Faithfulness; August 25, 2026


Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

With all the assorted readings we’ve had on Calling, this verse applies to every one of them. As came up in this past Sunday’s message, no two people have identical callings, though there is overlap in several areas for every believer. The point Paul is making here is simply, “You’ve got a calling. Do it responsibly.” As I talked about on Sunday, every believer is called to be holy and to live in fellowship with Christ. When we do those two things, we are far more likely to fulfill whatever individual calling we have received. Part of our problem is that we tend to look at other people, with perhaps more spectacular or glamourous callings, and think that our calling doesn’t measure up to theirs, so we take it lightly. That’s a big mistake! We aren’t accountable for how they fulfill their calling, but we are certainly accountable for how we fulfill our own. A school nurse, or a worker in the cafeteria, isn’t a teacher, but they are still vital to the proper functioning of the school. Every calling has its own job description. We are to seek the Lord as to what that job description is, and then seek to fulfill it with all the strength, energy, and wisdom that He provides. We need to remember that God will provide everything necessary, materially and emotionally and spiritually, for every task He assigns to us. We are stewards of all those things, fully accountable to Him, and we must never forget it.

This is something I think about from time to time. The Lord has gifted me with a wide variety of abilities, to the point that I couldn’t possibly exercise them all, all the time. However, each one pops up as useful from time to time, and I must never forget it. God doesn’t waste anything! When I studied writing poetry in college, I never expected it to have any impact on my career, so to speak, but since being in Omura, I have translated hundreds of songs between English and Japanese, in both directions, and that practice in college has been put to good use. There are other abilities that I remember from time to time and feel guilty for having forgotten them, but each one has had its impact on my life in its time. My focus is to be on the One who calls me, to be fully obedient to Him, whatever shape that takes.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You that You have called and sent me, as Your representative. May I indeed walk appropriately to that calling, fulfilling Your purposes on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Hope; August 24, 2026


Ephesians 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.

This is in the middle of another of Paul’s impossibly long sentences, but it contains some important truth. The scholars who first assigned chapter and verse numbers to Scripture had an incredible task! That aside, what jumps out at me is that we are called to hope. The world can at times be a hopeless place, but God calls us to hope! I’m reminded of a video I saw just yesterday of a Holocaust survivor who is always smiling. He lost his whole family, and endured some pretty horrible things himself, in the Nazi death camps, but God has given him a gift of hope, so even today, in his 90s, with two daughters and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, he rejoices in God’s grace toward him. In the video he was speaking English, though he is Polish and lives in Israel, and he described himself as a “glass-half-full kind of guy.” That’s a huge blessing, but definitely an exception. What Paul is talking about here applies to every believer, if they are willing to accept it. What God has prepared for His children is glorious beyond words to express it, and the more firmly we lay hold of that by faith, the more unshakable our hope will be. This isn’t in the category of “I hope it rains soon,” (which is something many around here are feeling right now) but a hope that will carry us through anything, even Nazi death camps! The devil doesn’t want us to be aware of this, because he delights in human misery, so holding firm to our hope in Christ is a vital part of resisting him. (James 4:7)

I have always been a pretty optimistic sort of person, because I have been aware of the love with which God has surrounded me. Part of my ministry is imparting hope to the people around me. The lady who will probably be my successor as pastor here was at one point under such clinical depression that she was unable to leave her house for over two years. Now, she is as bright and cheerful a believer as you could hope to meet, even though her circumstances continue to include things that are humanly upsetting. Yesterday she was sharing that her son’s three children are all seriously sick, but she’s still filled with hope! For myself, my wife has a laundry list of medical issues, and I’m not immune to the effects of time, but I know that God’s plans for me are marvelous, and I look forward to their unfolding. Yesterday I became very upset over a particular song translation, because that touches on my sense of identity and legacy, but then I had a time of marriage counseling with a young couple who live close to here, who will be having their wedding in two weeks, and the awareness of the Lord flowing His truth through me to them erased all the tension I had felt over the song translation. I am not immune to attacks, so I too must lay hold of the hope I have in Christ, and rejoice!

