Today's Devotion: Luke 12:15 (New International Version)
Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

This passage is part of the parable of the rich fool. Here is a man who thinks that he is going to be able to store up all his riches and does not realize that his life will be taken from him in a moment. The Bible instructs us to give faithfully. We should remember to do so.

Today's Comments: As one reads further on, he or she is instructed not to worry about what to eat or drink, but that God will provide. This is a passage often quoted by adherents to the Prosperity Gospel, but I think that what is being said here is that we should be content with what we have. Paul restates this in his Epistle to the Philippians (4:10-12). I think that is also what Luke means: accept what God gives us.

Today's Devotion: Matthew 7:7 (New International Version)
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

According to the Bible Exposition Commentary, by Warren Wiersby, a six volume commentary that I just purchased last week for $75, the subject of Matthew 7 is "true judgment." In such situations, as verse 7 points out, we must ask God to guide us in our judgments.

Today's Comments: Today, it appears that I have reached a critical point in my life. After spending more than two years on Division Staff, I have now been asked to go back to the field office. I am not sure if I want to do that, or not. I feel hurt and violated because of the way that this transfer was presented to me. It was because of the need of the field office, I was told. And yet, I feel that my talent in the field office will be wasted. I am now judging the motives of others and pray that God will guide me and open the door to a right decision.

Today's Devotion: Ephesians 6:18 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

The context of this passage is set around Paul's discussion of spiritual warfare. He has just urged everybody to put on the armor of God so that we can fight evil in the spiritual realm. He wants us to keep communicating with the Holy Spirit by praying and to pray for each other, so that we might defend ourselves from the forces of evil.

Today's Comments: The prosperity gospel folks would use the passage above to show that if we pray for anything and everything, God will give it to us. This passage shows how important that it is to look at things in terms of their context. This means reading the material that surrounds it. And, if you have a decent bible commentary, look it up to see what the writer really means.

Today's Devotion: Joshua 24:15 (New International Version)
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

The people whom Joshua brought into the Land of Canaan were given a choice by Joshua. They could not serve the Lord and serve other Gods as well.

Today's Comments: Neither should we serve other gods. Yet we often do without knowing. Money is a big one.

We must not forget who brought us into this land of milk and honey. We are a privileged people. But remember, when the Israelites went into apostasy, they lost their land and became the slaves of the Assyrians and the Babylonians. We must not make the same mistake.

Today's Devotion: Psalm 37:8 (New International Version)
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.

The solution? Trust in God. Let go of your anger and ask him to uphold you.

Today's Comment: This is an appropriate verse for today. I took a break for lunch and watched part of the 2 PM news (I stayed home from work to spend time on three papers that are due by the end of next week for my ethics class). Some person in great anger murdered a driver on the 710 freeway in a fit of road rage. The result was that there was one dead person and some innocent Caltrans workers who had to be hospitalized for treatment.

I immediately called into work, since the site of the shooting was within a few miles of my work, and the freeway was closed in both directions.

My thought is, "what is the world coming to?" Without Christ, there is chaos. The world seems to be coming to an end through our own making.

Today's Devotion: Jeremiah 32:27 (New International Version)
"I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?"

Jeremiah is getting the message from God that Israel will be given to the attacking Babylonians in retribution for their apostasy and sins against the Lord. The Lord giveth, and the Lord can taketh away.

Today's Comments: How many times do we do things that are wrong in the Lord's sight? Fortunately, he gave his Son for our redemption. Yet, James preaches that our good works should be the product of our faith. We need to ask God to fill our hearts with desire to do His will and glorify Him so that we may be a light in this world of darkness.

Today's Devotion: Revelation 21:2 (New International Version)
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

Revelation, of course, is talking about the coming of the Kingdom, the New Jerusalem. Whether it will be in our lifetime or sometime later, won't keep us from that day. We must continue to prepare for that wedding.

Today's Comments: For my ethics class, I am preparing a book report on Ronald Sider's Good News and Good Works. It is a book that discusses the merits of both evangelism and social concern. I believe that God calls on us to do both, until that time that the Kingdom of Christ arrives. It is how we do both that may be an interesting sidebar to my book report. In any case, we must prepare ourselves and do that which God inspires us to do.

Today's Devotion: Ephesians 4:23-24 (New International Version)
23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness

Here, Paul is teaching us that we must be different from the rest of the world. As Christians, we have new lives, new relationships, and a new Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. That also means that we must have a new attitude.

Today's Comments: Although I have been a Christian, since the age of nine, five years ago, my life drastically changed, when my wife died. And, it was in her death and in my life after she died that made me realize that God had a purpose in mind for me. Sunday, June 10th would have been our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. Although I am moving on in life, forming new relationships, and developing a new love, Norma was an important part of my life, and I honor the love that she gave to me and to others. And I truly believe that she is watching over me as I press on toward the goal of ordination and build a loving relationship with Angie.

Today's Devotion: 1 Peter 5:7 (New International Version)
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Peter is giving advice to young men in the church. The previous verses elaborate, "5Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."[a] 6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."

Today's Comments: How many of us truly humble ourselves before God? I was talking to a friend about humility, and he replied that sometimes we think that we are such big stuff, with all of our electronics and laptop computers. Why, I even have an Internet conference phone with speakers that I got from Fry's yesterday for $70, with a $70 rebate. But, you know what, we can't take our laptops with us to heaven, can we?

Today's Devotion: Isaiah 53:6 (New International Version)
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.

