On Watch,

Getting Us To Plant and Build

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Goodness in Our Time

Join the Circle

…

of Life.

Jeremiah 31:28

And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord.

Titus 2:11-12

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly.

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

It’s easy to think the world is lost.

The present times of turmoil and uncertainty do not promise a better future, if a future at all, for us.

With whatever time we have,

God gives us the gifts of the Holy Spirit

to leave behind impiety and worldly passions (like the economy’s foundation of greed)

so that we can reflect

the goodness God has made us capable of embodying

to other people,

Making these days, short as they always are for each of us,

the best days of life on earth,

ours.

Come Builders All

Builders of All Kinds

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

There’s a Temple to Build!

Not Something Ugly or Deadly or Destructive to Earth Itself!

Build Something Worth the Goodness of God!

It is your body,

your life,

a gift from God!

Zechariah 6:15

Those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the Lord; and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Revelation 15:4

Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed.

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

Young folks

Old folks

Everybody Come

Join the On-line Sunday School and

have a lot of fun.

Please check your chewing gum and razors

(and guns and knives – gotta include that nowadays)

at the door

and you’ll hear some Bible Stories like you never heard before!

…

Come and build! All you builders!

…

For the earth was made in six days and finished on the seventh.

According to the contract, it should have been the eleventh.

But the painters wouldn’t paint and the workers wouldn’t work.

So the quickest thing to do was to fill it up with dirt.

…

there’s lots of building left for us to do,

in each generation

in each time and place,

building God’s temple here on earth,

starting with your body, your life.

…

Everyone’s a builder of this temple.

Make it a good one, a worthy one, a vibrant one

that reflects the goodness God poured into you at birth,

the gifts the Holy Spirit dumped on you at your baptism,

and the cost Jesus paid to get you in the door of God’s steadfast love, grace, and …

well, and everything good!

…

Come, one and all, start this day

no matter what yesterday or yesteryear was and where it landed you and your body and your life,

start building a temple for God.

…

your neighbour needs you

more than you’ll ever know!

Could God

Do Great Wonders

Saturday, June 21, 2025

Here, Now, For Us, For You?

Healing With Fire,

Powerful Fire

Consuming the Chaff.

Psalm 136:3-4

O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Acts of the Apostles 8:6-8

The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did, for unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, came out of many who were possessed; and many others who were paralyzed or lame were cured. So there was great joy in that city.

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

The greatest wonder of all is that God actually loves us sinful humans!

Accounts of preachers bringing hearts and minds to realize God is not only to be feared but to be loved, in return for God’s steadfast, unending love for us all.

Accounts of illnesses being cured, illnesses that no one thought could be cured.

Accounts of God’s love enduring through people’s darkest times.

Accounts of people responding to God’s Wonders with great joy, spreading like wildfire – the only smoke being from the incense burned in ceremonies of thanks.

Account of …

Well they are account of God curing other people.

How about you! Will God cure you?

Will God ever get around to curing you of a disease that destroys people around you, a disease that is hidden in plain view, a disease that no one thinks can be cured, for you play it to your advantage while it consumes life around you?

Will God?

Yes, God will, whenever we allow God to turn our hearts and minds inside out. Whenever we surrender our lives to be as God created us to be: loving sacrifices, conduits of God’s love for all people. Whenever …

Whenever the Holy Spirit enters our lives and we do not refuse all that the Holy Spirit has to offer.

Whenever.

And then there will be great joy. In the city. In the deserts. In the bush. In the mountains. On the lakes and oceans. There will be great joy across the face of the earth.

Whenever, though, can take more than a lifetime,

which is sad,

no an occasion for joy at all.

Giving God Praise

Along With All Creation

Thursday, May 22, 2025

At the break of dawn, to the setting of the sun,

And even all through the night of doubt and sorrow.

Psalm 74:21 (see also Psalm 67)

Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame; let the poor and needy praise your name.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy. (Ps. 67:4)

Matthew 15:25-28

But the Canaanite woman came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

The challenges – all those under a deadline – and all besides the immediate ones to be dealt with – the challenges keep me awake, wondering how to improve the poor results methods I’ve used when I have barely anymore resources or smarts on how to meet the challenges.

And then the morning fire started,

I stood, peering, turning, overwhelmed by the music, wondering …

the geese squawked in a line, not a ‘V’ high overhead, passing in and out of the clouds covering the whole sky, calming the light …

cattle mooed insistently off down and beyond the shores adding a cacophony to the

song birds chirping, singing, swaying the air …

as loons called disturbed by something or was it just they were waking to a new day?

Wondering what great praise the music brings to the Creator, Saviour, Sustainer, 3 in 1.

The light, calm, grey, settled over the fog covered green, green grass in the lower north meadow

giving the orchestra an album cover …

before I decided the fire was probably well started, the ash door could be closed, and I could go in and take the morning medication and crawl back into bed, an opposite standing encore, laying down and letting the music of praise go on and on

and

on.

Healing the music brings, flowing freely, gently over all that is, was, and will be.

So it’s a reset to stand and wonder how

God brings all that music together as the dawn breaks

at 4:40 am.

…

And how is your morning, your day, and your night going?

Singing With Cause

For God is Good

Thursday, April 24, 2025

to each of us in God’s own way.

sometimes it’s hard to see

Psalm 13:6

I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Mark 7:37

They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

Jesus walks from village to village with his disciples following along. Dusty roads. Wise sayings and guidance, and challenges to the powers that were. And miracles healing the incurable. And giving renewed life to the worst sinners (or were they the best sinners? That always catches me.)

As we realize that, though Jesus is not healing us of our incurable diseases as record numbers of people die from disease (mostly because there are more people than ever trying to live on earth,) – though Jesus may not be healing us of diseases, Jesus is freeing us from our sins and sending us out with purpose: to provide all people with the food of life, and the living water.

