That is the essence of the gospel. God became a man and lived a life of perfect obedience to God’s law that I could never hope to attain to. He took the death that I deserved because of my sins.

I’m thankful that God didn’t wait for me to figure out a way to get to Him, but instead came to me and found me and saved me.

It all boils down to the fact that salvation is from God and of God from start to finish. If I boast, it’s not because I was smart enough or clever enough or good enough but that God is able.

So I’m on another vacation, this time with my sister and her family. The destination for this vacation is Gatlinburg, a very familiar spot for me. My family and I have been going there for vacations since I was a wee little lad back in the 1800s.

Normally, I have a checklist of all the places and activities that I need to mark off to qualify the trip as a success. Pancake Pantry? Check. The Village? Check. Ober Gatlinburg? Check.

That is just a sampling of my checklist.

But this year I decided that I want to be with my family more than I want to check stuff off a list. I want to be in the moment and make as many memories as I can instead of merely visiting places.

Not that seeing a lot of different places is bad, but my expectations are different. I’m here to experience all that God has for me, hopefully without looking ahead to the next place or event or looking back to what I may or may not have missed.

So far, so good.

I’m not much for dancing with my two left feet, but i’d be down with this.

Sometimes, there needs to be a spontaneous break into song and dance, like one of those flash mob things. I could definitely use more of those in my life.

“His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all” (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit).

I visited the North Wind Manor today since I was off for vacation. It’s part of something called The Rabbit Room, a collective of artists who generously share a space for people to gather and drink coffee and sit and talk and dream and pray and write. There’s probably a lot more to it, but that’s what I’ve gathered so far.

My first impression when I arrived was that I want to live in a place like that one day. It seems like a kind of haven from the crazy world we live in where I can feel the stress melting away.

It reminded me of that line from The Hobbit about the house in Rivendell where the characters go when they’re in need of some rest and relaxation. It’s a house of healing for those who are weary in body and spirit and soul.

That’s the vibe I got from this place. It’s essentially sitting in the middle of a suburb in Antioch. It’s like you go down a short driveway and enter a whole other world, like stepping into the world of Middle Earth or Narnia.

I definitely need to go back sooner rather than later and maybe take a book to read while I’m sipping on my coffee.

For some random reason, I felt the urge to listen to some Billy Joel music while I was at work today. It started with the song Vienna from the album The Stranger and went from there. I found one song deeply moving.

I later learned that Billy Joel wrote this song to his then 7 year old daughter. It’s one of those rare songs where the lyrics and melody are perfect. If you have kids (or if you were a kid once and had good parents), you will appreciate this:

“Goodnight my angel, time to close your eyes
And save these questions for another day
I think I know what you’ve been asking me
I think you know what I’ve been trying to say
I promised I would never leave you
Then you should always know
Wherever you may go, no matter where you are
I never will be far away

Goodnight my angel, now it’s time to sleep
And still so many things I want to say
Remember all the songs you sang for me
When we went sailing on an emerald bay
And like a boat out on the ocean
I’m rocking you to sleep
The water’s dark and deep, inside this ancient heart
You’ll always be a part of me

Goodnight my angel, now it’s time to dream
And dream how wonderful your life will be
Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullaby
Then in your heart there will always be a part of me
Someday we’ll all be gone
But lullabies go on and on
They never die
That’s how you and I will be” (Billy Joel).

You’ve probably heard this before, but being called a sheep isn’t necessarily a compliment. It’s not because we are so cute and cuddly that we are called sheep. It’s not because we are so lovable.

Sheep are dumb. Sheep are helpless. Sheep need constant attention and care to avoid wandering off, falling into rivers and drowning, getting attacked by predators . . . the list goes on and on.

The point of the Bible calling us sheep isn’t that we’re so dumb, but rather that we have a loving Shepherd. One of the metaphors Jesus used most was calling Himself the Good Shepherd who loves His sheep. That’s us.

One of my favorite parables tells of how the Shepherd leaves the 99 and goes after the one who is lost. In my mind, I’m thinking that 99% is a really good retention rate. I’m willing to let that one go and write off the loss. But not Jesus.

Not only did He go after the one, but He laid down His life for the one. I do think that if there had been just one lost person in all of history, Jesus would have still gone to the cross for that one. He would have endured it all for the one.

When you feel helpless and dumb like one of those sheep, remember that Jesus left the 99 to find you. He left the 99 to find me. He didn’t stop until we were a part of the flock and with the Shepherd.

I also love how the mark of a true Shepherd is how the sheep know His voice and follow Him. That’s what happens when you’re the one who was lost and is now found. It’s what happens when you spend time with the Shepherd learning to recognize the cadences and patterns of His voice in reading the words that He left for us.

Jesus left the 99 for you and for me.

“So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, The Message).

The key to not giving up is to remember that what’s unseen is what matters, and what matters will last forever. All these hardships and struggles and suffering and pain have an expiration date. Some will end during your life time. Some will end when you die. But they all will end.

