July 29, 2018            Faith in God’s Abundance                            

A few weeks ago, a tv network was proclaiming a series of movies that would celebrate “Christmas in July”. Which of course made me think of one of my favorite Christmas movies, “It’s a Wonderful life”. And of all the great scenes in that movie, one of them was the scene in which the stock market crashes, all the people are anxious and fearful, there’s a run on the banks, and the George Bailey character manages to convince the investors in his savings and loan, to not pull all their money, and take only what they need to tide them over. He tells them not to lose their heads, and that they will get through this together.

Sure enough the people decide to trust that there will be enough to get them through this tough time, and because of their faith, a miracle happens, the savings and loan goes on to provide decent housing for the common working men and women of the community, rather than living in the slums of some greedy banker.

Of course, I thought of this story, because it contrasts the despair of scarcity with the faith of abundance. At the time of the market crash, many despaired, gave into fear, and lost all they had. Others, had faith, pulled together, and found that despite their losses, there was an abundance that sustained them, and even led to a better life! Which leads us to our gospel lesson this morning.

Our reading from the gospel of John this morning has two parts, the first is the feeding of the five thousand and the second is Jesus coming to the disciples on the water. Now one might wonder, why John puts these two stories together, but I believe that there is a common thread between the two, both stories talk about how scarcity is turned to abundance and anxiousness to peace, through faith in Jesus Christ.

In our first story, Jesus feeds the five thousand with five loaves and two fish. In past sermons, I have focused on the anxiety of the disciples when Jesus tells them to feed the people. It cannot be done is their response, and then Jesus does it. Now the story of the feeding of the multitudes must be an important one, because we find it in all four gospels, and in the gospel of Mark, we find it twice.

Another common theme among the gospels is that there are leftovers, 12 baskets full in some stories and 7 baskets full in others. Commentators on the gospel seem to universally agree, that the 12 basket of leftovers represents the twelve tribes of Israel, and 7 baskets of leftovers represents the 7 great nations of the world. Basically, the statement is, that faith in Jesus has the power to feed not only the multitudes, but the nation, and the world.

A third theme unites these stories, they are usually followed by some anxiety by the disciples. In one gospel the disciples have an anxious discussion about where there next meal will come from, and in this gospel, and others, there is a storm at sea that Jesus calms. In a couple of these, Jesus asks them, “didn’t you understand about the loaves and the fish?” And my interpretation of this question is that Jesus is saying to them – Don’t you understand that you don’t have to be anxious, have faith, and your needs will be met, and you will have peace in your lives.

Now in our prayer of confession this morning, I wrote that our fear of scarcity leads to greed and gluttony. What I meant by this was that if we believe there is not enough for all, we hoard as much as we can, and waste our lives in pursuit of lavish experiences. And if we believe in the abundance of God’s blessing, we can be happy in living plainly, and give of ourselves to one another.

A third thing that I did not mention, is that when we live in fear and anxiousness, we become paralyzed. We may have enough resources to do many good things, but we are afraid to use them. We may have enough time to do all we can do, but we fritter away that time with doubt and worry. But the good news of Jesus Christ is, that through faith in the abundance of God’s love and blessings to us, we can be freed to use our resources and the time God has given us to accomplish a great many things, rather than losing or wasting our lives on our own self-centered pursuits.   

Also, in our prayer of confession, I wrote that fear of scarcity leads to division, suffering, and death. One need only look to what happens when leaders say they will put their nation first! This leads to leads to a lack of cooperation, that creates trade problems that impact small businesses, families and farmers, raises prices on goods and services, and turns every disagreement into a threat of war. My point is that all of these things are driven by the fear of scarcity, and that fear leads to a world that is worse for all not better. And it is clear to me that those who sell this snake oil, do not understand the story of the loaves and fishes.

For the story of the loaves and fishes tells us that through faith in Jesus Christ, we can work together to discover that God’s creation is good, that God creation contains enough blessings for all the people of the earth, that God has given each of us enough resources and time to accomplish all that we need. Have faith brothers and sisters, for through your faith in Jesus Christ, you will not be afraid, and you will work miracles in your life, and in the world! This is the good news of Jesus Christ.     

