Whispers of Truth

Psalm 31:1-6 in The Message  reads like this: "I run to you, God; I run for dear life. Don't let me down! Take me seriously this time! Get down on my level and listen, and please--no procrastination! Your granite cave a hiding place, your high cliff a place of safety. You're my cave to hide in, my cliff to climb. Be my safe leader, be my true mountain guide. Free me from hidden traps; I want to hide in you. I've put my life in your hands. You won't drop me, you'll never let me down. I hate all this silly religion, but you, God, I trust." That's how I feel today. Actually, that's how I feel a lot of days. I need a safe cave protected by a great God to climb into. Often, I walk into hidden traps--I really want to act in a way pleasing to Him, but I fall so abysmally short and feel woefully inadequate. It is very easy to play "church," but it is very difficult to live like a "little Christ." The older I get, the more I truly unde...

Early Friday morning, a young man by the name of Kevin Teague came to the school where I teach to speak to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes or FCA as the club is known. Kevin, who is 22 years old, suffers from cerebral palsy, yet he came to encourage others to trust God and not to quit when things are hard. His mom had to help him with his speech because he has limited control of his movements and is confined to a wheelchair.  As he spoke, it made me think of how many times I grumble and complain about very minor things, which God hates. I don't stop enough to think how much he despises this in me. These things laid the Hebrew people low in the desert. It cost them an entire generation. Philippians 2:14-15 remind us to do everything without grumbling or complaining. I like the way the message puts it: "Do everything readily and cheerfully--no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted societ...