Father, thank You for that experience yesterday, both sides of it. May I indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me to do, so that Your love and grace may flow unhindered through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Freedom; August 23, 2026


Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

Freedom is a tricky thing. We think we want it, but the pursuit of it often results in slavery to sin and injury to ourselves and those around us. Paul wrote about this at length in Romans 6. In Christ we are liberated from legalism, but that liberty should free us to serve one another, not because of some rule but because that is the desire of our heart. Blessing others is a source of huge blessing for the one doing the blessing! That seems paradoxical, simply because our flesh is selfish and shortsighted, unable to recognize the blessings that lie ahead in serving others. One reason marriage can be such a blessing is that, to some degree at least, our focus goes from pleasing ourselves to pleasing our partner. That’s where the phrase, “Happy wife, happy life,” comes from. This verse is of course far broader than that. Genuine love is the wellspring of countless blessings, which is why Jesus said that the greatest two commandments are to love God and love our neighbor. (Matthew 22:36-40) This verse connects directly to that, because loving our neighbor as we love ourselves certainly means serving them, and obedience to God produces the greatest blessings!

I have been as thoroughly self-centered as anyone, I think, and it’s never done me much good. By personality I tend to be an introvert, which certainly connects to being self-centered. God gave me a wife who is one of the most outgoing people I’ve ever met, and after 57+ years of marriage, I’ve grown enough that people have trouble believing I’m an introvert! I have indeed learned the joy of serving others, but my flesh still gets in the way at times, and I can feel like people are too much trouble to be worth the effort. That’s a lie of the devil! When Jesus gave absolutely everything for me, holding back anything in serving Him is illogical in the extreme. And of course, Jesus told us clearly, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40) Serving others can be inconvenient, and it can wear us out. I do need the guidance of the Holy Spirit to serve others and also be a good steward of myself, but my attitude should always be gratitude that I can serve God through serving the people around me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. There is indeed no limit to opportunities for service. Help me recognize what You want me to do and do it with my whole heart, as unto You, so that Your grace and mercy may flow unhindered through me, drawing others to You for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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The Gospel; August 22, 2026


Galatians 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.

It is often commented that Galatians is the only one of Paul’s letters that doesn’t start with thanking God for the people to whom he’s writing. That shows how upset he was at the news he was getting from Galatia! As a point of sad fact, there are many churches today who are worthy of such letters, though  not for identical reasons. In the case of Galatia, they were deviating into a “gospel” of legalism, of works, but today, the main false gospel seems to be one of license and accommodation to the world, going the opposite direction from the Galatians. Neither one is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. That Gospel removes all possibility of human pride, and at the same time exalts the holiness of God. In a number of ways it seems too good to be true, and understandably so, because it is literally impossible by human effort. God’s plan of the ages, as Paul talks about in Ephesians 1, is beyond anything human beings could or would dream up. It is perfect grace and at the same time full accountability. We can’t hit that balance on our own! The Gospel is so wonderful, when we fully grasp it we can endure anything, because we know the glory that has been laid up for us in heaven. As has been quipped, God’s “retirement plan” for His children is out of this world! Every believer needs a personal relationship with their Savior, but the devil and the world do all they can to interfere with that. I’ve found that a consistent pattern of daily devotions, even for 10 minutes a day, is the exception rather than the rule, even among church-goers. And there is wide variety in the quality of such devotions as well. Devotional publications, such as Upper Room or Daily Bread, are certainly helpful, but they are essentially pre-digested pablum. There’s a time for that, but believers should be aiming for steak! God’s truth is freely available, and we should be seeking the help of the Holy Spirit to take it in regularly and fully, without distortion or apology, so that we may grow to be the children God desires.

I honestly don’t remember when I started a consistent habit of daily devotions. I’m fairly sure it was after the Lord called me to account for my spiritual pride! Now, it’s absolutely indispensable for me, and I get very irritated when things try to infringe on it. The flip side of that is that I have more and more drive to share the Gospel with others. I don’t feel I’m gifted as an evangelist, but I can share what God has done for me, and that’s the heart of evangelism. I am grieved to see the various false gospels that are promulgated, but I am to proclaim God’s truth in love, regardless of the social or religious climate. “Gospel music” can be wonderful, and a good method of evangelism, but some of the lyrics today are so human-centered that there’s no Gospel left. There’s a very amusing song out that pokes fun at the “formula” for writing “Contemporary Christian” music, but it’s so true, it can make you cry, even after you’ve laughed. One of my daughters serves as the Worship Leader in her church, and she sometimes has to be very firm in declining to use songs that are quite popular, but have no true Gospel left in them. I can’t sort it all out on my own, so I’ve got to ask and allow the Holy Spirit to be my filter and my megaphone, so that God’s truth may indeed set people free. (John 8:32)