July 22, 2018            Sheep Without a Shepherd                     

Over the last several months, I have seen images and heard stories of a number of lost sheep. Lost sheep who have suffered through the hurricanes in Texas and in Puerto Rico. Lost sheep who have lost their children or other loved ones in shootings throughout our nation. Lost sheep who have been separated from parents or children at our border. Lost sheep who have lost their jobs, their homes, their health insurance. Lost sheep who suffer from violence in Chicago, Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, and across this great nation. Lost sheep who are losing loved ones to illness, to cancer, to drug addiction. Lost sheep who find it harder and harder to balance their household budgets. Lost sheep who are struggling in relationships with their parents, their spouses, their children. Lost sheep who are looking for shepherds, shepherds who will care for them, shepherds who will feed them, bring them to green pastures, and lead them beside still waters.

Now over the last 40 years, since I was old enough to become aware of these things, there have been lost sheep all along the way. In fact, part of the reason I chose to go to seminary, was that I found myself being a shepherd to the lost sheep around me. I was the one that people were turning to when things went wrong in their lives. I was the person who was there to listen, to understand, and to show compassion to them. So I decided, I better go to seminary and make sure that I was properly leading those who came to me.

To be clear, I am not picking on a particular political party, for both parties have failings in their leadership, and create lost sheep in our society. What is that biblical saying, “do not put your trust in princes,… put your trust in God?” As I said, both parties have their failings, and mainly because at times neither party has shown compassion for those who are suffering. The word compassion can be broken into two parts – passion – to suffer, and com – with. In short, showing compassion means to suffer with, those who are experiencing the brokenness of human life.

And so we come to our gospel lesson this morning, where Jesus Christ has compassion for those who come to him, for they are like sheep without a shepherd, and he begins to teach them many things. I suspect that one of the most basic things he taught them, was how to have compassion for one another. And another thing that I suspect Jesus taught them was that compassion flows from a sense of God’s abundant love for each of us.

Throughout history, the world constantly tells us to be afraid, that our lives are too short, that we will not have enough for ourselves or our families, that we cannot afford to give of ourselves, or suffer with those who are lost, that we are in competition with everyone else, and that they are our enemies. You know, the interesting thing about our gospel reading this morning, is that it leaves out, the entire passage in which Jesus feeds the five thousand. There with two loaves and some fish, Jesus asks for God’s blessing, and there IS ENOUGH! With baskets left over. Faith in the abundance of God’s love for us, is the foundation of our being able to show compassion to one another!

The good news is, that each and every day, I see people who have this faith in the abundance of God’s love for us. I see people helping hurricane victims, comforting and working with those who have lost loved one’s to gun violence. I see people working together to reunite children and parents. I see people working to comfort those who are sick, and to overcome disease and illness in people’s lives. I see people who are being good neighbors and good friends to those who are going through all of the troubles and tramas of human life. I see good shepherds all over the place, whose faith in the abundance of life that they have, leads them to give of themselves to one another.

And while they may not know it, or acknowledge it, they are acting in that same Spirit as our Good Shepherd Jesus Christ, for the healing of a broken world. And that faith, and that Spirit, is the same Eternal Spirit that gives us life! So I encourage you to go and do likewise, so that you may experience the good news of Jesus Christ in your life! 

July 15,2018                                Amos                                                  

         As many of you know, a number of years ago, I went on a trip to Ecuador with the youth of the Illinois South Conference. On the first trip I took with that group, we worked on building houses with Habitat for Humanity, and on the second trip, we worked on the foundation and on the walls of a church building.

         Now my grandfather was a bricklayer, when he started out in the construction business, and so it was kind of exciting to learn how to mix the mortar, and to scoop it onto the bricks and to set the bricks into place to build the walls. That first afternoon that we laid brick was more of a practice day, many of the bricks that we laid that day, had to be taken down and redone, because our walls didn’t exactly go straight over or straight up. But by the end of the day, our maestro – master builder, identified a few of us who could lay brick straight – up and across.

        Of course, no one can really put the bricks into place perfectly straight just by eye, so in order to guide those who put the bricks into place, a number of strings are put up, strings attached to a poll that has been leveled that go across the outside of the wall to be built, so that one can see if the bricks are level horizontally, and strings that hang down, so that one can be sure that the bricks are level vertically.

         These strings, particularly the one’s that have a weight on them and hang down are called plumb lines, and they have been used by builders for thousands of years in order to keep walls straight and to lay solid foundations for whatever they are building. That way, buildings won’t fall over or fall down.

