DO THE BEATITUDES DESCRIBE PREREQUISITES?

We tend to take the Beatitudes and turn them immediately into "here's what you need to do, how you need to think, how you must act" to get God's blessing. 

Be poor in spirit, be meek, be a peacemaker, etc., and then God will grant you entry into the Kingdom. 

But doesn't this call into question our core evangelical profession that we do not in any way earn our salvation?

That Jesus came to seek the lost sheep? That he came as a physician calling those who were sick?

Think about it. 

If we read "Blessed are the poor in spirit" as "blessed are those who recognize their own spiritual poverty" for "theirs is the Kingdom of heaven", then we are saying, point blank, HERE is the key to unlocking your salvation. 

As far as I can tell, "repent" is the only action directly associated with the arrival of the Kingdom in someone's life. 

And even then, repentance is the response to the arrival of the Kingdom, not some internal mindset that draws it out in the open. 

POOR IN SPIRIT

Yesterday I introduced a new sermon series where we will be taking a look at each of the Beatitudes individually over the next few weeks. 

The intro had to do with seeing Jesus as a teacher. In an important sense, He is even more foundationally a Teacher to us than He is a Savior. 

This week I am meditating on the first Beatitude: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven." (Matt 5:3)

You might think there would not be much to work with in a single line of dialogue like this. But considering its position as the opening line of Jesus' most famous recorded sermon, I think it is worthy of serious contemplation.

Perhaps ESPECIALLY when there seems to be wide agreement on what Jesus meant. I am always suspicious of easy and obvious interpretations of Scripture, especially when it comes to the words of Jesus. 

What is interesting to me about this verse is the way the usual interpretation makes a leap based on assumptions ... and little else. 

AI summed up the typical interpretation of "poor in spirit" as "having deep spiritual humility, recognizing one's own sin, and knowing you are completely helpless and empty without God". "It is about admitting you have no spiritual wealth or goodness on your own to earn God's favor." 

Some human commentators suggest getting at Jesus' meaning by swapping the word "humble" in for "poor". 

"Blessed are the humble in spirit."

But this is exactly what makes me suspicious and determined to keep digging. If Jesus was talking about people who are humble in spirit, why didn't He just use THAT word?

CATCHING UP POST-GHANA

Catching up here tonight after a long absence. I had intentions of posting daily while in Ghana but it is just not feasible - even if I had the energy at the end of any particular day, I did not have the internet connection to make use of it. 

I have much to reflect on now that the trip is over - but I am also neck-deep in getting back into the groove of daily life back home.

And it's quite the week. I plan to take on as few Mission Resource hours as I can, considering I am employed for 20 hours/week and just came off two full weeks of 24/7 responsibilities. 

I am going to need to invest those hours elsewhere. 

I returned last Thursday at midnight and on Friday I was able to visit with a church member under hospice care. He passed later that night, so I was incredibly grateful to have seen him one last time. His visitation will be Wednesday evening, with the funeral Thursday morning at the church. I will be officiating. He was a humble and hardworking servant of Christ and the world is poorer for his absence. 

On top of funeral considerations, Saturday evening will be the final night of our summer VBS program and Sunday morning I will be starting a new sermon series. 

I have been helping put together a local magazine - published every two months - and the next deadline is fast approaching and immovable. Right now I have more ideas for stories and graphics than the time necessary to execute them. 

None of this would feel overwhelming to me, but this is also going to be the first week for me back in the classroom with my adult English students. So, Tuesday and Thursday evening I will be teaching from 5 to 8 pm - with a couple of familiar students and 7 or 8 new ones. And their English abilities will range from conversational to next-to-nothing. 

I'm going to need extra energy this week. 

I do plan to share some photos here from the trip along with some reflections on significant moments. To start with, here's the team as we headed into the Indianapolis airport for the first leg of our flights to Accra:

EXPANSION AHEAD

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” — Anaïs Nin

God willing, in less than two weeks, I will be stepping off a plane in Accra, Ghana with three college students - one being my youngest daughter, Sarah.

