I discovered something recently that potentially could change my world for the better. Or just make it more enjoyable and fun.

I discovered an online radio station that plays classic Christian rock music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. It’s like my own personal Delorean revved up to 88 miles per hour and taking me back in time

Hearing some of the old classics brings back a lot of memories. There’s also a lot that I either didn’t remember or had apparently never heard the first time around.

The best part is that they’re not like most current radio stations that have a playlist of 20 songs that endlessly repeat day after day. I may be getting old, but I think the music really was better back in the day.

As usual, I’ve provided a link if you want to check it out for yourselves. You don’t have to be a geezer to appreciate these tunes. You just have to love great music.

http://player.radiocoalition.org/classicchristianrock?l

I know you’re not actually leaving Kairos for another three or so weeks, but I wanted to express my gratitude before then. I wanted to say thank you for leading Kairos so well for these past five years.

I honestly didn’t think anyone could take Mike Glenn’s place after he announced he was stepping down from the role of Kairos pastor. I didn’t really believe he would ever leave Kairos until he actually did and passed the mantle to you.

I didn’t like your long beard at first, but it grew on me [required bad dad joke]. I wasn’t sure what to make of you at first, but you grew on me.

I really like how you brought back a sense of liturgy to the worship. I love how honest and real you were, making it feel like it was okay to own my brokenness and still know that God loves me as I am and not as I should be. I love your passion and commitment to honoring and teaching God’s word, not shying away from the hard parts.

I’ve come to the place where I can’t imagine a Kairos without you. Still, I know that God already has someone picked out who will both honor the legacy of Kairos while leading it into a brave new future. I also know God will lead you into a place that is both terrifying and beautiful where God will continue to bless and touch lives through you.

I’m already praying God’s anointing and protection over you. I’m praying wisdom and discernment over you. I’m praying for a perfect love that will cast out all fear from you. I’m praying for blessing for both you and Audrey and your children that you will continue to grow in grace and truth as you grow closer to Jesus and to each other.

Thank you for your faithfulness for five years. We who have come to know you and to sit under your teaching and to share your heart for God will rise up and call you blessed for how you have blessed us all.

Today’s sermon from The Church at Avenue South was about the rich young ruler who chose his riches over Jesus. More accurately, he chose to put his trust in himself, i.e. his control over his finances and his morality, rather than in the person and work of Jesus.

Riches in and of themselves aren’t good or bad. They can be used for great good or enormous evil. It’s not money that is the root of all evil; it is the love of money.

The rich young ruler started off by asking the wrong question: “What must I DO to inherit eternal life?”

Apparently, he missed where Jesus said that if you want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, you must receive it as a little child. Or perhaps his religion of righteousness through outward improvements and better morals didn’t allow for such a thing as saved by grace through faith.

If the the young man could have done anything to gain eternal life, there would have been no need for Jesus. There would have been no need for an incarnation, much less a crucifixion. The fact that Jesus was available to answer the man’s question showed that it had no merit.

Jesus’ answer wasn’t that voluntary poverty was the way to salvation. The key was surrender. The man had to surrender his trust in his riches, his man-made empire of wealth that he trusted in above all else, to follow the Rabbi. Jesus would have no other gods before Him.

The rich young ruler went away sad because he’d rather have gold than God, silver than a Savior. The disciples, while they certainly didn’t understand a lot of what Jesus said and did, still chose to trust what they knew and keep following. That’s the difference.

So apparently we’re losing an hour tonight. Whenever I lose sleep, it’s a big deal. I’m not ready for this.

Why do we still even have daylight savings time? I know back in the day it was helpful to farmers and such to have more hours of daylight for working. But these days we have devices that allow us to work past sunset.

My life won’t come to a screeching halt if we still have daylight savings next year. I’m just saying that it’s very annoying to have to mess with all my clocks twice a year. Can’t we just leave them alone? Can’t we just live and let live and keep that extra hour of sleep?

If you love and look forward to daylight savings, then God bless you. I won’t think any less of you for springing forward and falling back.

I just know that I will at some point tomorrow be in dire need of a nap.

That’s all.

I ran across something that I wrote 11 years ago. It’s always intriguing to read some of what I was thinking and feeling back then and how much I have changed since then (and yet how much I remain the same).

I don’t remember the circumstances behind what I wrote. I don’t remember much of anything about March 12, 2010. I may or may not have gone to work that day. It may or may not have been a good day. All I know is that what I wrote speaks to me and will hopefully speak to you.

