answer the occasional Bible-based questions that are pretty standard, but what I can’t...
November 2011
1 post
Freedom
Freedom. What does that word bring to your mind? Do you think of politics? The “Arab Spring”? Taxes? Some religious definition? For many of us, “freedom” is nothing more than an academic exercise in arguing. What is true freedom? At this point I will lose a lot of people, but I believe a true understanding of what freedom really is, is found in the person of Jesus. Yes, I had to go...
September 2011
2 posts
God's Way?
While reading an adventure novel I think I stumbled on a perfect example of faith. The author, Chris Kuzneski, has the hero of Sign Of The Cross, say, “… the preposterous often turns out to be the most profitable.” Now, if that doesn’t sound like God’s way of doing things, then maybe you haven’t read the Bible, or just simply haven’t paid attention while you read.
We’re coming to Palm Sunday and...
9-11 Memorial
9-11; it’s been ten years. Hard to believe that defining event was ten years ago; a decade has passed. The little kids in that class room with President Bush that day, are Seniors in High School. Over the years everything that can be said about that day, the days leading up to it, and all the days and events since has been said a hundred times. So, what do we say now? Ten years later, is...
August 2011
3 posts
Who Is Jesus?
Who is Jesus? Such a simple question; when typed into a Google search it returns more than four hundred million returns. When you start to read some of those returns, they range from openly evangelistic to open hostility against the entire notion of Jesus. Some claim that Jesus the man, the human being simply never existed and is nothing more than a myth made up for the purpose of a “religious...
Immigration - get it right, please...
Immigration - when did Immigration go from an issue of national security of The United States of America to being all about hating Mexicans? What? Are we really seriously calling people who want the law followed, racist? So, when “you” cross in to Canada to illegally by hash (pot) as many young Americans do, is the arresting officer a racist? Or is he simply upholding the law? If you...
Questions...
Questions; ever had the experience of a kid you don’t know ask a barrage of personally intrusive questions without ever stopping? You look at the oblivious parents with a pleading look for help, and it goes right over their head. The only thing possibly more annoying than the kid is when an adult, that has no sense of personal boundaries, does exactly the same thing as the annoying kid! We all...
July 2011
2 posts
GROW UP, PLEASE....
Can our President and Congress please GROW UP?!? I mean, seriously…are these adults or Middle Schoolers (no insult intended to my Middle school peeps - you could probably get the job done). STOP trying to “win” for your stupid politics and actually consider the American people! They can’t solve anything because they are all so stinkin’ rich, they know NOTHING of...
Independence Day
Independence Day; one of the few holidays in the United States that seems to unify Americans. It’s the day or weekend where we celebrate when our independence as a new country became unquestionable, at least in that time. Fireworks, family picnics and Barbequing are traditions that are as deeply rooted in American identity and psyche as Christmas itself. Great memories follow us...
June 2011
3 posts
Down with Green, Up with Responsibility
I walk to work, sometimes ride one of my bikes more than I drive, and Yes, I recycle. And yes, my house uses low flow toilets. And, finally, yes, I take cans and bottles back to the always full, incredibly annoying recycling bins. So…… with that said, America needs to wake up and see “Going Green” for what it is, the biggest scam perpetrated in modern times. I mean,...
...as we worship (so we think)...
Remember the first time you felt that feeling of awe? You didn’t dare speak to her, or him…but you desperately wanted to. They could do no wrong, they floated, walking was for “lesser” people. Their very presence sent chills through you, yet you dare not speak to them. What was that? Even in Jr. High, that since of longing to simply be in the same room, walk the same path,...
Corporate Prayer
When you hear the term, “Corporate Prayer” what comes to mind? “Pastoral Prayer”? A prayer time in a church service where a preacher simply won’t shut up? If church people are honest, prayer time in church has become nothing more than a ritual of prayer, a “thing” in the right slot in the habitual weekly order that we call...
May 2011
2 posts
Memorial Day
Today, we at Rose City Nazarene Church say thank you to all who have served, who currently serve, and to all the families that support our men and women in the armed services. We know that for every person in a branch of service, there is a spouse, child (or children), a mom and dad, that is praying, worrying, and hoping they come home. Many do not.
Today, we set aside our schedules, our agendas...
Remember the Wounded Ride pt.1...
Some may wonder why a church would support a bike rider that seeks to raise awareness and money for wounded combat veterans in a politically super-charged pro/con war environment. The answer is simple. Scot King does not ride for politics, ideology, for or against war. Scot rides for people, plain and simple. I (Dan Waits) believe that there was another man that was all about people....
April 2011
2 posts
Holy Saturday...
