Ken

I once heard Pastor Tony Evans tell of seeing a crack in his bedroom wall. The next day the crack had become larger. Over the next few days, it spread and began to look like a family tree. Evans called a contractor to plaster and paint the wall. The contractor looked around and said, “That will be $25,000.” To which Evans replied, "You’re kidding me! $25,000 to plaster and paint the wall!” "It's not $25,000 to paint your wall; it's $25,000 to fix your entire foundation. You have a major crack in your foundation and unless you fix that, the cracks will keep returning. Do you want me to paint your wall or fix your foundation?" Truth be told, many people are just plastering over the cracks of their lives without making any changes to their foundation. We experience a lack of peace or a lack of meaning and what…

I like to do certain things a certain way. It's my choice to use a burr grinder to grind my coffee beans. I will always choose meat on my pizza over only vegetables. (Before you send me a note saying vegetables are good for me, I said "only vegetables." Pepperoni with green olives is fantastic!"). We all have a will -- and I'm not talking about Palmetto Bluff Real Estate planning. Most of us don't even realize the things we are willful about. Instead, we use words like preferences, choices, and opinions. We have a taste in clothing and food. Something may not fit our style. There are useful aspects to our will. For example, it facilitates and streamlines decision making. It may also inhibit us from making a better decision because we are unwilling to consider other angles. The will isn't value-neutral. I make my coffee a certain way…

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe." - John 6:35-36 There is an important link between actions and results. If I take action to eat better and exercise more, the expected result should be better health, energy, and stamina. Likewise, if I don't action to change a lazy lifestyle, I shouldn't expect to feel better or have more energy. In fact, I should expect to have less of the benefits. People who take action and go back to college or graduate school to earn a degree do so hoping to see that result in better job opportunities or a new career. Or the result could simply be the sense of achievement they gain. Every action (or inaction) results…

35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. -- John 6:35 One of the things that struck me this morning in my reading of John 6 is the word "whoever." Over the course of seventy-one verses, it is used seven times, always by Jesus. Perhaps it struck me because today is Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. While we lived in Atlanta, I had the opportunity to visit both the King Center and Ebenezer Baptist Church (where King served as pastor). In Memphis, where my in-laws live, is the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Hotel. It's impossible to walk through these exhibits and not be moved. What is possible ... is to return home and return to normal. To return to the way you had been before. You might be…