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for Your faithfulness to speak to and through me. May I speak nothing that is contrary to Your Gospel in any way, but rejoice to be Your agent in truth, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Marriage; August 21, 2026


1 Corinthians 7:16 How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

This is a very touchy, practical subject that most preachers would rather avoid! Marriage is the most intimate human relationship we can have, but it is filled with many uncertainties. Given all the differences between men and women, at times it seems miraculous that they can live together at all. At the same time, each meets needs in the other that can be rightly met no other way, so it gets really complicated. And that’s for couples who share the same faith! Recently I read of a man who had been married a long time who was asked, “How do you stay married to the same woman for so long?” His answer, on the face of it, was shocking, but actually deeply insightful. “I haven’t, and she hasn’t stayed married to the same man. We are both constantly changing all the time.” And nothing is a bigger, more fundamental change than surrendering to Jesus as Lord and being born again. It’s the best change possible, but the partner might not see it that way. The flip side of that is expressed, or at least implied, here: for a believer, their greatest desire is that their life partner share in their life in Christ. It is a tragic truth that we can’t force anyone to repent and believe, and approaching the issue that way will only drive them away. Peter, whose wife was a believer, said this: “Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.” (1 Peter 3:1-2) Now there’s a challenge for you! That’s the only place where salvation is mentioned without words! Even so, as Paul said, we have no guarantee that the partner will receive the testimony, verbal or otherwise. This calls for deep faith, and for many people, this is their most severe trial. Sometimes, we just have to hang onto what the Lord told Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

I am deeply grateful that this is a road I have never had to travel, but I have dealt with many people who were on it. My wife and I were certainly not fully mature when we got married – and neither are we now! However, the Lord in His grace has had us both at similar levels for the past almost 58 years. At times one is “ahead,” and at times the other. My wife was baptized in the Holy Spirit years before I was, and there have been times when my faith has seemed stronger than hers. That said, our commitment to the Lord and to each other has been rock-solid for a long time. Sadly, I deal with people on a daily basis who don’t have that blessing. All I can do is pray for them and their spouse, and walk beside them in love. As the Lord assured me, there are many things that He would like to be different, but free will is real, however paradoxical that might seem, and each person is individually accountable to Him, and not to us.

Father, You know the people around me who have unbelieving spouses. I ask Your grace and mercy for them, Your encouragement, comfort, and joy, that their lives may prove irresistible to their spouses, for a glorious harvest in Your kingdom. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Calling; August 20, 2026


1 Corinthians 1:26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.

Actually, this whole chapter deals with calling in one way or another, which is why we’ve had every bit of it in this month’s readings. The focus of this last section is on the stupidity of pride in relation to our calling. Paul makes it very clear that the value of our calling is in the One doing the calling, that is, God, and not in the one called. God equips us for the tasks He has for us, because we couldn’t do it ourselves. It has rightly been said that God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. I often remember the line from a song by Don Francisco about Balaam: “So if the Lord starts using you, don’t you pay it any mind. He could have used the dog next door, if He’d been so inclined.” That could be said to be a restatement of these last verses of this chapter! Our response to being called and sent by God should be gratitude, and amazement that He should choose us.

I feel like I’m constantly being reminded of the stupidity of pride, and I have all too much familiarity with it! Yesterday I had a lesson in moral pride. I had been judging someone for something that is, indeed, against the principles laid down in the Bible, but I learned of the emotional wounds that sent them in that direction, and my prayers for them have changed. I now pray for healing, as a foundation for the repentance that they still need. I am reminded of an encounter I had with the Lord many years ago. I was lying in bed, not consciously praying but just thinking, “There are so many things I wish were different.” As clearly as if He had been standing beside the bed, I heard the Lord say, “How do you think I feel?” In that moment I realized that all the junk in the world is because of human sin and rebellion, and God has an ultimate “final answer.” We don’t begin to have the “mental horsepower” to figure it all out, but He does, and we’ve got to trust Him with it. In the meantime, my attitude is to be to keep myself available to Him for whatever He wants to do with me, whether that massages my ego or not. Any time He does use me, my whole focus is to be on gratitude, and not on “I did that.” There’s no way I can do anything right apart from Him. (John 15:5)

