Thoughts on John Wesley, UMC, life, faith, and anything else!
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Crying For Help – Reflection on Psalm 61
Psalm 61 Where Can We Go? Life gets bogged down. We take two steps forward, but because of unforeseen challenges, we take six steps back. Frustration ensues as our problems loom large and solutions are nowhere in sight. We become so fixated on our problems that we can no longer see past them. We believe…
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Missing God – Reflection on Psalm 60
Psalm 60:1-12 Where was God? You thought you had it all figured out. You planned. You strategized. And then…failure. Not a small failure, but a colossal failure. A failure so big you had to step back and reassess your approach and ask, “What went wrong? Where did I get off track? How in the world…
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Purposeful Problems – Reflection on Psalm 59
Psalm 59:1-17 Jokers to the Left, Clowns to the Right I don’t like problems. When I have a problem I try to fix it, or get it fixed, as soon as I have. Problems are enemies which work against my goals and agenda. Imagine my surprise when the psalmist ask God to allow his enemies,…
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Destroy the Wicked – Reflection on Psalm 58
Psalm 58:1-11 Psalm 58 Watching the World Burn People gravitate toward the Psalms because of their complete and utter realness. I was taught that if I didn’t have anything nice to say…then don’t say anything. The psalmist doesn’t follow such motherly advice. Instead, the psalmist lets his fury fly. There’s a scene in The Dark…
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Big Trouble? No Problem! – Reflection on Psalm 57
Psalm 57:1-8 Should I Stay or Should I Go? Some problems can’t be fixed no matter how hard we try. The problems are bigger than we are. I used to try to fix my problems. After much frustration, I finally admitted that some problems can’t be fixed, or at least not by me.
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Bad Stuff, Deep Trust – Reflection on Psalm 56
Psalm 56:1-13 Stuff Happens Bad things happen. How do you respond? What do you do when life doesn’t work out the way you want? What’s your reaction when someone actively seeks your destruction? Perhaps destruction is too strong of a word. Maybe somebody tries to destroy your reputation, limit your opportunities, or steal your thunder.…