It will be my privilege to show them around the country and introduce them to microfinance as ministry. 

I came across the quote posted above in an email today and I include it here in hopes that I remember to share it with the three students. 

It takes a lot of courage to pack your bags and head to Africa for two weeks when you are still in your teens.

It's gutsy. 

And their lives - and faiths - will expand as a result.

And I will have a front row seat to watch that expansion! 

THE FLESH

If you asked people what is the biggest challenge they face in this life, I think most would point to family strife, a hated boss, financial stresses, or a major health crisis like cancer.

But Galatians 5 says humanity's biggest problem is NOT external.

Our biggest problem is IN-ternal. 

Our flesh and our spirit are opposed to each other. 

"For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do." (Gal 5:17)

But the flesh isn't some equally matched "big dog", doing battle with the Spirit, as the famous sermon illustration would have it.

When Jesus was in the garden praying in anticipation of his betrayal and death, the disciples could not keep themselves awake to pray with him. And in that moment, He told them, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

He didn't say, "The flesh is strong. It will overpower you." 

No. He said it's weak.

It's a sandbag. An anchor. It suffers from inertia. It would rather sit on the couch, watching TV and eating Cheetos. It can't be bothered. 

It takes the path of least resistance. It is largely passive, only aroused by what is easy, pleasurable, or fun. If it encounters a bit of friction, it shuts down regarding anything that isn't feeding its own appetites. 

The flesh is NOT the all-powerful, unconquerable force we imagine it to be. 

It is not ferocious. 

The "flesh" is a couch potato. 

MORNING PROGRESS

I successfully hit the bed by 10:30 last night. AND I got a start on a new morning routine.

The most important aspect was this: I have decided that for at least the first hour after waking up, I will use my phone for nothing but a flashlight and a Bible. 

I was awake a bit before 5:00 am, got up and made my coffee and spent a few minutes in a comfy chair, praying. 

And, it turns out, prayer is much better for my pre-daybreak mental state than endless Facebook reels are. 

I followed prayer with some Bible study - which coincides with next Sunday's sermon prep but turned into so much more.

I followed that with a bit of kitchen cleaning before a two-mile walk - with more progress on the sermon. 

And THEN I came back to the house, picked up Melissa and the two of us walked to a brand-new donut shop that has opened near our house. 

All in all, a pleasant AND productive morning. And who could ask for more?

ROUTINES NEED FIXING

I have been struggling to re-establish my daily writing routine, not because of a lack of material to think about, but because of a lack of energy.

Especially in the evenings.

I am feeling the need to rework two very important routines: Morning and Night.

My mornings are a mess. I am not sleeping well and that leaves me groggy in the morning and prone to wasting time on my phone.

I rarely need to set an alarm. I am too often awake between 3:30 and 4:30, unable to fall back to sleep.

This would be great ... if I could kick some sense of productivity into gear. 

Instead, I spin my mental wheels. Very slowly. Often for 90 minutes or more.

What a waste.

And maybe it's because I don't have a good bedtime routine on the other end of the day. 

I should be shooting for hitting the bed by 10 pm at the latest. But in reality, I am averaging 11 to 11:30.

It's 10 after 10 pm right now and I am going to act TONIGHT to make a difference. 

I will not look at my phone again.  

I will do a bit of old-fashioned reading in a physical book. 

And then I will brush my teeth and go to bed. 

And maybe in the morning I will be in good enough shape to start making some changes there as well.

STILL WORTHY OF ADMIRATION

I haven’t watched much of the World Cup over the last several weeks. I am just not a sports guy in general and not a soccer fan in particular. 

But I do recognize the value in sports and in this case, I believe FIFA's tagline has proven true: soccer has brought the world together. 

And it has been of great benefit to the U.S. - as soccer fans from all over the world have converged on the U.S. for the games, they have gained a firsthand knowledge of this country.