         The reason I thought of this experience of laying brick and plumb lines this week, was because of our Old testament reading from the prophet Amos. Amos uses the idea of plumbline, as a way of comparing the building of a wall or house, to the building of a nation. In Amos’ day, Israel’s king has gone after other gods, which is to say the king chosen a set of values that are different from the values of the God of Israel.

         If you read Amos you will find that the kings and princes of Israel of neglected to care for the poor, blaming them for the problems of the nation. You will the kings and princes of Israel plotting on their beds ways to corrupt the justice system, oppress the worker and the farmer, and take advantage of foreigners. In short, they have rejected the God who liberated them from slavery, when they were slaves in the land of Egypt. And now their rejection of God, has resulted in into division, confusion and disarray.

I suppose it’s not hard to imagine what happens when honesty, integrity, faithfulness, compassion, justice and mercy are thrown out the window by our leaders in order to satisfy their greed for wealth and power. So God sends Amos, with a Word for the King. A Word that is meant to serve as a plumbline, to measure whether the king is upright before God. A Word that is meant to lead the nation back to God, and it’s people to choosing God’s will and ways for their lives.

As Christians, our plumb line is the cross of Jesus Christ. You may remember the hymn verse we sing during lent, Before the Cross of Jesus, our lives are judged today. That plumb line reminds us two things, first that the world seeks for us to be dishonest, to be unfaithful, to seek justice for ourselves and not for others, and when we act like this, we crucify our savior and we crucify our lives. Second, it tells us that there is life in honesty, truth, faithfulness, mercy and justice for all. In fact there is not only life, but truth and wisdom and peace for those who seek to live that life. Now that does not mean that we will not face trials or troubles or suffering in our lives, but it does mean we now realize why we face these hardships, and knowing why, we can have the peace and strength to endure them, and to be redeemed from them. And that’s what I think Paul was telling us this morning, when he writes….

         In him (Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight  he (God) has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.

         And that is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ! 

July 8. 2018                      Strength in Weakness                    

This weekend I saw the movie “Good Will Hunting”. It is a movie about a math prodigy who was abused as a child. This abuse caused him to commit acts of violence that got him in trouble with the law. But with the help of a math professor, a therapist, and his friends, William – the name of the character - overcame his past and was restored to health.

Now the scene in the movie that I would like to focus on, was a turning point in the film for Will. Now I know there were numerous turning points in the film, but this one involved his best friend. Will, was telling his friend, how was going to stay in Boston, work construction, have kids, hang out with his friends, for the rest of his life, but his friend had another idea. For those who know the film, I cleaned this up a bit.

“You know we are best friends, so don’t take this the wrong way” he said, “You have a gift, and you owe it to us to use that gift and get out of here. If your still here 30 years from now, it would be an insult to us, that we didn’t make you use your gift.”

What was so wonderful about this speech, is that it was one of those moments of honesty that true friends share with each other. It was one of those moments of honesty that husbands and wives share with each other, and parents with their children. It was a moment where what needed to be said, was said, even at if it meant being vulnerable in speaking the truth, even if it meant risking rejection. And it was a moment that led to Will, leaving his friends and heading out to search for that new life that he needed, in order to be freed from his past.

All three of our scripture readings this morning speak in some way about this kind of truth telling. Ezekiel is called to speak this truth to the people of Israel, they have gone after other gods, gods of wealth, god’s of winning, god’s of injustice, god’s of lying. These gods have brought down the nation, and it is time for Ezekiel to speak the truth to Israel, that they have brought this upon themselves by their rebellion against the God of Israel. Now this speaking of truth, is not meant as a condemnation of Israel, but a calling them back, to the God who loves them, and despite their rebellion, seeks for them to live.

In our gospel reading this morning, Jesus goes to his hometown, and speaks the truth in love to them as well. We do not hear his preaching in this passage, but we know it from the other two gospels, and from his preaching throughout Mark. It involves love of God and love of neighbor, it involves forgiving sins, treating one another with compassion, and seeking God’s justice and rule in their lives.

Through this preaching, Jesus has drawn great crowds and worked wondrous miracles. But not here in his hometown, where the people reject what he says, and talk about his family and upbringing. “Why does he think he is so smart,” you can hear them say, “I knew him when…..” And so the story ends that he could do no works among them, except to heal a few people, and he marveled at their disbelief.