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You enabled me to do yesterday in dealing with the pictures from the show. Guide now in our getting the frames back up into the attic. Thank You that I have someone I can call on to help in the muscle work involved. May we indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You throughout today, and each day, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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God’s Omniscience and Omnipotence; August 19, 2026


1 Corinthians 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

This very simple, logical statement is something that, in practical terms, we often forget. God is by definition omniscient and omnipotent. He knows everything and He can do anything. We say the words, but we act like we don’t believe them. In Paul’s day, Greek and Roman mythology posited gods who were more like superheroes than they were like the Creator of the universe, so this was a reasonable thing for him to have to say. However, most of us have been immersed in monotheism for generations, so we have no logical excuse for thinking or feeling we can slip something by God. That He is fully omniscient is something that really bothers some people. We want privacy! The problem is, as Jesus said, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (John 3:19-21) We love John 3:16, and rightly so, but we forget to keep reading. When we are humbly seeking Him, His omniscience and omnipotence are the most comforting things ever. We’re just amazed and grateful that He loves us in spite of knowing everything about us!

I hope I never forget the deep-down revelation I had, probably about 20 years ago, that God’s smart and I’m not. That’s actually just a different way of saying what Paul said in this verse. I was born with a high IQ, and though I granted that God was smarter than I was, I still thought I was pretty smart. How foolish of me! I’m not to discount or waste what God has given me, but I must never allow it to puff me up. God’s foolishness, if such were possible, is still far smarter than the greatest human wisdom. I would say that His most foolish thing is putting such love and concern into human beings! My gratitude and appreciation for His doing that only continues to grow. As the song says, “The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.” I want to be fully submitted and obedient to His wisdom at all times, so that His will may be accomplished in and through me, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for all You’ve been bringing us through recently. Thank You for the interdenominational prayer meeting that will be here from 7 this morning. I have concerns about this one, as You know, but You also know exactly what is going to happen and be said, and I ask You to be in total control. May my response to each word and each individual be what You desire of me, so that the Body of Christ may be built up in all holiness, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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God’s Faithfulness; August 18, 2026


1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

From verse 1 through this one, Paul speaks repeatedly of “calling,” and in this one he tells how it all happens: through God’s faithfulness. We aren’t called because we are wonderful, we are called because God is faithful, and He is love. Paul could not have fulfilled his calling as an apostle on his own, and we can’t fulfill our calling to holiness on our own, but God is faithful, and He will do it. As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24) We too are to strive to be faithful, but we are nowhere near as faithful as God is. As the hymn says, “Great is Thy Faithfulness!” This is no excuse for laziness or any sense of entitlement, but it is a cause for great gratitude and joy. That we will slip up and stumble is a given, but God is absolutely faithful, and He is omnipotent. We need to rest, relax, and rejoice in this assurance, just as He told me to do, so that by His power we may indeed fulfill the calling He has placed on us, for His glory.

This is a conviction I have grown into over the years. For too long I wandered in pride, thinking I could do things on my own. God had to call me down for that attitude, and then show me repeatedly how futile my own efforts were, and I hope I’ve really learned the lesson! There are things going on right now that aren’t as I would have planned them, but that’s in His hands, and His plans are good. I have every reason not to be anxious! I can’t control other people – I can hardly control myself – and I don’t have to answer for them, though I am to pray for them. Part of my calling, as a pastor and teacher, is to help others understand their calling, and to a degree, those of the people around them, so that we may encourage each other and not hinder. Everyone’s calling is different, even though we are all called to be God’s children. I’m not to insist that someone be like me, but I am to strive to point us all to be like Jesus.

Father, thank You for this reminder. It feels like the message for this next Sunday! Thank You for Your faithfulness that makes it all possible. Thank You for getting us through the week’s show in the City Gallery, and for all the contacts we made. May our every contact draw people to You, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Gifts; August 17, 2026


Romans 11:29 For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.