Holy Saturday. How do we begin to get our head around this day? For most people (generally speaking; Americans and specifically, Protestants) this is just a Saturday, the day of Easter egg hunts, picnics, yard work, worship band practices, and a host of other activities – all good. Consider for a moment, Jesus.
The Bible records that Jesus was, in fact, dead on this...
Vehicle Confusion...
I’ve noticed a few people lately getting into a vehicle head first…huh? Does this not require one to actually move more, twist more, thus making entry into the vehicle more difficult, and time consuming? I was under the impression that one entered the vehicle by stepping in or sitting down, which, of course, would leave the outside foot and/or head (depending on one’s height) the...
March 2011
3 posts
What Do You Say?
What do you believe? Not think, but what do you believe or who do you believe in, and are you willing to die for it? A lot of people are willing to die for their spouses, their kids, and possibly some other extended family members. But do you believe something so much that you would literally be willing to die for it? I believe that most Christians in America would say a quick...
Papa in The Shack
“Love always leaves a significant mark… for you to live as if you were unloved is a limitation… living unloved is like clipping a bird’s wings and removing its ability to fly.”
-Papa’s words in “The Shack”
by William P. Young
I can’t help but think of two groups of people when I read this. First, all the people that have never really opened themselves up to be loved or to truly love, and second,...
Japan...
Do you pray for the world? If not, may I humbly suggest you start? The “sending of love” or “sending positive thoughts” does nothing. Prayer, prayer to Jehovah – the God of the Bible, makes things happen. Christians NEED to pray that God will provide aid. Christians NEED to pray that God will provide calm. Christians NEED to pray that God will comfort those who have lost so much. Christians NEED...
February 2011
4 posts
Chosen Confusion
Why do people say the Bible is hard to understand? I don’t want to sound stupid, but I don’t get it. If you have read or used any of the newer, modern language, translations of the Bible, then you should be able to understand it right? Maybe it’s a matter of us not wanting to understand the Bible. After all, complexity works for us. If you have been reading these postings, then you have noticed my...
Evangelism
Robert E. Coleman asks a great question in his classic book, The Master Plan of Evangelism, “Why are so many professed Christians today stunted in their growth and ineffectual in their witness?” I think I found an answer. The other day my wife and I were invited to have a social snack with a small group. As the conversation went along and my wife was describing her job, one woman asked, “Do you...
Forrest Gump's Great Question...
Have you discovered your purpose? Do you even believe you have a purpose? I do. I not only believe I have a purpose, but I believe you have a purpose. Be that as it may, most people are lost; both in terms of needing salvation, although that is not the point here, and in terms of finding their purpose. Maybe you identify with Forrest Gump when he asked his Momma, “What’s my purpose?” Finding the...
Simplicity???
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “To be simple is to be great.” Not exactly your typical religious thought or daily devotional, but it should be. When asked a direct question about the law and the prophets, Jesus took the simple approach. He boiled all of theology down to two commands; love God and love your neighbor. Simple, isn’t it? But, isn’t Jesus forgetting something? Isn’t religion complicated...
January 2011
2 posts
The Church...
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word, church? Do you think or say, “Hypocrites!”? Do you shudder with repulsion? Do you have good thoughts? Funny thing about claiming that the church is full of hypocrites, because it is. That’s precisely where they (and you) should be! Who among us is not a hypocrite? Be careful before you raise your hand; true honesty of deed, intent...
Martin Luther King Jr. Day - 2011
There is no doubt that Martin Luther King Jr. was an amazing man. A man with passion. A man, as we now famously know, with a dream. Why hasn’t that dream taken seed and grown in the American consciousness? With all the actions, activity, foundations, and even laws, how is it that we as a country don’t seem to be any closer to a society wide reality of equality? Maybe the answer...
December 2010
1 post
"The Malady of Not Wanting"...
“The Malady of not wanting” is a description that I read concerning the state of the modernized world. Is it true, do we live in a land of plenty so much so that we want for nothing, actually need nothing? As I sit here, I can’t think of a single thing I actually need. In fact, at least in my city, most of the homeless people are pretty well taken care. Someone, I’m sure will take issue with me,...
November 2010
2 posts
Thanksgiving and Atheism...
Why are atheists and agnostics “thankful”? I suppose it sounds a bit flip but in all seriousness; “Thankfulness” is directional towards an object or person that is capable of bestowing things greater than I can manufacture. For example; I’m thankful to God, someone higher than me, for my family. I can’t be thankful for my wife, to my wife. She had no say in her existence, only in...
The Bible - pt.3
The Bible; in an odd way it’s not nearly as interesting as people’s reaction to it. I have to admit that I don’t really understand why people are so threatened by it. It does call for a certain standard of living, it does call to account the innate selfishness that we all struggle with, and within its pages we have Jesus calling all people to God, the Father, through himself. But why is Jesus...