As a pastor, it always amazes me, the different ways I am received in a congregation. For the most part there are people who are ready and willing to believe that I am there to serve them, and so they listen to what I preach, and teach, and my prayers for them. In every church, there are always those who are looking for some flaw, some reason to discount or ignore what I say or do. I certainly am not perfect, so I am sure I do plenty of things wrong. As Paul notes, I have thorns in my flesh, but the power of God is made perfect, not in my righteousness, but in my weakness.

Interestingly enough, I don’t think this has very much to do with me at all. I think it has to do more with their faith in God. Those who are looking for God to be a part of their lives, despite my clumsy attempts to be their pastor, end up finding God. Those who are dead set against finding God, are going to find a reason, personal or political reasons, to reject what I have to say.  As my colleague Rev Weidenbach told me, when we were talking about this at our lectionary study, “Isn’t it amazing, those people whose faith, overcomes a pastor's weakness. Don’t you just love it when that happens!” Because in their lives, it is their faith, which gives them strength to face the challenges life throws at them.

One final note. I believe there is a reason that Mark links these two passages together. The first part of the passage has Jesus rejected by his own people, and then the disciples being sent out. I think it is this faith thing – that in Jesus' weakness of not being able to do lots of great works among an unbelieving people, that it tells the disciples – it isn’t all up to them. That God will work in the lives of those who are ready to receive the message of the gospel, and that sometimes, that won’t be the case. Their job is to proclaim the gospel in faith, so that those who are ready to believe it will in faith receive it – and wondrous things will happen in their lives.

My point is – that you are Jesus disciples, and you are sent to proclaim the gospel, to speak this truth in love to one another, even if it seems weak and unpopular.  Do it the best you can, proclaim God’s love for all, seek God’s Justice for all, call people to forgive one another and be reconciled to one another.  Some will reject your message, but others will be ready and willing to receive  it. And when they do, you will have the joy of being a part of God’s plan for the salvation of the world. And that is the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

July 1, 2018                 Out of the Depths                                  

“Out of the Depths I cry to you, O LORD!” That is the cry of the Psalmist who has obviously sinned against God and man, and yet cries out for God’s forgiveness. The psalmist waits for this forgiveness, hoping and believing that God is merciful and forgiving to those who appeal to the God of Israel.

A number of years ago, I read a book on evangelism that told the story of a pastor and a waitress. The pastor ate lunch with the catholic priest and the Baptist minister every Wednesday, and each day the same young woman waited on them. One Wednesday, the pastor was late and stayed after the other clergy left to finish his lunch. When he was finished with his meal, he motioned for the waitress to come over, and to his surprise, she not only came over to the table, but also sat down opposite him.

“Pastor” she said, “I am a single mother, I have had two children out of wedlock, have abused drugs, and been arrested a number of times. I want to come to church, but I was wondering if the members of your congregation would welcome someone like me.” “I certainly hope so,” said the pastor, but the only way we are going to find out is if you show up for church on Sunday. Don’t worry, I’ll be there to welcome you!”

Sure enough, the young woman showed up on Sunday morning, and the pastor welcomed her warmly, and so did the other members of the church, and she returned as often as she could for Sunday services, and became part of that church family.

This morning our gospel lesson tells two stories in one. The first story is the story of a girl who is dying and her father Jairus, who is a leader in the synagogue sends for Jesus to come and heal her. The second story is the story of a woman who has had a flow of blood for twelve years, disguises herself and touches the hem of Jesus robe so that she might be healed.

These two stories have a number of things in common. The first is that both the girl who is dying and the woman with the flow of blood were considered unclean. For a rabbi – a teacher of the Jewish faith – to go anywhere near them was forbidden. Both the woman and the girl were on their own when it came to getting better, only the gentile doctors were willing to look at them.

The second thing that is similar in these two stories is courage. The first act of courage was that of the synagogue leader Jairus, who knew it was improper to ask Jesus to come and see her. Yet, he is a father, with a father’s love for his daughter – and that’s important. The second act of courage, was the woman, who was supposed to stay shut up in her home. Her courage was manifest not only in her coming out of her home, but also, when she was healed simply by touching Jesus garment, she identified herself – in front of the crowd - as the one who had touched him. She did this despite the possibility that she might be stoned.