All that truly matters is eternal. Things like joy and hope and peace and love have no expiration date. When you hoped in Christ, those were yours forever. When you die, you take them with you.

All those things we obsess over will fade and decay. Things like money will rot and rust. Gold in heaven is what they use to pave the streets. The true currency of heaven is agape love.

So remember that when you’re tempted to quit. Everything you’re facing that brings you down and burdens you has already been overcome by the cross of Christ. The Bible calls them a light and momentary affliction compared to the eternal joy that’s coming. Without the perspective of eternity, those afflictions seem impossible and insurmountable. But in light of heaven, they don’t. In fact, in heaven you won’t remember any of them.

What you will remember is how Jesus led you all the way from start to finish. You will remember the joy that came in the midst of suffering, the peace that came in the midst of pain, and the love that overcame every obstacle.

“Everything about which we are tempted to complain may be the very instrument whereby the Potter intends to shape His clay into the image of His Son–a headache, an insult, a long line at the check-out, someone’s rudeness or failure to say thank you, misunderstanding, disappointment, interruption. As Amy Carmichael said, ‘See in it a chance to die,’ meaning a chance to leave self behind…”(Elisabeth Elliot)

Dying to self is not a popular sermon topic these days. I imagine your typical American church won’t really emphasize the whole taking up your cross aspect of following Jesus. More than likely, they’ll focus on the part about Jesus telling people to come to Him when they are weary for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Which is true. But so is the part about taking up your cross daily and dying to self. So is the part about confessing your sins to one another.

In a culture where we are easily offended — where we look for reasons to be offended — it’s decidedly counter cultural to see things like insults and interruptions as means of shaping my own character. The popular motto is to life your best life now and be your best self — not to die to self and to lay down your life for the sake of the gospel.

I confess that in my flesh I am deeply offended. I want to be proven right, and I want those who upset me to know how they upset me and to do the appropriate amount of groveling and begging for forgiveness.

But Jesus suffered silently. He forgave those as they were in the very act of murdering Him. Then He died for their sins.

And He asks me to take up my cross, die to self, and follow Him, not because He wants me to be miserable, but because He knows best that that is the way that leads to true joy and real peace and abundant life.

Today, I went to Target with the sole purpose of purchasing a new toothbrush. My old ones were probably way past the point where I should have tossed them and moved on with my life, but I just couldn’t bring myself to part with them. They were almost like family. Almost.

So I bought a 2-pack of toothbrushes because I thought I’d be all sensible and thrifty.

Do you know how much 2 Oral B toothbrushes cost these days? $10!

I thought that price was for the 4-pack sitting next to the 2-pack, but no. That was for 2 toothbrushes. For those who are good with the maths, that comes out to $5 per toothbrush. And like 50 cents per bristle.

I told someone I work with that for those prices, I want to be buried with those toothbrushes laid out next to me in my coffin. One on my right, one on my left. I am most definitely taking those with me when I shed this mortal coil.

I’m also sure my teeth brushing will be taken to the next level. For that amount of money, I should never ever have another cavity for as long as I live. I should probably be able to skip out of one dental visit in the next year, kinda like a Get out of Jail Free card in Monopoly, only for teeth cleaning.

For me, inflation has been a bit of a theoretical concept lately. I understood prices were going up but I didn’t see how it affected me. Until today. I suddenly realized that to complain about the price of dental hygiene means that I am officially old. Welcome to the geezer club!

This is a fun and humorous look at all the major translations of the Bible that are available in physical and digital formats. That’s not exhaustive by any means. There are so many new and revised translations popping up that it’s hard to keep track.

If you’re one of the ones overwhelmed by all the choices, I personally can recommend a few. If you want the more formal and poetic translations, I’d go with English Standard Version (ESV) or New American Standard Bible (NASB). If you want readable and easy to understand, you’d like the New Living Translation (NLT) or the New International Version (NIV). A good in-between for literal faithfulness and readability is the Christian Standard Bible (CSB). If you want a modern paraphrase to go with a more traditional translation, I’d recommend The Message (although I wouldn’t use that one by itself).

The key is to pick one and read it. There’s really no one size fits all Bible. It’s which ever helps you read God’s Word most effectively. Of course, the most important part is not just reading the Word and hearing the Word, but doing what it says. Obedience leads to understanding. I confess that I’m not always the best at putting the Bible into practice, but that’s the way to go deeper — you obey what you know to do and what you understand, and God will reveal more as you are faithful in small ways.

Also, it helps to ready and study the Bible in community. Just as with every other part of the faith process, we’re not meant to live out what we believe in isolation. That’s why God gave us the institution of the Church and the more immediate representation of the local church. You grow best in context of fellowship and community with other believers. By yourself, you’re prone to fall away or fall into error and heresy.

All that to say this: find a Bible that you like that is readable and reliable. Then read it! The end.