Money is funny. It is at the same time of great importance, and among the most temporal of all pursuits. Financial wealth is hard to come by, but ‘easy come, easy go’. We spend a lifetime trying to accumulate wealth, but no one talks about the size of your bank account at your funeral. Yet, that same money which meant so much in life and so little in death often causes family friction and chaos after we are gone. Extra money should change us for the better, but often turns us into something we don’t like. We expect wealth to solve our problems, but it usually creates more.

I recently watched a movie in which one of the primary characters became fixated on the gold he had found. He thought it would make him powerful and fulfill his dreams. But when he acquired it he found it made him powerless, and turned his life into a nightmare. Along the way his close friends watched him become someone else. They referred to him as being sick. It nearly ruined all of his relationships. During the process a mentor warned one of the concerned friends, “Don't underestimate the evil of gold. Gold over which a serpent had long brooded. Dragon-sickness seeps into the hearts of all who came to this Mountain. Almost all.” The fact is, we are all susceptible to the sickness that accompanies great wealth. But it doesn’t have to be a mountain full of gold that causes us to turn from those things in life which truly matter, like relationships, love, joy, peace, contentment, etc. Mandy people would abandon their good nature for the chance at an extra ten thousand dollars.

Money does not naturally improve who you are. It gives the illusion that life will be better simply because you have more buying power. The reality is that money can impoverish us as quickly as it can empower us. The Bible talks about money and wealth as much as it talks about anything else. It tells us that money is not bad in and of itself, but it also warns us against trusting in it and pursuing it. We were created to value and use money, but we were not created to love it. When acquiring money becomes a priority in our lives, it usually replaces something of greater value. We must apply more intensity to the guarding of our heart than to the building of our bank account. And you cannot assume that just because you are Christians that we are somehow immune to the illusion of wealth. Jesus, while talking about how different types of people are affected by their environment said, “Others are sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word, but the worries of this age, the seduction/deceitfulness/pleasure of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” (Mark 4:18-19)

The struggling hero in our movie ultimately saw his error, and came to make this statement with his dying breath, “If more people valued home more than gold, this world would be a merrier place.” Go make some money today, but don’t let it make you. At your funeral, no one will talk about how much money you made today.

Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry.


[Quotes and image from The Hobbit - The Battle of the Five Armies}

Have you ever awakened from a dream sobbing? I did that recently. I was surrounded by family and friends, and our gathering was breaking up. Someone awkwardly suggested that one of my children come over and give me a hug. She did, and we had a brief moment of her giggling and giving a quick hug. I pulled her in closer, kissing her and saying, “One day in the future you will want to come back to this moment. If you breeze through it, it will be difficult. But if you will make it memorable, you will be able to travel back to this moment whenever you like. Your memory is a time machine.”

The truth of that phrase struck me deeply as I realized all of the moments I did not make memorable in my life. I began to cry. My wife comforted me as I slept with tears running down my face. The reality struck me even more as I awoke. At times I try to remember wonderful experiences in my life, but I can’t because I didn’t make them memorable. Whether with my parents, or siblings, wife, children, or friends, I often just went from one moment to the next without making sure they stuck. I know we can’t recall everything. I understand that even the best memories fade with time. This is one of the curses of humanity in a fallen world. But I have to believe that we can do a better job of making memories of important elements of our life. This is why we take photographs and videos, right? 

In the Bible we see people trying to remember moments. Early on they would build monuments to keep the memory of the important event alive. These memorial stones would remind them of something that happened, or a decision that was made. It was a visible ‘witness’ to keep them and succeeding generations honest. I should have built more memorial monuments in my life. I do have great memories… just not enough. My time machine should have more settings than it does. I can’t go back and build those monuments. But I can make better memories today and going forward. Today, you have the same opportunity.

Let me tell you now, as I told my daughter in the dream, “One day in the future you will want to come back to this moment. If you breeze through it, it will be difficult. But if you will make it memorable, you will be able to travel back to this moment whenever you like. Your memory is a time machine.”