By now, you probably know why I told you the story of the pastor and the waitress. What the waitress did that day in the diner took an act of courage. The courage to confess what she believed to be her unworthiness and ask for God’s mercy so that she might be restored to the church. And it took a second act of courage for her to show up for church on Sunday. In every town, people talk, people know each other, to stand before a congregation of people who might whisper about her or look down on her was an extraordinary act of courage.

You know, I think that those of us raised in the church take for granted what we have known all along, that God loves each and every one of us. That we often fall short of God’s intentions for our lives, but as long as we are willing to ask for God’s mercy and seek God’s will for our lives, there is forgiveness. Yet those who haven’t been raised in the church, or who have lost contact with the church, hear a different message from tv’s movies, and politicians. That message is that Christians are an unforgiving bunch who are more likely to condemn a sinner than welcome them into their midst.

But the good news is, in all three of these stories, there was someone who had the faith to turn to Jesus. This faith was found in the belief that in Jesus, the God who loves us like a father loves his daughter, could be found. And this faith believed that Jesus would not let them down. Not in the case of the dying daughter, or the hemorrhaging woman or even in the case of the wayward mother. All three of them believed and all three of them were restored to life.

And I think this is a very important point, that as members of the Christian church, we are called by Jesus to be very intentional about being the kind of church that welcomes the sinner and the lost. We need to be the kind of church that reaches out to those whom the world declares as unclean and unworthy. We need to be the church that proclaims that all people are children of God, and deserving of God’s grace and love. And that proclamation shouldn't just be reserved for those who are part of our family, church, or local community. It also includes all Americans whatever their race, religion, or politics may be, the foreigner in our midst, the immigrant legal or otherwise, and even those who oppose us. 

Out of the depths these people cry to God, and we are called as Christians to respond to them with the same love that God showed to us in Jesus Christ. Only when we believe that Jesus came to save us all, will humanity be healed and live in peace. And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ! Amen.

June 24, 2018        Calming the Storms of Life                   

Last Sunday, was father’s day, and on that day I called my mom and we shared memories of dad. Some of those memories included camping trips, and one of the stories we shared was about camping in a storm.

In the heat of August, Dad liked to go to Canada where it was cool. So one August day we found ourselves in a provincial park somewhere in Ontario. Now it had been raining all day as we had been driving, and according to the weather radio, it wasn’t going to stop.  And so, Dad decided that there was nothing else to do, but set up in the rain.

I remember Dad backing the trailer into a clear space, and then going over the plan for setting up. Then he took a deep breath and said – time to get to it! We all got out of our van and did our parts to set up as quickly as possible, and Dad kept calling out orders to keep us going. We set up the tent in 30 minutes, probably the fastest we had ever done that, and we were soaked to the bone. After we got into dry clothes, Mom pulled out some travel snacks and sandwiches, and we played cards for most of the night. I remember that throughout the night, the wind howled, the thunder roared, and the lightning flashed, and my Dad snoring all the way through it.

         I remember this story every time I read about Jesus snoring on the boat. Jesus had a message and a plan. A message about God’s love for us, and a plan for how to share that love with the world. In order to accomplish this plan he called his disciples together, and he took them on a journey. The journey wasn’t always easy, and there were lots of bumps and hiccups in the road. Sometimes, his disciples did always understand what was going on, sometimes what Jesus did and said challenged their assumptions. And sometimes, they wondered, if Jesus even cared about them.  But after a full day of ministry and preaching, Jesus could lay his head down on a rock, or on the seat of a sea tossed boat, and sleep with complete peace – knowing that he had done his job, and done it well.

         This past week, I have been reading a book by noted Psychiatrist Dr. Scott Peck. You might remember that in the late 60’s he wrote a book entitled “The Road Less Traveled” That book examined what life could be like for us, if we lived by the power of love. When we live by the power of love, we live not for ourselves but for others. When we live by the power of love, we are able to endure hardship in order to realize a greater good. When we live by the power of love, we face the challenges of life and address them head on, trusting that whatever happens, things will work out.