This is a very important verse that is both widely quoted and not properly understood. It is actually one of the “mysteries of the faith” that Paul refers to from time to time. We frankly don’t know why or how this operates. It would seem to be a powerful argument against Arminianism, which says that you can lose your salvation, but at the same time there are many problems with Calvinism, which seems to say that our activities have little to do with our salvation. One fact should be self-evident, however: any gift or ability that isn’t exercised atrophies. The more we exercise what God has given us, the stronger and more effective it becomes. That’s what stewardship is all about. We tend to think of gifts in terms of the spiritual gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12, but actually, everything we have is from God, and we need to remember that and act accordingly. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in doing an inventory of what we have been given, so that we may apply it as the Giver intends. Likewise, we need to ask Him to sharpen our awareness of His purposes in our life, His calling, so that we may fulfill it to His satisfaction. We don’t exist just for ourselves, we exist for Him!

This is something of a big issue for me, because I feel I have been gifted in so many areas. I was Concertmaster of the 25th Division Band in the Army, but it’s been years since I last picked up a clarinet. I was given the gift of tongues back in 1974, but there was a considerable period when I used it hardly at all. Thankfully, I now use it frequently and freely, though not in public. My gift for languages and interpretation has continued to grow, since I use it constantly. I realize that there are seasons for everything, and as my voice is showing signs of my physical age, maybe it’s time to pick up the clarinet again, as a tool for praising God and leading others to praise Him. As a pastor, I strive to help others recognize their gifting and use it as God intends, but I must never leave myself out of the equation. God has been incredibly gracious to me, and I need to be fully faithful to Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the reminder and affirmation I’ve been getting this week about Your gifting in seeing things and capturing them with a camera. Thank You for the many interactions You’ve given us in that process. I pray that this last day of the exhibit would go exactly as You intend, drawing people to You, and I pray for wisdom and physical strength and stamina as we take things down from 2pm, that everything would go smoothly, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Conformity to Christ; August 16, 2026


Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Verse 28 gets the most attention, but this verse is another earth-shaker. God in His foreknowledge has settled that we will become like His Son! If that doesn’t excite you, you don’t have any idea what he’s talking about. We live in every sort of human limitation on this earth, but we will be fully like Jesus when the time comes! Even in His human body Jesus walked on water, and after His resurrection He walked freely into a locked room, and then a few days later, rose bodily until He was obscured by a cloud. And that’s just the physical stuff! Of far more importance is that He was perfectly without sin. It has rightly been said that we have been saved from the penalty for sin, we are being saved from the power of sin, and we will be saved from the presence of sin. That’s what this verse is talking about. Every non-God impulse will be conquered, and we will be in perfect harmony with our Creator. We will be restored to the purity for which we were created, free from every lying trick of the devil. What a wonderful prospect! Songs tend to focus on such things as “walking streets of gold,” but doing so in perfect purity and holiness is even more wonderful. We really can’t imagine how wonderful it will be, but we can be fully assured that it will be wonderful!

I have been a Science Fiction buff since middle school, and right now I’m reading a novel that imagines quantum beings that merge with human consciousness, providing all sorts of super-human abilities. That doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of what God has in store for me! However, my focus isn’t to be on all of that, but rather on the level of fellowship I will have with my Creator, who loved, and loves, me so much that He sent His Son to die in my place, to make this fellowship possible. That is the ultimate hope, the ultimate anticipation, and it is glorious beyond words. The thing is, I get to taste that even here. I’ve written before about an experience of God’s joy that was so deep, I felt like one more drop and my physical body would give up and call it quits. I couldn’t function normally on this earth if that were my constant state, but I will have no such limitations before God’s throne! When I will turn 78 next month, my body keeps reminding me that it’s not permanent. I was actually a little jealous of the brother whose funeral I conducted just over a week ago! However, that’s not to be my focus. Rather, I am to focus on what God has for me to do here and now, because I wouldn’t be here if He didn’t have more things for me to do. (Ephesians 2:10) I don’t know what the road ahead holds, but with Him, it will be good!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your incredible plans for me. Thank You for the day at the gallery yesterday, with the fewest number of people but the most photo sales! Thank You for the service here his morning, and for all You have planned for it. Thank You for this afternoon, back at the gallery. I pray that each step, each moment would be as You desire, bringing Your plans to fruition for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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