It seems that a common result has been a greater appreciation of the greatness and uniqueness of this nation. 

Because I am not a sports guy, I knew nothing about the World Cup before the games started. I assumed it was one big game, like the Super Bowl. But I learned it’s every four years, like the Olympics, and that there are numerous games spread over several weeks and over multiple sports venues. 

And so, with soccer fans being as intense as they are, the World Cup has brought people from all over the world to the U.S. for several weeks. And these visitors have done lots of travel between venues, zig-zagging across the country by plane, bus, and car. 

And they are posting videos online about their experience of America and how surprised they are that it doesn’t match their expectations – formed through Hollywood and their own news media. I have really enjoyed watching these videos and, from what I can see, here is what surprises them the most: 

1) America is much safer than they expected. They expected to be dodging a lot of bullets. 

2) There are so many options available here. The number of brands of peanut butter alone leaves them speechless. And don't get them started on Buc-ees! 

3) They are impressed by the natural beauty. Some are stopping at national parks between games and discovering that Yosemite can give any European mountain range a run for its money.

4) They are caught off guard by the friendliness of average Americans on the street. I guess our movies don't often show people waving to each other or offering even strangers the friendliest of greetings on the street corner. 

5) Visitors also comment about American patriotism. And in the most positive terms! Of course, they are coming during our 250th anniversary, but they aren’t talking about the special events. They are commenting on how many homes have the American flag out front. And how even McDonalds will fly the flag in the parking lot – day after day, not just the 4th of July. And the consensus is that American patriotism is sincere, heartfelt, and natural.

It's been good for me to see this reaction from outsiders. In an era of intense political polarization, it's good to see that visitors recognize a positive core of unity.

And a country still worthy of admiration. 

FAILING TOWARD SUCCESS

I came across a story in Austin Kleon's book, Don't Call It Art, that is going to stick with me into the future.

(Maybe it will even motivate me to get going on a YouTube channel.)

The story concerns one Mr. Charles Jones who was a serial entrepreneur with a long record of failed business ventures. 

Each time he would launch a new business, his first step was to order high-quality stationery, pens, and pencils with the new company name.

And each time a company went under, this man would gather all these supplies, bring them home, and hand them over to his kids, begging the children to use them up as quickly as possible. He actually forbade them from using both sides of a sheet of the paper. 

Growing up in a household with plentiful art supplies, several of the children went on to careers in art, including a son, Charles Jr.

AKA "Chuck".

That would be Chuck Jones ... of Bugs Bunny fame. 

In one college art class, Jones had a professor who warned that the students each had 100,000 bad drawings in them that they needed to get out before they could produce anything of quality. Jones said he felt relief knowing that he was likely well past the 200,000 mark himself. 

I guess the takeaway is this: trying and failing leads to more trying and failing which is another way of saying "practice", which leads ... at least sometimes ... to insane success. 

QUESTIONING THE DIVINITY OF JESUS

Benjamin Franklin once wrote in a letter to Ezra Stiles, President of Yale University:

"As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see...

"But I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes, and I have, with most of the present dissenters in England, some doubts as to his divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble."

It is not surprising to see Franklin expressing doubt as to the divinity of Jesus. We know that orthodox Christianity was being questioned in his day and that the prevailing theology was Deist, with no room for the supernatural.

It is admirable to see his reluctance to "dogmatize upon" Jesus' divinity. How can he, he says, since he has never studied it in depth for himself? 

Such a level of epistemological humility is refreshing to see. And appropriate.

Franklin wrote this letter on March 9, 1790. And when he theorized that he would "soon" have the "opportunity of knowing the truth" about Jesus' exact nature "with less trouble" than extensive study, he was, of course, hinting at his own death.

And that "soon" proved a matter of weeks. Franklin passed on April 17th.

Now, I'm guessing that many modern American evangelicals would confidently predict Franklin's destination in the afterlife as being a place of punishment rather than reward - simply for questioning Jesus' divinity.

