Today's Devotion: John 4:10 (New International Version) - This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[a] our sins.

John is talking about the love of God, one of his favorite subjects. Essentially the message is similar to John 3:16, but this serves as an explanation for the Gospel passage.

Today's Comments: Putting the passages from John 3:16 together with passage from 1John 3:16 yields the following results:

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
1 John 3:16 - This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

Isn't that interesting?

Today's Devotion: Ephesians 3:16-17 (New International Version) - I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

We all need strength to do that which is right. It is God who gives us that strength through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Today's Comments: I have a friend who lives in England who told me about the fact that she was watching a program about a family of Christian bounty hunters who look and dress like bikers. I remember back in 1990, I attended a veteran Stand Down in San Diego. There I lived with the homeless who were there for a weekend of respite, showers, and services. The security was provided by a group of Vietnam veterans who were bikers. They dressed and looked the part, but I could not have met a nicer group of men. Sometimes we spend too much time thinking about what is outside of people and don't get down to what is really inside. It is easy to forget that the Holy Spirit can work inside of anyone. It is not the appearance that counts, it is the character.

Today's Devotion: Psalm 25:6 (New International Version) Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old

In this Psalm, the psalmist praises the Lord for all that He has done and then asks for the Lord's protection against all evil and distress.

Today's Comments: Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made the Heavens and Earth. Somewhere this phrase sticks in the back of my mind, and for some unknown reason, I can't find where it came from. Yet, without him, we must realize that we will be unable to do anything that is good. We were born in sin, and it is only through His grace that we are alive.

Today's Devotion: Job 42:3 (New International Version): You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

Job is answering God, who, in turn has been asked by Job to explain his dilemma. He acknowledges that he does not have the ability or the right to question God.

Today's Comments: Do we have a right to question God? Do we have a right to question the Bible? Some say "yes," but most say "No." Many people will acknowledge that the Bible was written for all time and that what is true in the scripture in the past is true today. Richard Hooker, who is considered the one man who has developed the definitive theology in Anglicanism, explains that God has given man scripture, reason, and tradition. It is through these vehicles that we understand the true nature of God. He suggests that even law, which was laid down by the Bible, can be changed, if the reason for the law no longer exists. One, for example, realizes that the Old Testament covenants changed because the Bible, itself, explains that a new covenant was established by Jesus. Does Hooker leave an opening, when we go back to Paul's letters and his discussion concerning the role of women in the church? We must ask ourselves, has the reason for Paul's prohibition of women taking leadership in the church significantly changed so that women might now become priests, or even bishops? Can that same reasoning be applied to the blessing of homosexual unions? Do the founders and and those influential throughout history in the Anglican Church suggest that schism between the conservative and liberal wings of the church is recommended or even warranted? This will be the subject upon which I will write a paper for my Anglican Studies Class, under the mentorship of Greg Peters, Torey Honors Professor of Medieval Theology at Biola University. I pray that the Lord will guide me in my studies, because this could be more than a paper. It could be the basis of my recommendation to our special discernment committee concerning Blessed Sacrament Episcopal Church's continued participation as a unit of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America.

Today's Devotion: John 11:26 (New International Version)
and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

These are the words that Jesus spoke to Martha when he arrived at the house of Lazarus. In response, she acknowledged her understanding that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God.

Today's Comments: Even Jesus' disciples had not realized that He was the Messiah. It would take his crucifixion and then his appearance to them after death to realize who he really was. And, we are not unlike them. We keep asking for signs, and yet there are no signs. There are no signs, not because God has failed to give them. We just fail to recognize them. The signs that he gives us are usually right there, as moments of realization in life, or perhaps a flicker of genius during moments of contemplation. Let us pray for these moments.

Today's Devotion: Ephesians 4:25 (New International Version)
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

If we are to live in harmony, we are to live in truth. This passage is very important to our everyday living and working.

Today's Comments: Last night, I returned from Denver after spending a week at the National Veterans Training Institute in a class called Promoting Partnerships. The truth is that I did not enjoy the class very much. Some of the advice given by the one of the facilitators there was wrong. She didn't know her subject very well, and I challenged her. That didn't make me too popular with either her or the class, and during the latter part of the week, I felt somewhat left out. My question is, should I have just kept my mouth shut and accepted the mediocrity?

I am also beginning to understand another truth. It may be time to retire and accelerate my studies for Deacon. I have been feeling this way for quite a while, since I returned to the Field Office from my staff assignment. However, I think that this class clinched it. The truth is that I can no longer be excited about my EDD assignments.

Today's Devotion: Hebrews 10:23 (New International Version)
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

We are reminded that we must put our trust in God. He is our help and salvation.

Today's Comments: In one of my rare moments of actually sitting down and watching something other than the news, Jeopardy, or Wheel of Fortune, I watched a PBS documentary on the building of the railroad along the River Kwai. It was amazing what the captured soldiers suffered at the hands of the Japanese, while, at the same time, they were conscripted into slave labor, starved, and beaten. When it was over, one of the survivors said that God had delivered them. To me, that is a demonstration of pure faith. I would like to have that kind of faith.