October 2010
3 posts
Confused on Halloween...
Halloween. I think I can say that I’ve heard it all. I’ve taken many teenagers in costume to nursing homes to do reverse “trick-or-treating” (no tricks), we’ve hosted costume parties (church youth groups), we’ve just simply gone trick-or-treating with our kids, and some years we’ve done nothing. Through it all has been an underlying protest from Christians. I have to admit, I just don’t get it. To...
The Bible pt.2
There is hardly a book more mis-understood, mis-quoted, mis-used, and/or ignored by Christians than the Bible. Of course now that we are “New Testament Christians,” **sarcasm here** we no longer have to feel bad about not reading that boring part called the Old Testament. That sure takes a load off the ole’ guilt train! Problem is, that could not be more wrong. So I guess the...
The Bible - pt.1
Did you know there are an estimated six thousand-eight hundred distinct languages in the world? Did you know that The Bible has been translated into 3,000 different languages? Did you know that when “The Bible” is typed into Google, approximately 136,000,000 sites come up? Impressive numbers, here’s one more; did you know that world sales of the Bible are slightly more than 100 million copies per...
September 2010
3 posts
Unite 10-10-10 & Friends
Seekers, un-saved, pre-Christian, and lost, are just some of the names that the church leadership industry have used to describe those people that do not believe that Jesus is the Lord of their life, and accept all that Christianity is supposed to believe. Things such as the Bible as the reliable word of a real and living God. Or that they should be going to church at least once a...
Goes Around pt.3
…“So you started your own business?” Old Jack said. “I got a job that very afternoon. I worked my way up. Eventually I started my own business that, with the help of God, prospered.” She opened her purse and pulled out a business card. “When you are finished here, I want you to pay a visit to a Mr. Lyons. He’s the personnel director of my company....
Koran Burning...
Wouldn’t you know, church and religion is in the news again. I would humbly submit that most Americans are not angry with and mis-trust all Muslims. The problem is with the extremist. Let’s be honest, every religion has them, even Christianity. The problem that most people I talk to have is that the adherents of Islam that disagree with the extremist will not stand up and denounce...
August 2010
5 posts
Goes Around, Comes Around - pt.2
…The woman smiled again. “I thought that might make a difference.” She glanced at the cop who was busy stifling a giggle. “Would you like to join us in a cup of coffee and a meal, officer?” “No thanks, ma’am,” the officer replied. “I’m on duty.” “Then, perhaps, a cup of coffee to go?” “Yes, mam. That would be very...
Wisdom Seekers - pt.2
…so, back to our seeking of wisdom. I said last time that the “self-help” isle in a book store was more of a monument to human arrogance, that’s partially true. The Bible teaches that there are two kinds of wisdom regarding moral truth; wisdom from below (what people can figure out on their own), and wisdom from above (wisdom that is given from Jesus – found in the Bible). I’m...
Goes Around, Comes Around - pt. 1
Good morning said a woman as she walked up to the man sitting on ground. The man slowly looked up. This was a woman clearly accustomed to the finer things of life. His first thought was that she wanted to make fun of him, like so many others had done before. ”Leave me alone,” he growled. To his amazement, the woman continued standing. She was smiling - her even white teeth displayed in...
The Real Man.
Will the real men, or man, in America please stand up? Oh wait, don’t bother because we don’t have agreement on what defines a “man”. It used to be simple; there were men and there where women. There have always been gay men, but they still fit the broader societal definition of a “man”. I’m not referring to the subcategories that just go with a community such as; biker, athlete,...
Wisdom - pt. 1
A question popped into my mind as I was reading in Proverb: do we actively seek wisdom? It’s a tough question because we don’t seem to have consensus on what “wisdom” actually is. The most basic distinction between “knowledge” and “wisdom” is that knowledge is all the stuff you know. Everything from the simple things like the name of colors and identifying numbers, to the most...
July 2010
3 posts
Complaining....
So I just heard on the news one of those “teasers” for a story after the commercial. Right before the break the news anchor said, about the story, “Not everybody likes this idea.” I think that can be the new motto of our society. Everybody wants something done, but nobody wants to work together, give concessions, or maybe even change their mind. So the net result? Complaining, and...
Contentment - pt. 2
It’s official – contentment has finally become a “lost art”. Somebody needs to explain to me why it’s so bad to be content (happy, settled, stable) with one’s job, car(s), spouse, or whatever. I understand “wanting” things, nothing wrong with that, but why is there such a huge push for “more”? We can read about winner after winner of any lottery that has had their lives destroyed by the...