Encouraging Deep Roots

I had anticipated the beginning of last week with high hopes. My new book, Fostering a Positive Ministry Environment, had been accepted into a bundle and was heavily marketed to a wider audience than I have. I was excited about it and spent weeks getting it ready to release. The time arrived and I pictured lots of social media sharing and while the e-book was offered for free for the three days of the bundle, I also had a paperback available on Amazon. Last Monday I awoke with anticipatory glee! After a week and a half I can safely say that the response from that bundle was just "meh". It really didn't produce much of anything and I was deflated.  The other downside to being part of this bundle was that I had to heavily do self-promotion which I absolutely hate. It's uncomfortable for me and I would rather have others just kindly share for me rather than me having to do it myself.   It is a new week and with some reflection, I realize that some good has come from it.....

  Another Easter has come and gone and as I sit and reflect this morning I am happy because it really was a good day.  My sons went and picked up my father-in-law and brought him to church. Normally, I'm doing multiple things on a Sunday morning, but I didn't schedule anything and deliberately chose to sit and enjoy the service.  We had dinner together and then played a game and chatted. I kept dinner simple which made prep and clean-up easy.  After Dan left to take my father-in-law home, I was even able to get out for a walk. My daughter called me and I chatted with my sister by text. Overall, it was a fairly uneventful, but wonderful day.  I'm having lunch with someone today, but other than that, nothing else is on my schedule. Since the rest of the week is going to be very busy, I'm looking forward to a day of puttering around my house and doing my best to ignore my email which never goes away! Even yesterday, on Easter, I received emails asking que...

CUP OF SURRENDER Scripture Reading: Luke 22:39-44 ~ He went out and made His way as usual to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed Him. When He reached the place, He told them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Then He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and began to pray, “Father, if You are willing, take this cup away from Me—nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.” Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. Being in anguish, He prayed more fervently, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.  Reflection: “Lord, I don’t want to do this.”  “This is too hard.”  “I cannot do what you are asking.”  “Take this cup away from me.” Jesus, in his humanity, had no desire to die.  He was sorrowful and anxious.  He wanted God to take it all away. Yet, he spoke the words, “Not my will, but yours.” Jesus is at a crossroads. Will He complete the plan laid out for Him or will He reje...

 PRAY AGAINST THE TEMPTATION OF SELF-RELIANCE Scripture Reading: Luke 22:39-42 ~  He went out and made His way as usual to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed Him. When He reached the place, He told them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”  Reflection: Jesus leads the disciples into the garden where he tells them to pray that they won’t enter temptation. He knew they were about to face the most difficult situation of their lives and wanted them to remain alert. He exhorted his disciples to pray because He knew what was coming and the temptation to give in to fear and anxiety. He wanted them to pray so that in their time of their greatest need they would stay strong and not desert the one they vowed to follow.  And yet, they couldn’t even stay awake to pray. Different passages say their grief overwhelmed them. They were so fixated on their emotions they couldn’t pray. And because of that, the moment the mob showed up to arrest Jesus, they ran a...

Scripture Reading: Matthew 26:36-45 ~ Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eye...

Scripture Reading: John 18:1 ~  After Jesus had said these things, He went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, and He and His disciples went into it. Psalm 23:4 ~  Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff – they comfort me. Reflection: The Kidron Valley is a place just outside of Jerusalem, in between the city and the Mount of Olives. The name Kidron is either a reference to the “darkness” or “murkiness” of the water that periodically flows in that place or to the cedars that grow in that area. But it is also a place that is associated with sorrow, judgment, and death in the Bible. The Kidron Valley was a place where King Josiah, King Asa and King Hezekiah all disposed of idols that the people were worshiping (1 Kings 15, 2 Kings 23, and 2 Chronicles 29 and 30). The idols were burned in the fields of the Kidron Valley. When David fled Jerusalem during Absalom’s rebellion, he...