A Life Worthy

  • Little Brother One-a-Day Tuesday 4/14/26

    Little Brother One-a-Day Tuesday 4/14/26

    James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

    Greetings

    Most scholars agree that the man who wrote this letter was the brother of Jesus.

    Yes, that James.

    The James who was embarrassed of his big brother, who thought he was slightly deluded at best and full-on crazy at worst.

    James, who grew up in the same home with Jesus and never realized who he was.

    Until he did.

    Beloved, is there any greater proof in Scripture that you can’t come to Christ unless God opens your heart and calls you? 

    We don’t have a record of how James became a believer. We don’t have video of his baptism and testimony. But I don’t believe that James slowly came to the conclusion, based on his careful study of his brother’s life and message and works, that Jesus was God. I am convinced that, somewhere along the way, the Holy Spirit grabbed hold of him, tore the scales from his eyes, and showed him the truth about his crazy brother.

    And James saw.

    That must have been a moment.

    Now James introduces himself to us not as Christ’s brother, but as his servant. He makes no special claim on our attention because of who he is. He simply points to who Jesus is.

    As should we, every day and all the time.

    Happy Tuesday, Beloved

  • Breath of Praise  One-a-Day Monday 4/13/26

    Breath of Praise  One-a-Day Monday 4/13/26

    Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

    Praise the Lord  (Psalm 150:6).

    Imagine that.

    Seriously

    Take a moment, before you embark on your week, to imagine every living thing declaring its praise to God.

    Every man

    woman

    child

    animal

    bird

    fish

    insect

    Everything that draws breath will use that breath to exalt the One who created

    sustained

    loved

    redeemed.

    That’s some Hallelujah right there.

    Happy Monday, Beloved.

  • Clash One-a-Day Friday 4/10/26

    Clash One-a-Day Friday 4/10/26

    …praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals (Psalm 150:5).

    OK, oddest worship memory…

    Many moons ago, I was part of a church that was rather…demonstrative in its worship.  It was commonplace to see people raising hands, dancing, calling out in various versions of prayer languages.  No snake handling, but up to that pretty much anything went.  I was a little, shall we say, conservative in my personal worship style, but I appreciated the freedom of my brothers and sisters and had no problems with their praise.

    Until Flag Lady showed up.

    You heard me.  

    Flag

    Lady

    She had these pennants…shiny gold pennants.  They may have been silk, but I don’t know for sure.

    I just know that they hurt.

    You see, each of her two pennants was about three feet long and was attached to a twelve-inch stick.  Each tapered to a point, as pennants are wont to do.  She would dance up and down the aisle of the church, spinning and twirling and leaping and smacking folks in the head with these flags.

    You think I’m joking

    but I have scars. 

    Have you ever seen an expert lion tamer in action?  Maybe an old Indiana Jones film?

    Well then.

    Beloved, praise him loud and long and with everything you’ve got.

    Just, you know, try not to leave a welt.

    Happy Friday, Beloved

  • Songs of Praise One-a-Day Thursday 4/9/26

    Songs of Praise One-a-Day Thursday 4/9/26

    Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute… (Psalm 150:3-4)

    God is a music lover.

    Now there’s all kinds of music, and all kinds of worship.  Some of you go for the traditional, hymn-based-pipe-organ-eighteen-verse-four-part-harmony-gimme-my-choir-robe variety of worship.

    Sweet

    Some of you need a little head-banging-base-thumping-electric-guitar-screeching-shout-to-the-Lord-and-give-me-an-Advil-for-my-migraine kind of worship.

    Cool

    Some of you go for the nose flute and hand ocarina.

    Probably not many, though.

    Guess what?  God likes it all.  If it’s done with all your heart, and it’s done for his glory, it’s worship.  It may not be my style, but it’s his.

    Because, in the end, you are the instrument of praise.

    Happy Thursday, Beloved.

  • Praise Him! One-a-Day Wednesday 4/8/26

    Praise Him! One-a-Day Wednesday 4/8/26

    Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness  (Psalm 150:2).

    Yesterday’s verse told us where to praise God–essentially everywhere.  This verse tells us why to praise God.  

    He’s big.

    Really big

    And he does big things.

    I apologize for getting all high-brow and exegetical on you, but we need to get the theology straight here.

    God is greater than anything or anyone else you can think of.

    Yes, even that.

    And definitely them

    He is Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth.

    His very nature  makes him worthy of your praise

    my praise

    all praise.

    But wait–there’s more! This God, this infinitely powerful, surpassingly awesome One, 

    knows you

    loves you

    calls you his own.

    We have reason upon reason to praise his name.

    Happy Wednesday, Beloved.

  • Here…There…Everywhere One-a-Day Tuesday 4/7/26 

    Here…There…Everywhere One-a-Day Tuesday 4/7/26 

    Praise the Lord.

    Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens  (Psalm 150:1).

    I praised God in church on Sunday, so we could say I was in his sanctuary.

    But aren’t we the temple of the Holy Spirit?  Paul says so in 1 Corinthians. So, anywhere I praise him is his sanctuary, because I am his sanctuary.  

    We are his sanctuary.

    Beloved, the Old Testament saints could only imagine what you and I take for granted.

    So, maybe we should stop taking it for granted. 