But that's because in this age we seem to believe that people are saved by proper doctrine. 

GOD IN PLAIN SIGHT

1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world. (Psalm 19:1-4)

Some people argue that God is too hidden from human senses to be real. Others - like the poet king David - maintain that we walk daily through God's handiwork.

In fact, we are so surrounded by miraculous beauty, that it has grown common to us. 

And thus, ironically, the wonder of God becomes invisible because it is so prevalent.

I was thinking the other evening as the sun was setting and the fireflies began to rise and hover around our backyard ... What if these bugs should happen to go extinct in the future. 

Would my grandchildren even believe me when I told them that once there were insects that emitted pulses of light for about an hour each summer evening's twilight? 

"We called them LIGHTNING bugs. Or FIREflies. The light was a bright fluorescent yellow. Kids would collect them in jars and watch them up close."

Bugs whose tails light up and shine in the darkness? 

I think it would be too fantastical to believe.

THE LORD WAITS

Isaiah 30:18 says: "The Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him."

Who is waiting for whom here? Both God and humans are depicted as "waiting".

You might be tempted to picture God as sitting on the sidelines waiting for you to finally get your act together.

But the sense of the word "wait" is closer to longing than merely passing time. (For both God and humans.)

So it's more like "the Lord longs to be gracious to you".

Think about that.

Many people carry around an image of God as distant, indifferent, perpetually disappointed, or barely tolerating them. Some imagine that God is looking for reasons to reject them.

I know that I've been there before. 

But Isaiah paints an entirely different picture.

God longs to be gracious.

He desires to show mercy.

He is for us, not against us.

He is not looking for an excuse to abandon His children.

He is looking for an opportunity to restore them.

STUBBORN CHILDREN OF A LOVING FATHER

Isaiah 30:1 says,

"Ah, stubborn children," declares the Lord, "who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin."

These words describe the starting point for every one of us.

We are all carrying out a plan for our lives. We have plans for our days, our careers, our relationships, our retirement, our future. The problem is not that we have a plan. The problem is that our plan is often not God's plan.

Isaiah says we also make alliances, but not with the Spirit. We place our trust in our own wisdom, the approval of others, the values of the world, and sometimes even the lies of the enemy.

The Hebrew imagery behind "making an alliance" literally refers to pouring out a drink offering to a deity. In other words, we are always giving our devotion to something. We are always trusting something. We are always worshiping something.

The question is: What are we pouring ourselves out for?

If it is anything other than God, the result is predictable. Isaiah says we "add sin to sin."

One bad decision leads to another. One compromise makes the next compromise easier. One lie requires another lie.

The mess accumulates.

It's a little like dirty dishes in the kitchen. One plate doesn't seem like a problem. Neither does the next one. But eventually the sink is overflowing, the counters are covered, and in time the mess can spread into every room of the house.

We become spiritual hoarders, surrounded by the consequences of choices we never intended to pile up so high.

But notice how God addresses His people:

"Ah, stubborn children."

There is frustration in those words, but there is also affection.

There is disappointment, but there is also relationship.

God doesn't call them failures. He doesn't call them lost causes. He doesn't call them enemies.

He calls them children.

That is important because many of us imagine that our failures have somehow severed our connection with God. We convince ourselves that He has finally had enough. That He's washed His hands of us. That He's turned His back.

But Isaiah presents a different picture.

A good father does not walk away from a disobedient child. He moves toward that child. He corrects. He teaches. He guides. He restores.

He doesn't abandon the relationship.

And our heavenly Father is better than the very best earthly father.

NOT TODAY

I have a fascination with watching YouTube videos about theology. 

Sometimes the hosts have years of study and expertise and sometimes the hosts are average believers who believe themselves to be experts. 

These days, about 10% of the time I am listening to learn something new. The other 90% is "hate listening" - where I am just critiquing the arguments, the biblical interpretations, and, most of all, the attitude.

