Matthew TwoSix:ThreeNine

"and he (Jesus) began to teach them. He said:  'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.  Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Matthew 5:2‭-‬12 NIV Do any of those tug at your heart? Do any of them hit home? Haven't we all experienced at least one of

Last week I was switching between working the kitchen and the convenience store counters at Anchor House. I had just taken a few dollars from a dock worker as they purchased their afternoon snack. My next guest was a seafarer who arrived also looking for a snack. They paid with a twenty dollar bill. The dollar bills I had just received from the dock worker were now a part of the change I paid the seafarer.  From the hands of an American, the dollar bills made their way to the hands of a seafarer from the Philippines through the Anchor House cash register.  Who knows where that dollar was headed next. The seafarer headed back to his ship and the ship traveled on to the next port.  Those dollar bills could be anywhere. Oh, the stories they could tell. I don’t often think of a dollar's value beyond what is printed on it. The larger the number the greater the value. I usually don’t think about where the bill came from or what it has been used to purchase or whose hands it

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. - John 1:14 NIV This week one of my friends was telling me that they read all of the blog posts I write. That alone makes me feel uncomfortable. I can't believe people, especially friends, would take the time to read what I write. After all, I'm just a normal guy. My friend went on to say that I have a gentle way of sharing the messages. That description hit me differently. At first I thought, "well that's cool." I imagine Jesus in most cases being a cool cucumber. I think He was able to present the truth with a heavy dose of grace. Then I thought, “Isn’t that how we should always share the Gospel? Shouldn’t we strive to be gentle like the Lamb?” I picture Jesus as a gentle, calm man who was slow to anger. His message was revolutionary and challenging at times, but it was always delivered

Well, these last few weeks have been a “whirlwind”. We have had a banquet, the Giving Challenge, staffing changes at Anchor House, amazing volunteers who have headed north for summer, we’ve begun a website redesign, engaged in a process to consolidate years of data into one database, we launched a Youtube page, began to present weekly messages on that YouTube page, and we have had plenty of ships and seafarers in port. In the first four months of this year, we have served half as many meals to date as we did in the entirety of 2021. Anchor House is moving and shaking.  During this “whirlwind”, I have let my blog posts slip. I think the last I published was in week 14 and this is now week 20. That's right, 20 weeks serving God at Anchor House. How time flies. Each week that passed whereI hadn’t written, I could come up with various reasons as to why. Sometimes, I’d say to myself, “I’ll write next week and get it back on track.” The next week would come and go with no

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God; so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Hm. - John 13: 1-5 When was the last time you washed someone’s feet? For most of us, our answer may be never. For others, we have to draw back to a time when our children were tiny and needed someone to wash them. Maybe we have been a part of ceremony at a church where we washed feet. A few years ago, we held a volunteer app

I was curious, so I googled how long it takes to build a skyscraper. I got answers that varied significantly. Some said 1 year and others said 5 years with the average being 3 years. One article suggested that the Empire State building took 13 months to build back in 1931. Regardless of the exact timeline, the pathway to transforming a skyline is lengthy. It just doesn't happen overnight.  The Christ the Redeemer Statue forever changed the landscape of Rio de Janeiro. It was built on top of Mount Corcovado over the course of 5 years. Standing 98 feet, it is the tallest Art Deco sculpture in the world. It is considered one of the new 7 Wonders of the world. The Catholic church funded the project as an initiative to build a monument in a city that was considered “godless”. I’m not sure if the statue impacted people’s choice to follow Jesus, but it certainly transformed the landscape of the city. Whether building skyscrapers or wonders of the world, you have to start