Make no mistake about it, we were the ones that left the sheepfold and turned to our own desires and devices. Did God abandon us? No. Instead, he sent his son to bear the punishment for our sins.

Today's Comments: The Book of Isaiah, except for Jonah, is my favorite Old Testament book. I suppose it is because I love Handel's Oratorio The Messiah so much, and much of it is taken from the Book of Isaiah. It makes me think how much that God gave for us and how little we give back.

My son, Chris and his wife Kristi are in Uganda now, trying to give back something to the Lord. I was honored to receive the following from Kristi last night. I hope that they don't mind me putting it here. But the message means a lot to me:

Hello! (just a side note, this email turned out to be extremely long - sorry!)

I just wanted to let you know that we arrived safely in Uganda, and are enjoying every second of it! It absolutely lives up to every expectation. The driving is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Cars, motorcycles, bikes, and pedestrians all share the same roads, and its each man for himself!

Thursday and Friday we went out to Kachungwa (located in the “bush”, looks more like a jungle). Most of the children had never seen ‘Mzumbu’s (white people) before. As soon as we stepped out of our car, we were literally surrounded by 300 laughing, dancing, clapping children. I never imagined that a digital camera could bring anyone so much joy. We would take their pictures and then show it back to them. They thought it was the best game on earth! They showed us their homes (real mud huts with thatched roofs) – it looked like something strait out of National Geographic.

Just a funny side note – as we were hiking through the jungle, we asked about snakes. They told us that there were no snakes there. Later, we asked about Black Mambo snakes. They answered, ‘Oh, they live everywhere, but you'll never see them.’ Glad I didn’t know that during the hike! Then last night, a (non-poisonous) snake dropped out of a tree and almost landed on Kim.

As we were leaving the village, the people brought us gifts. They gave us each a live chicken! We convinced them to keep most of the chickens for us, but they insisted on sending one away with us. We named it Henrietta.

Well, there is lots more to tell, but we have already filled up your mailbox enough. Honestly, I am still trying to process a lot of what I have seen. Hope all is well there!

Please pray for us as we assess the situations in the 2 different villages. If this is to be a 5-10 year partnership, we certainly desire to choose wisely in terms of needs, opportunities, and partnering relationships. Not surprisingly, the “needs” issue seems to be constant everywhere.

We were with the children during their prayer time. They didn’t just pray. They prayed. It was probably the most fervent spirituality I have ever seen. We asked the church leaders about it. They said that the people in the village know that their only hope in the world is in the Lord, so they pray with everything they have.

Thanks again for all of your love and support on this adventure. We feel incredibly blessed to be experiencing this place and meeting these people!

Today we head out to Bethany Village, located on an island in Lake Victoria. We take a boat, and then motorcycles to get there. Can't wait!

Love you! Hope all is wonderful!

Kristi and Chris

Today's Devotion:2 Corinthians 4:18 (New International Version)
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Paul is encouraging the church at Corinth after finding out that most of the problems that he heard about have been addressed. Again, he is reminding us, as he has at other times, to focus on that for which we were created.

Today's Comments: In Bible Study tonight, we talked about the references to the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John. The Holy Spirit speaks to us in different ways, and we all must seek to understand. By focusing on the Spirit, we will learn what He has in store for us.

Today's Devotion: 1 Corinthians 3:19 (New International Version)
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"[a];

Paul is scolding the church at Corinth for fighting amongst themselves as to which of the apostles should be followed. He is saying that it is not important who one follows in this world; our reality should be fixed on Christ.

Today's Comments: My friend Angie is a good example of one who has fixed herself on Christ. As our relationship has developed, she has made it clear that she is willing to follow me and support me in my ministry. Except for my late wife Norma, who was willing to follow me anywhere, Angie is the only other person that I have known that has been willing to state that kind of commitment. My love and respect grows for her every day.

Here is a picture of the land area that she wants to donate for missionary purposes. I am looking forward seeing it for myself.

Today's Devotion: Philippians 4:12 (New International Version)
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Paul wrote this while he was imprisoned, most probably in Rome, during his first imprisonment there. Even in prison, he was content knowing that God was there for him and that God's purpose for him was being fulfilled.

Today's Comments: I wonder how adherents to the prosperity gospel explain this passage? There is no question in my mind that sometimes we have to make sacrifices and that our life on earth is not always going to be milk and honey. I can just see Gloria Copeland telling Paul that he did not pray right to the Lord the night before charges were filed against him.

Interestingly enough, if you do a web search using the term "prosperity gospel Gloria", the first entry that comes up is Ken Copeland Ministries. Wikipedia credits Ken Copeland as being the at the center of this movement.

In any case, Paul was grateful to be in the Lord's service, wherever the Lord wanted him to go. I want to be like Paul.

Today's Devotion: Matthew 4:19 (New International Version)
"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

Jesus called his disciples from all walks of life: four were fishermen, one was a tax collector. Among the apostles, Luke was a physician. Paul was a Pharisee and was also probably a member of the Sanhedrin.

Today's Comments: Jesus has a purpose for all of us. It is up to us to listen and then act. And, as in the case of Paul, God made him listen. Sometimes God makes us listen, too. And, sometimes he tells us by showing us. That happened to me today, when I provided services to an Iraqi War vet who ended up with serious burns and scars from a suicide bombing. He wasn't bitter. He just did his duty, and now, after being patched up, he wants to move on. And I am glad that I am able to help him.