From expert to amateur, there is little epistemological humility to be found on Christian YouTube. 

Almost EVERYONE is certain their doctrine is right and that the other side, if not outright heretical, is chock full of people who are profoundly blind to "what the Bible CLEARLY teaches". 

And the commenters seem to eat up the confidence of the hosts. 

But even the Apostle Paul - the author of 13 out of the 27 New Testament books, and expert of experts - wrote that we "see through a glass dimly" and "know in PART" on this side of the afterlife. 

Yes, he included himself in that statement.

We could use more of that sort of humility in our discussions of doctrine and theology today.  

Some day we will see clearly and know in full with 100% confidence.

But not today.

HOW LONG IS ENOUGH?

One of my questions for Free Grace people - and anyone else firmly in the "once saved, always saved" camp - is this: How LONG does a person need to experience "faith" in order to get their irrevocable ticket to heaven stamped?

As soon as you claim that faith instantly guarantees a person eternal life from that moment it is expressed, you are implying that faith can be genuinely salvific even if it proves to be a passing thing.

So what is the minimum amount of time a person would need to "believe in Jesus"? 

A day? An hour? A minute?

Does it just need to be long enough to walk the aisle at church, kneel at the altar and have a deacon pray over you? 

Why does the Apostle Paul talk about being "IN THE FAITH"? 

2 Cor 13:5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

When we talk about salvation by faith alone, are we picturing "faith" as being possibly short-lived or necessarily continuous?

More importantly, how does Scripture envision saving faith?

IT'S ALL ABOUT RENEWAL

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 

This verse is foundational to my way of thinking about faith and to my way of preaching.

My working assumption is that most every believer desires a stronger faith, a closer walk with God. 

We read about miracles - of olden times and in our own age - and we long to see God at work in our own lives in a dramatic, undeniable way. We look at the Scriptural heroes of the faith or modern saints and we feel inadequate, well aware that we are not living up to our potential. We battle the same sins over and over and it leaves us questioning whether our faith is real or even whether God is real. We pray and pray and pray for the healing of our own body or for a loved one, and nothing happens. 

And all of that can lead to one of three outcomes.

Either we end up deconstructing our faith and walking away. We are saturated in the world's way of thinking - and the world says there is no God - so we stop fighting the world and just give in and go along.

Or we get stuck in Peter's position - unable to walk away from Jesus and the church because we know there is SOMETHING there ("You have the words of life!" John 6:68) but then we simply continue uncomfortably in the status quo. Perhaps for a lifetime.

OR we go on a quest to really nail down what faith is about. To explore it to its depths. To get our own hearts and minds in alignment with God's word and His will. 

But this doesn't come by learning some new Bible study technique or starting a new prayer habit or attending church regularly. 

At least those sorts of things are not the starting point.

Paul says the starting point is your mind: how you conceive reality. 

He says the question is this: Is your mind shaped according to the world - with all its various philosophies, assumptions, traditions, and conventional wisdom? 

Or is your mind being shaped and renewed in accordance with the Word of God?

So here is the scary truth, then:

A person could miss out on the fullness of life that Jesus promised (John 10:10) because their thinking is off. Their imagination has not been renewed. 

Human transformation is God's goal. Renewal is the path.

IS GOD NOT INTERESTED IN MAKING BAD MEN GOOD?

Earlier today, I came across this quote from Leonard Ravenhill:

“Jesus did not come into the world to make bad men good. He came into the world to make dead men live!”

I don't know what to make of it. Can't both be true?

What exactly is wrong with the idea that God is interested in making bad people into good people? Especially when we consider that Jesus implied that one can only be truly good by being like God.

Is it not God's goal that we become good? That we become like Him?

It seems to me that a homeowner's process of demolition followed by a remodel would be a fitting metaphor for God's desire for humanity.