    I can’t claim to have been to the heavens, but God is there, so if I praise him then I am praising him in his mighty heavens, yes?  Besides, I will someday praise him from heaven, and God is not bound by time, so he already exists there, so he is experiencing me praising him in his mighty heavens.

    I’m just not there yet.

    Boy, you can say that about a lot of things.

    Praise the Lord today, Beloved.

    Right here, 

    Right now

    Happy Tuesday.

  • And Today One-a-Day Monday  4/6/26

    And Today One-a-Day Monday  4/6/26

    I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever  (Psalm 145:1-2).

    So

    Easter’s over.

    It’s Monday.

    I hope yesterday was very special for you. I hope you worshipped and prayed and rejoiced and felt especially close to Jesus as you celebrated his resurrection.

    And now there’s today.

    Monday

    Mundane

    As we move into our week, as all the stuff and garbage that we put aside yesterday comes flooding in with a power that only Monday can muster, can I ask you to do something?

    (And by you, I mean me, too.)

    Let’s try to approach Monday with the same joy and reverence and celebration that we felt yesterday.

    The tomb is still empty.

    He is still risen, indeed!

    The One who made you and knows you and died for you and rose for you still loves you more than you can possibly imagine.

    Walk in that love today, Beloved.

    Happy Monday

  • Risen! One-a-Day Easter Sunday  4/5/26

    Risen! One-a-Day Easter Sunday  4/5/26

    …because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay (Psalm 16:10).

    But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself (Psalm 49:15).

    For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave (Psalm 86:13).

     “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.  Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?” (Hosea 13:14/1 Corinthians 15:55)

    Lost

    Alone

    Confused

    Empty

    These words describe what I imagine the disciples felt on that Sunday morning.  They must have figured that, after all, Jesus had failed.

    Has anyone ever been more gloriously wrong?

    On Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene went with some of the other women to make sure that the body of Jesus was properly cared for.  Oh, the surprise they got!  The tomb was empty, the body was gone, and an angel announced, “He is not here; He has risen!”

    Can you imagine?

    Seriously, can you imagine it?  Imagine going with Mary and seeing the stone rolled away. Imagine hearing the angel’s words.  Imagine being with the disciples when she brings them the news.  Imagine running with Peter and John to see for yourself, and finding the tomb empty, the grave clothes neatly folded.  Imagine standing with Thomas, the doubter, as he touched the wounds on his living Lord.

    Imagine.

    His death satisfied the requirements of the old covenant—a perfect sacrifice to cover all sin always.

    His resurrection broke the power of Death forever, and ushered in the New Covenant—a promise of grace and hope and peace.

    His return will bring the fulfillment of history, as he gathers those who put their trust in him and takes them home forever.

    He is risen, indeed!

    Walk in joy today, Beloved.

  • Alone One-a-Day Saturday  4/4/26

    Alone One-a-Day Saturday  4/4/26

    Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones (Zechariah 13:7b).

    We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).

    Everybody loves you when you’re winning.

    What happened to the crowds?  Was it just last Sunday that the people were lining the streets, cheering for Jesus?  Now where are they?

    Gone.

    When the soldiers came for Jesus, the disciples scattered.  John followed, but at a distance.  He needed to know what was happening, but he couldn’t bring himself to intervene.

    Peter, like John, followed at a distance.  He mingled with the crowd, where he could blend in and, hopefully, go unnoticed.  While he was standing with a group, a servant girl recognized him.  Here was Peter’s chance to stand tall for Christ.  Here was his golden opportunity to proclaim his loyalty to Jesus and stand with him—die with him, if need be.  After all, that is what he had promised Jesus.

    What did he do?  You know what he did.  He denied his Lord.  Big, strong Peter couldn’t stand up to the questions of the lowliest servant girl.

    What of the rest?  All we know is that they ran for it.

    Don’t be too hard on the disciples.  I’m convinced they genuinely believed that they were up to the challenge.  When Peter said he would never betray Jesus, I think he meant it down to the marrow of his bones.  He didn’t have the courage, because he was only human.  Like us.  We know that John, and Mary, and a few others came to the cross before Jesus died; Jesus even spoke to John from the cross. But in the end, Jesus had to fulfill his purpose himself.

    In the end, Jesus went to the cross alone.

    He went to the grave alone.

    He rose from the dead alone.

    Because he had to.  That was the point—if anyone else could have done it, if anyone else could have helped, we wouldn’t have needed the perfect Son of God.

    Jesus stood alone so that you will never have to.

    Because he loves you.

    You.

    Walk in thankfulness today, Beloved.

  • Good Friday  One-a-Day Friday  4/3/26

    Good Friday  One-a-Day Friday  4/3/26

    Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me (Psalm 41:9).

    Betrayal

    It’s a bitter, ugly word for a bitter, ugly deed.

    Perhaps the worst thing about betrayal is that, by its very nature, it involves someone you trust.  In a sense, you have to give the betrayer the power to hurt you by making yourself vulnerable. Those who never make themselves vulnerable to others can never be betrayed.

    But then, they can never really love, either.

    The most powerful of all persons made himself vulnerable, opened himself to rejection, let himself be betrayed, to rescue his beloved.

    That would be you.

    Good Friday, Beloved