         As I mentioned, I was reading another of Dr. Peck’s books called the “people of the lie” In that book, he writes about people who choose to live not by love but in fear. These people are consumed with themselves, they complain and run away from any kind of discomfort, and they are always seeking to avoid any kind of confrontation or challenge in life. People who live in fear are like people in the midst of a storm, they are afraid, confused, anxious, and find it difficult to function. Even worse, People who live in fear tend to spread fear and confusion to others, they lie to others and worse they lie to themselves, which creates all kinds of suffering in their lives and those around them.

         But there is a solution to this problem of living in fear, and that is a life found living in love. And that is where we find our Savior Jesus Christ this morning. When we come to have faith in God’s love for us in Jesus Christ we see a selflessness that sets us free from selfish desires, we see the ability to endure hardships and make sacrifices that lead to a better life, and we see someone who face trials head on, and even death itself, so that he might come through them and live. Through faith in Jesus Christ, the storms of our lives are calmed, and at the end of the day, we can find peace in our lives, sleep soundly, and perhaps even snore a bit. And that’s the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

June  17, 2018                    We Walk By Faith                                 

        A few weeks ago, I was sitting with the Dekalb Clergy group, and the question that our Prairie Association Minister asked us was, “What stood out in your experience at Seminary?” Now when I was in Seminary, it was a unique time for Eden. I was in the first class where there were more women, and more second career people, than there were white males. I believe there were 6 of us, four men and two women who came directly out of college to seminary.

And I remember the focus the faculty put on writing gender inclusive papers, and I remember the focus of trying to create a generationally inclusive campus for those who had families, and I remember some regular rants by classmates – who were unsure of their call – against the “traditional male college graduate model” of church seminaries.

But the thing I remember most, was my decision not to allow these focuses and rants to divide me from my class mates – because it was my father, my aunt and uncle, and my grandfather, who were all UCC ministers, who worked for the inclusion of women, people of color, and lay people in the ministry of the church. You see, in a world that denied or questioned the ability of these people to be ministers, my family walked not by what they saw in the world, but by faith in what could be for the world.

        As I reflected on our bible passages this morning, I realized that they were all about walking in faith, rather than walking by sight. Samuel saw as the world saw, David as a ruddy weakling who could barely keep the sheep safe, but God saw in David someone who could not only keep sheep safe, but lead armies, and be a King over Israel.

In the gospel lesson, the farmer plants the crop, fertilizes it, and stands ready to weed it. Then he watches it rain, and drought, and the high winds blow, he know that that there are a hundred ways that his crop will come to ruin, and yet – “he knows not how” – it comes to harvest. He plants because he believes, he walks not by what he sees, but by faith, and his faith more times than not, is rewarded.

        So this morning, I thought I would share one example of our need to walk by faith rather than sight, so that we might realize the harvest of God’s kingdom in our lives.

        Those who walk by faith speak the truth to one another. This week I did premarital counseling with a couple and I told them that the word truth comes from the old English word “troth”. And the old English word “betrothed” describes a relationship in which people are true to each other. To be "trothed" to one another means that we do not hide things from one another, that we do not tell lies to one another, that we are faithful in all our dealings with each other, and that we respect one another.

This what a philosopher might call a methodology of human truth. Just as a scientist might control an experiment by maintaining the proper conditions, Truth in human life is a matter of proper behavior toward one another. If that behavior is love for one another, than truth or troth is the result. This is the truth that Jesus speaks of when he says, I am the way, the truth and the life. This is the truth that comes from loving our neighbor as ourselves, and from Jesus laying down his life for us.

        But our world today tells us that we are all in competition with one another, that it is ok to hide the facts, tell lies, break our promises, and think less of those around us. One needs only look at our news today, to see examples of arrogant people, who tell lies, break promises and share only the facts that are to their advantage. When we see how the world does this, we see how broken it is, how much division and suffering it generates. And worse, when we participate in this worldly behavior, it may make our lives better in the moment, but over time it is just as destructive to us. And even worse than that, is what it does to our children when we teach them to lie, break promises, and seek only their advantage.  

        Those who walk by faith rather than sight, understand that there are disadvantages to speaking the truth and living the truth in the world. But they also understand that speaking the truth and living the truth are our only hope of salvation. Our only hope of a world we cannot see now, but one that in faith we believe in. A world in which people tell the truth, keep their promises, do not hide or ignore facts for their own benefit. A world that is not broken by division and suffering, but a world that is filled with truth, peace and love. A world in which we solve our problems, rather than allow them to go unresolved.  And that is the Good News of Jesus Christ!