How are Pharisees at making adjustments? Typically, Pharisees, the ones with the most hard-shelled spirituality are not very willing to modify their ideas on the fly. They tend to be more brittle than flexible in their faith. This inflexibility has a name. It’s uh, umm… oh yeah; it’s called “Religion!” And since the Pharisees are …
Making Adjustments (part two)
Some friends of mine who’ve made adjustments… And then there are the colossal unforeseen circumstances that require much larger adjustments: the death of a family member or friend, divorce, health crises, loss of career. I have two widow friends who lost their husbands at about the same time a few years back. One has wrapped …
Making Adjustments (part one)
I’m not usually nostalgic about my birthday. But the other day I was in my car the day before the milestone of my fifty-eighth, and on the radio came the Beatles song: “When I’m Sixty-four.” You know the one… When I get older, losing my hair, Many years from now, Will you still be sending …
Avoiding the “Mediocre Middle” (Part 3)
In Parts 1 & 2 I’ve been talking about the “suffer-well” versus the “get-well” options for the Jesus follower who is going through difficult times. The conundrum is – am I supposed to endure this pain or escape it? It’s near blasphemy to some people to think that God would purposely leave any of his …
Avoiding the “Mediocre Middle” (Part 2)
In Part 1 I talked about the tension between having faith to “suffer well” and faith to “get well.” Sometimes God has his reasons for miraculously making us well and at other times he gives us the strength to suffer well. The same God who said to Moses, “I am the Lord who heals you,” …
barney wiget 