For that we can sing God’s praises, each day and each night.

Pick a melody, the hills and the planets provide the harmony.

Cheating Others?

Fear God and Stop

Sunday, April 13, 2025

Fear God Almighty Already –

Stop so that you may live!

For the love of God,

Leave Wilful Evil Behind

and Find Joy

IN Life Abundant.

Leviticus 25:17

You shall not cheat one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God.

Philippians 2:5

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus….

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

Let

not achieve or make yourself or strive,

just let

let the Holy Spirit put in you

the same mind that was and is in Jesus the Christ!

…

What is that?

Jesus taught, healed, sacrificed, served the poor, welcomed everyone, and died to save us all.

Can you do that?

Can anyone of us do that?

Not on our own, for sure!

But cheating others,

I mean

taking life from others with deceptions and lies and all that.

Come on, you think that gives you anything worthwhile? Really?

It just sucks the life right out of you, even as you continue to walk and work and futilely strive to live well.

The fear of God ought to have kept you from that path long ago.

But it hasn’t, has it?

So fear of God does not help you.

Perhaps you ought to surrender to God’s love for you.

God intends that you live as Jesus did.

Now that’s living!

Try surrendering to the Holy Spirit working in you,

repenting, making amends, working to give to others,

starting today!

Why not?

You’ve nothing to lose, except what God has given you exactly for this purpose, to imitate Jesus.

God waits, always with steadfast love and grace.

Not Found

Zeroed out.

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Goners

Smoke steals air

on our way to

zeroing ourselves out of life.

Jeremiah 50:20

In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and none shall be found; for I will pardon the remnant that I have spared.

1 Peter 2:24

He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

The order was given

by the devil’s generals

to zero us all out.

Out of shelter, clothing, food, water, even air.

Out of energy, movement, thought.

Out of time, out of hope, out of love.

…

Instead God came to zero out our sins

so that we might live free from the incapacitating chains of fear

so that we might live ready and able to give life to others

so that we might be filled with hope and love for all people.

An impossible journey made possible by the only one who made the journey to death and hell to pay for our sins of helping the generals of the devil zero out other people.

So we step forward, against all expectations

into the light of humble penance,

and hope for love that

can transform us

and

the world.

Delights Abused

Always Cost Us Life Abundant

Monday 24 February 2025

Beauty and Delight,

Or Chemical Escape

As Deadly As Lies

That Kill In So Many Ways?

Amos 6:4a, 6

Alas for those who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!

Ephesians 5:18

Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit

…

Words of Grace For Today

…

God has given us many ways to enjoy life on earth, only one of them is alcohol.

When we use what God has given for enjoyment as a way to dull our way through life, in order to deal with the pain life can be, we suffer.

Some suffer alcoholism, a disease of addiction that always beckons as an escape, an escape that always ends in death, unless one continually recovers, finding the goodness of life, starting always with honesty with oneself.

Other prices are many all the ways we take God’s delights, and turning them into escapes from honesty, from reality, from the suffering of life (ours and others.)

Honesty.

It’s hard.

But it is so much easier in the long term.

…

For God intends for us to find delight in life, even as we remain sinners, causing pain for ourselves and others.

For God intends for us to pursue justice for all, and to share all that we receive as gifts from God, so that more and more people can find delights in life.

Uncovered Through and Through

By The Sharpest Scalpel!

Tuesday 4 February 2025

An Oil Lease, Cut Through the Woods, Reclaimed, Growing Free Again.

Like Us.

Jeremiah 23:29

Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Hebrews 4:12

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

…

Words of Grace For Today

…

Cut to the quick of life, by God’s truth.

Unable to hide in half-truths or full out lies.

Exposed for what we are by what we think and secretly dream of.

The chaff of uselessness burned away quicker than a fleeting thought.

Judged.

…

What else can we expect from God’s Word?

…

Until the story of Jesus living, loving, dying, rising, forgiving us, renewing us … and walking with us through every day … holds our hopes up to the Light,

and pulls us, blessed, into another day

come what may

joyous

thankful

for it all

from God’s good hand.

Rescue

From Shame

Sunday, August 25, 2024

So Wondrous The Forests, Until We Chop Them All Down

Psalm 118:21

I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.

1 Timothy 2:3-4

This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

…

Words of Grace For Today

…

The alarm clock rang, louder than ever, setting off the pounding in his head.

He sat up and nearly vomited all over … a sleeping bag in a tent. Where was he anyway?

He lay back down as his partner turned off his alarm, pulled himself out of the shared sleeping bag, dressed, and disappeared out the tent flap, making noises of getting some breakfast, and then driving away to work, but

he stopped,

by the tree they had felled the night before, and left the top leafy branches across the roadway out

and an old man voice started to reprimand him for the tree felled on private land, the mess of the campfire that looked like a singed garbage can, and the mess all around their campsite.

His partner finally told the old man he had to get going, that he should talk to the ‘other guy’.

So it was his turn, same things, same shame, same weak excuse that the ‘Private’ sign was not at the actual boundary of public-private land. But then it was illegal to down a living tree on this public land. Elsewhere one could get a permit. Not here.

Shame filled over shame and his head throbbed with the loud pain of …

Well the hangover from their loud party into the early hours.

…

And God desires all people to come to know the truth, to repent, and to follow Jesus, the Way of Grace and Truth …

Really even these pathetic excuses for young humans? Where has the promise of youth disappeared? Was it always so hard to find?

And God desires all people to come to know the truth, to repent, and to follow Jesus, the Way of Grace and Truth …

even these and many like them who put reason to shame.

Even those who would judge them, for the judgment is just as valid applied to the one judging.

God have mercy on us all!