The Bible tells us of a man who was on a difficult life journey, and while sleeping experienced a revelation from God. He purposely created a memory of the important event for the future. Here is Jacob’s story, “He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place. And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down on it. Yahweh was standing there beside him, saying, “I am Yahweh, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land that you are now sleeping on. Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.”

Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it and named the place Bethel, though previously the city was named Luz. Then Jacob made a vow: “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, if He provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God. This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to You a tenth of all that You give me.” (Genesis 28:11-32)

Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry.

Palm Sunday is a special day for Christians. It is the day we remember the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and received praise and honor from the people to which He had ministered for 3 years. These were people who were formerly lame, but could now walk. They were formerly blind but could now see. They were formerly dead, but Jesus had miraculously brought them back to life. They had been possessed by demons, but Jesus had cast those out. They had been discarded  by society and the religious community, but Jesus loved them and they found value through mercy and grace. These were people just like you and me.


As Jesus rode through the streets of the holy city, the people waved palm branches, laid down their robes as a beautiful carpet before the donkey, and sang songs befitting a triumphant king returning from a battle that secured victory and freedom for everyone in the kingdom. Because that is exactly what had happened… kind of. The fact is Jesus was the King. And He had initiated a kingdom. He had given the blessing of freedom. But what the people did not know was that their king had not yet fought the most decisive battle of the war. That would happen during this holy week between Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday. And this is where the story gets sort of sad. Within 100 hours of hailing Jesus as the promised king who would deliver them from their oppressors, many of these same people would be delivering Jesus up to be killed by their oppressors. As difficult as that may be to believe, it is exactly what happened to Him, and is likely what has happened to you at some point, albeit on a smaller scale.

Have you ever had anyone lift you up to great heights of honor and love with their words and actions, and then within days turn against you? This kind of extreme reversal is enough to make even the most stable person rethink their relationships and mission. Jesus was receiving the highest praise just before He would receive the lowest blows of His life. Yet, He did not diminish their praise. Knowing that this same crowd who yelled “The King who comes in the name of the Lord is the blessed One. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven!” (Luke 19:38), would in a few days scream “Crucify Him!”, Jesus lovingly and graciously received their praise. He was about to graciously die for these people and give them eternity. Aren’t you glad Jesus refuses to allow our spiritual instability to interfere with His ultimate purpose? We should do the same with the people in our life. In fact, when the enemy tried to shut down this urban worship service and quiet the ones reveling in the glory of the Messiah, Jesus replied, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out!” (Luke 19:40)

The praise of Jesus is important to God, and it is important to us. Many people who lift their palms in worship today will use those same palms to do wickedness later this week. You may fear that you will not always be worthy to praise the Lord. Do not let that stop you from praising today. There may come a time when you rebel and bring shame to the name of Christ. But do not let that fear stop your praise today. He will receive your worship, and graciously receive any repentant soul. Falling before Him in worship today will prepare you if ever you fall from Him in weakness this week.

Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry.

You've probably played 'The Quiet Game'. It is a contest to see who can go the longest without making a sound. It is very hard for some of us to win that game. We are real good at activity. I think ours is the most active generation ever. And we fill all of that activity with noise of some sort. 150 years ago there was absolutely no internet, TV, phone, or music player. Now we have all of these in our pocket all the time. 150 years ago there was no automobile or airplane. Not only do we have access to the world in our pocket, but we can get to any part of the world in a weekend. I’m not knocking these advancements. I believe in them and use them. We live in a phenomenal time. But if we are going to celebrate the wonder, we also need to acknowledge the weakness that comes with these add-ons.