A general breaking down followed by rebuilding is seen all over the Bible:

• Baptism of Repentance followed by Baptism of the Holy Spirit
• Justification followed by Sanctification
• Forgiveness followed by living as the Image of God
• Cleaned Up followed by Faithful
• Old Ways Gone followed by New Life Begun
• Believe followed by Confess
• Death followed by Resurrection
• Grafted In followed by Producing Fruit
• Remove Heart of Stone followed by Giving a Heart of Flesh

It seems like "bad men becoming good" is God's general goal.

And "dead men becoming alive" is just one metaphor of the larger goal. 

RIGHT MEANS, WRONG END

In typical American Christianity, a person's forgiveness by God is seen as a means to an end.

And the end is his or her eternity in heaven. 

It's simple. 

Now, I would agree that God's forgiveness should be understood as a means, but time and again, the Scriptures make it clear that the end He has in mind is our righteousness.

We were created to function as God's image here on earth and I don't see anything in Scripture to indicate that He scrapped that original plan when humans through the sin wrench into he works.

It only meant that we all had to take the long way around.

For example, it's right there in one of the most famous Old Testament prophecies of a coming time when God's Spirit would dwell in God's people. Take a look at what is bookended by talk about getting people cleaned up in Ezekiel 36:

24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. 

FAITH ALONE?

I continue to debate with my friend about Free Grace Theology - the extreme version of "once saved, always saved" which maintains that faith is mere mental assent to the proposition that Jesus died for your sins. And once that is established, you have a salvation that can never be taken away from you. Even if you spend the rest of your earthly life living like the devil, heaven is guaranteed by your single profession of faith. 

From what I can gather, one of the central tenets of Free Grace is a firm, clearcut distinction between justification and sanctification.

Justification, of course, comes first and is based on faith alone. It is your ticket to eternal life. "Just believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved."

Sanctification is a completely separate process where the believer now moves toward Christlikeness.

At least, preferably.

Not NECESSARILY, just preferably.

And if you think of it, if you believe in "once saved, always saved", sanctification can't be a requirement for a believer's salvation because sanctification in an ongoing process which obviously involves "works".

And works cannot be a part of salvation. 

Right? 

"We are saved by faith and not by works." Isn't this what we Protestants are taught?

But while Protestants are big on salvation by "faith alone", you know what is funny?

There is only ONE time in the entire Bible where you find the phrase "faith alone".

It is in James 2:24:

"You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone."

Hmmmm. 

That's a bit problematic, isn't it?

[To be clear, I'm not implying Catholics are necessarily on the right path with their doctrines. I think both sides tend to make a lot of assumptions about the core of Christian faith and those assumptions are based on the accumulation of centuries of reactionary theology which has been alternatively skewed and then recovered.]

5 DAYS ON SARDINES

It's Saturday, June 6, 2026.

I didn't write my sardine wrap up yesterday because I went to pick up Melissa at the airport at 11:30 pm instead. Can't do it all!

Here's the recap of my weight loss over 5 days of eating only sardines:

Beginning weight: 200

After 1 Day: 197

After 2 Days: 192.4

After 3 Days: 192

After 4 Days: 191.8

After 5 Days: 191.6

Obviously, my weight loss plateaued after a few days. And I'm honestly not sure what this means. 

I was definitely in a calorie deficit every day. A can of sardines has about 170 calories and I was eating 5 each day. That's only 850 calories. 

Day 5 was the roughest of the week. I got some weird hunger aches in the afternoon, but I just wasn't in the mood to crack open a tin. I guess my brain decided the hunger was more tolerable than another fish!

I was hoping to experience the rise in metabolism and clarity of thinking that some people report on a sardine fast. MAYBE I had a bit more energy and MAYBE my brain fog lifted a bit, but it's hard to tell because I just don't sleep all that well when Melissa is not here in the house. And when I don't sleep well, I lack energy and clarity. So, with one too many variables, it's hard to say anything definitive on that front.

All in all, I would do it again. In fact, I am tempted to do it again to see if my initial weight drops are comparable or if this week was a fluke.

But not anytime soon.