Here’s a blast from the past:

When I am alone and nobody seems to care,
Lord, You know my name.
When I am ignored in a crowd,
Lord, You know my name.
When I am screaming inside with a smile on my face,
Lord, You know my name.
When I have one more step left in me before I quit,
Lord, You know my name.
When I have all that I want and am still empty,
Lord, You know my name.
When I forget You and walk away from Your promises,
Lord, You know my name.
When I am in heaven and see You waiting for me there,
Lord, You know my name.
For it is written in stone and on Your heart.

I love the part that says how we’re not called to be kind to people because they somehow have earned it or deserve it in any way, but because Jesus has been kind to us.

I think sometimes we forget that it took as much grace to save any of us as it took to save that death-row inmate or the hopelessly addicted junkie or that thief on the cross with his last minute plea. All of us who belong to Jesus are standing on level ground at the foot of the cross because we all equally still need Jesus to save us and keep us and sustain us through all the rest of our days.

So be kind. Remember the lovingkindness that was shown to you once when you least expected or deserved it. Remember that while you and I were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

We’re 3 days away from that special Saturday where we spring forward an hour. Well, technically, it’s Sunday at 2 am, but who really stays up that late just to set the clocks ahead? Not me.

We’re also 10 days away from the Spring Equinox and the official end of winter. What the heck? Or, as I heard in a sitcom, what the ham sandwich?

Where has the year gone already?

It seems like this time last year we were all awakening to the reality of a pandemic and all the restrictions that ensued. Now it seems like the pandemic is (hopefully) drawing to a close and those restrictions are being lifted.

I can’t keep up anymore. I barely know what day of the week it is, and that’s only because of my awesome Doug the Pug daily calendar that I keep at my desk at work. Sometimes, I look at my watch just so I know that it’s Wednesday, April 10.

Just kidding. I know it’s really March 10. But after I blink, it really will be April. What in the actual ham sandwich?

The only way I’ve found to keep the time from completely flying by is to enjoy the moments. Receive each moment as a gift from God (which is why it’s called the present) and try to be present in each and every moment.

Spring has warmer temperatures (yay) and pollen (boo). It has lots of sunshine (yay) and also plenty of rain (boo). At least I won’t have to scrape ice off my windshield anymore for a while (big yay).

So bring on Spring. I’m ready.

As you can tell, my lap was invaded by a small tortie with a peanut butter foot prominently displayed. That is how exciting my evening was.

Peanut kept me company while I finally got around to doing my taxes online for the wild and wacky year of 2020. I don’t know why I put it off for so long this time because it’s never really very complicated.

But it’s nice to have some feline company, no matter what the occasion. She’s never one to talk my head off or to be obnoxious. Mostly, she curls up in my lap and falls asleep.

I did have a lovely dinner with Mom at a very trendy West End restaurant called Kay Bob’s, paid for by a Living Social voucher that I got way back in 2020. I like that place, but I think it’s been 10 years since I was there last.

That wraps up my not overly exciting Tuesday evening. I’ll take non-eventful over stressful any day of the week. Including Tuesdays.

“The incarnation, from the manger to the cross, is the very opposite of our wishes. It defies our logic and exposes our self-righteousness and bankruptcy. It reveals how obsessed we are with ourselves. We know in our bones that our rightful end is hell, banishment from the Garden. But the good news is that this is precisely where God meets us. God dwells in the godforsaken places of our lives. His aim is to vanquish every hell, not by external force of will but from the inside out, through love” (Charles Moore, The God Who Descends).

I love that God meets me where I am, not where I should be at this point in my life. I also love that God knows me better than anyone, including me, and yet still chooses me and loves me and wants me. When I take the time to think about that, it blows my puny (in comparison to God) little mind.

The story of Easter is that God took our hell so that we could have His heaven. He took the death we deserved so that we could have the abundant life that only He can give.

I’m aware that Easter has been commercialized to the point that some Christians refer to that Sunday as Resurrection Sunday. I’m really okay with either name, as long as the focus is on the empty tomb and the risen Christ. The hope that we squandered is born anew in us.

If you are committed to following Jesus and not just being an admirer, people will misunderstand and malign you. They will persecute you and pester you. Be faithful any way.

It’s not about pleasing the world. It never was. They will only be satisfied with you denying Christ. If you gain the whole wide world and lose your very soul, what good is it?

Seek to honor and please Jesus, because in the final analysis, if you have Jesus and nothing else, you have everything. If you have everything else but Jesus, you have nothing.