In many ways, these technologies are a blessing to our life. But they are also a curse. Advancements can make us more productive, knowledgeable, and fulfilled. But technology can also make it more difficult to experience serenity and contemplation. These experiences used to come more natural to people. It used to be that a person would walk through the woods to the pond and read a book and pray. Along the way, they would soak in nature and meditate on the things of God. Today, we jump in our car, drive to a waterfall, look up information about the area on our mobile device, take pictures, post them to Facebook, and read the response of our friends who tell us to enjoy our time away. I know this happens because I do it. But we struggle in the quiet. This struggle occurs even in our worship services at church. If there is a gap where no one is playing music and no one is talking or praying, or praising God, people start to get nervous. God almighty is meeting with us, but we get fidgety when no one is talking or singing. We don’t do quiet well at all. But we need to.

There are some things we will only learn when we are meditating. Media is good. Meditating is better. Social media is good. Solitary meditation is better. God can speak above the noise. But we don’t hear well above the noise. We should not fear the silent times. We should seek them. In a sense, we should not have to carve out time for contemplation. We should have to carve out time for silly videos. I’m not suggesting we rid ourselves of activity and technology. I just think we would do better today to take a rest from those things that are giving us spiritual ADHD. The enemy knows that when we flush those things from our life, we get to know ourselves and God better. We struggle to seek and meditate on the things of God because we become tired so easily, yet we can lie awake all night worrying about all of the activity in our life. There is a better way, and we find it in the Bible. “I will remember the Lord’s works; yes, I will remember Your ancient wonders. I will reflect on all You have done and meditate on Your actions.” (Psalm 77:11-12)

Today you can fill your mind and time with the things of earth, or you can let the things of heaven flush your mind and fill it with peace, joy, and contentment. This will enable you to better enjoy the good things of earth.

Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry.

Last night I slipped over to our church to do some writing while my wife, Becky was in choir practice. They were working on some special music for Resurrection Sunday. While she has been singing solo and with groups for years, she hasn’t been part of a choir for a long time. On the way home I was telling her how happy I am that she gets this opportunity. We began talking about the quality musical leadership they have. The director, Rod is spiritually-focused and musically accomplished as a church choir director. He is extremely qualified on every level to lead choirs to successful ministry, and has done so at very high levels. As they practiced, he would strongly correct and strongly encourage everyone. Rod isn’t just leading them in singing. He is crafting a musical force of excellence to share the greatest truth in song.

I recently saw a quote by NFL coaching legend, Vince Lombardi. He said, “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.” I think many times we go through the motions in our spiritual walk. Because God hasn’t killed us, we feel like we are winning. We have been told that God loves us no matter what, and then we live like that, doing what it takes to get by. Instead, we should be pursuing excellence in our walk with Christ. Jesus didn’t die so you could meet the bare minimum requirements of holiness. He didn’t rise from the dead so you could live a moral life for an hour or two a week during church services. He lived an excellent life so you could live an excellent life. Jesus was not just the perfect sacrifice on the cross, He was the perfect pattern in the market, on the road, and in the garden.

Excellence, whether in music or in morals does not happen just by waking up in the morning. A choir does not become excellent by singing, but by singing well. A person does not become excellent just by going through life, but by going through life well. Excellence comes from the word ‘excel’. To excel is to do better than others.  We may not like the idea that we should live in a way that is better than others. After all, this Christian walk isn’t a competition with other people, is it? Well, actually most people are not doing better than average. Many people are literally doing the bare minimum spiritually. Many aren’t doing that. Remember, the bare minimum is never excellent. Great choirs don’t sing as well as everyone else. They sing better than others because they place a high value on putting out the best possible sound. In the area of Christian lifestyle, great Christians don’t live as well as everyone else. They live better than others because they place a high value on living the best possible life Christ bought for them.  Excellence does not arrive. Excellence is achieved in the pursuit. Rod knows, as Lombardi knew, that excellence isn’t something you achieve on Sundays. It is something that is achieved out of the spotlight throughout the week, and revealed on Sundays.

The apostle Paul dealt with underachievers and achievers on a regular basis. But he also believed in overachieving Christianity, because He knew the Holy Spirit who enables it. Today is a good day to pursue excellence. Think on Paul’s words to the early Christians, “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:8-9)

Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry.