I also remember how we as a nation rallied and came together on September 12, 2001. I remember we were more unified in spirit and in purpose on that day than we had been in a long time previously, and definitely more than we have ever been since. To be sure, some of the patriotism turned into bigotry and hatred against anyone who even looked like they were Middle Eastern or of Arabian descent, but most of us knew who the real enemy was, and that they didn’t represent Arabs or the majority of Muslims.

That was also the time when many people flocked into churches, seeking answers and hope. Many of those people hadn’t been inside a church building in a while– some had never darkened the door of a sanctuary. Hopefully, they heard that God wasn’t taken by surprise by this latest act of terrorism. They heard that God wept with those who were grieving, but also He wasn’t just an empathizing God. He actually had the power to do something about this atrocity and work to turn even this evil for good.

I still choose to believe that God is good. Even in the midst of this beautiful but broken world, God is still working His purposes. Evil never has nor will it ever have the last word. One day, God will prevail and make all things right and restore all that has been stolen and lost and destroyed by evil. God will have the last word and hope will at last prevail.

“In prayer we go to our enemies, to stand at their side. We are with them, near them, for them before God. Jesus does not promise us that the enemy we love, we bless, to whom we do good, will not abuse and persecute us. They will do so. But even in doing so, they cannot harm and conquer us if we take this last step to them in intercessory prayer. Now we are taking up their neediness and poverty, their being guilty and lost, and interceding for them before God. We are doing for them in vicarious representative action what they cannot do for themselves. Every insult from our enemy will only bind us closer to God and to our enemy. Every persecution can only serve to bring the enemy closer to reconciliation with God, to make love more unconquerable.How does love become unconquerable? By never asking what the enemy is doing to it, and only asking what Jesus has done. Loving one’s enemies leads disciples to the way of the cross and into communion with the crucified one” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

Lately, it seems that there’s a pandemic of rage. People are angry all the time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been tailgated in the past few days or how many hyper-aggressive drivers I’ve seen do stupid stuff to shave a few seconds off their commutes. You only need to spend a little time on social media to realize how little it takes to get people arguing and name-calling over trivial matters, much less the important topics of our day.

It can be very tempting to fight anger with anger, hate with hate. But that’s not the way of the Messiah. He said you answer anger with kindness and hate with love. The best way is through intercessory prayer. It brings us closer to the Jesus who prayed for His enemies while they were in the very act of crucifying Him.

Never before has there been so much divisiveness and so many issues that seem to create and us versus them atmosphere. The world will tell you to slander and shame those on the other side, but Jesus says to love them and pray for them. He says to be kind to them even when they are spiteful in return. This is not just what Jesus taught; this is how Jesus lived. And if the Spirit of Jesus is in us, this is how we can live as well.

I don’t know if that’s a prairie dog or not, but I feel its pain. I, too, am ready to see hot sweaty weather go away for a while. I actually don’t mind summer. I don’t mind hot weather — if it’s a dry heat. What I despise is sticky hot weather that turns me into a smelly sweaty mess.

According to the calendar, there are 13 days left until fall begins. Us folks in Tennessee know that real fall doesn’t start until mid-October at the earliest. Still, it’s nice to have a few sneak preview days that remind me what I love about fall weather, even if its just a tease.

In the mean time, I say bring on Friday!

“So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.” (Colossians 3:12-14, The Message).

I read something today that was a good reminder — no one was ever argued into a change of heart. Also, it’s not your job to monitor everyone else’s behavior and keep them in line. What God calls us to more than anything else is to be experts at showing grace.

The ultimate display of grace came from Jesus throughout the course of His entire life, but especially on the cross when He was dying for His enemies, forgiving the ones who murdered Him, and making a way for us to know and love the very God we’d rejected.

We’re most like Jesus when we choose to forgive. We’re most like Jesus when we respond to angry words with kindness instead of reacting with more angry words. We’re most like Jesus when we point people to God and show them a better way to live. And how cool is it that Jesus could point to God by pointing to Himself?

I 100% endorse this message. If I could skip mornings and still manage to have a full day, then I completely would. Thankfully, there’s coffee and memes like this one to help me cope with the inhumanity of early mornings.

Plus, who doesn’t like a sleeping Baby Yoda?

This is a fairly good visual representation of what my prayers look like a lot of the time. I’m super thankful for a God who hears and answers groans and sighs too deep for words.

It’s September. The first couple of days have been a bit milder and less humid. So, you ask, what difference does it being September make?

If you live in Tennessee, not much. Almost none. After this brief respite from the heat passes, it will go back to being hot and humid. Even September 22, the official first day of fall, will probably feel like a typical summer day around here.

So what’s the big deal with September?

To me, it’s the gateway month. September may still feel like summer and actually be mostly summer, but that little change in the calendar means that fall is getting closer. And I don’t mean the arrival of pumpkin spice everything. I mean actual fall with actual fall temperatures — the kind that go with sweaters, jackets, and flannel.

There’s something phycological about September versus August in terms of weather. I can truly start counting down the days and getting out my fall wardrobe (which consists mainly of flannel shirts). It means less Hawaiian shirts for a while.

It means my favorite time of year is almost here.

William Booth, who was the founder of the Salvation Army in 1865. He died in 1912, which makes the above quote over 100 years old. It’s also frighteningly accurate and prophetic. Too many so called “churches are no different than the culture that they’re supposed to be influencing and transforming. Instead, they’ve conformed to this world, adopting the same ideologies and beliefs and throwing away the tried and true doctrines of the faith that were the only hope they had to offer.

Lord, help us.

After the week I’ve had, I’m ready for some R & R. I mean I want to move just enough so that no one things I’m dead.

I’m not saying or implying that I had a bad week. It was a good one. It just felt longer than normal. I was more than ready for 4:30 when it finally arrived.

So my plan is to lie on the floor. Or possibly on the couch. The whole petting me and bringing me snacks part is optional, although I do like some snacks.

What if we really took what Jesus said seriously? What if we actually committed our selves to obeying what He told us to do? What if we stopped using the Bible as a collection of proof texts to support our own political and social and spiritual ideas and actually read it and did what it said?

What if we stripped back worship services from smoke-and-lights concert experience back to gathering together in order to love God, each other, and our neighbors? I think David Platt is the one who said that if we took away all the comfortable chairs, the glitzy production, the lighting, the air conditioning, and the state of the art buildings, would the proclamation of the word of God and the glorifying of Jesus be enough?

I don’t believe that Jesus called us to be relevant and trendy as much as He called us to be faithful and obedient. We don’t change what we believe to fit in with an ever-evolving society. We don’t compromise away core convictions and values for the sake of conforming to culture, thus throwing away the very hope we have to offer a world in desperate need of saving grace. In Paul’s words, we preach Jesus crucified, buried, and raised again. We preach that all have sinned but that God so loved the world that He gave Jesus, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. And if we don’t, maybe we need to start calling ourselves by other names than Christians and the Church.