Month: September 2026

I’m dating myself here. For those of you who are much younger than me, Stevie Nicks is a singer/songwriter best known as the front woman for Fleetwood Mac. She is a “spiritual” person…..but probably not a serious Christian. I recently went to a show by a Fleetwood Mac tribute band. It was a great a show. They played “Landslide” and a lyric from that song has been haunting me ever since.

I’ve been ‘fraid of changin’
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you 
But time makes you bolder 
Even children get older 
And I’m gettin’ older, too.

The song is about people coming and going in her life. It is about change and growth. It is not about God. But, there is truth in it.

My life, and yours, is a complicated construct. Like a sculptor, each of us builds this construct around a core. That core is usually a person, often a string of persons. I am blessed with a wife who has stuck with me for almost 50 years. And I can say that I’ve built my life around her. Moreso now than when I was younger.  Cindy has metastatic breast cancer. Change is coming……hopefully not soon. And I am afraid.

I have a friend who has recently walked this path. He is a committed Buddhist and I am pretty sure that, these days, he is building his life around Buddhism. At least, he is using it to lean on.
As for me, when I am in trouble, I go to the Bible. And, the teaching of the Bible is often repeated and is crystal clear. My physical life is transient.  Cindy’s physical life is transient.  Jesus is constant. Jesus is eternal.

I am to build my life around Jesus. 

So, I will build around Jesus………without giving up on Cindy.

The beauty of building around Jesus is constancy. He was, is, and always will be. There is nothing that I can do…….or fail to do….there is nothing that can happen in my world….there is nothing that can befall the people that I love…. that will overcome the strength of the core that Jesus gives me.

I’m still afraid…….of the changes that are coming. But, I will trust God.

I’m still getting older……….getting closer to my death.

But, I’m also getting bolder.

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Paul explaining the constancy of Jesus,  Phillipians 4:12-13,  ESV

Everyone enjoys a magician. They perform amazing tricks.  They do things that we cannot understand.  They do things that defy the physical laws that we live by. They amaze us.

But, just exactly, what is magic?

Magic is when we experience something that defies explanation.  When we watch a magician perform, we know that it is all a trick. The more outrageous the trick…….the better the performance.  Still, in our hearts, we know that the magic show is not true. We accept the rule that the laws of science govern everything. Whatever falls inside the rules of science is real. The rest is, at best, entertainment…….at worst, mythology. In practice, we separate our experiences into science and magic. We trust science and we do not trust magic. 

But, there is a problem. 

There are lots of things that we experience that science cannot explain. These experiences fit into our definition of magic. So far, so good. The problem is that while some of them are untrue……..while some of them are tricks……..some of the things that science cannot explain are true. And that is the topic for today. How do we deal with the things that we experience every day that are true but that science cannot explain? How do we handle the magic that we encounter every day…….the magic…….that is true?

The first category of magic that is true is things that we experience that science cannot explain…….yet. Not too long ago, magnetism, antibiotics, and heavier that air flight were magic…..now they are routine.

The second category is things that are true, but that science will never explain. This leads us into the divide that separates mankind into two camps: secular humanism and Creationism. The secular humanists believe that science explains everything….or will soon be able to explain everything. They use theories and assumptions to bridge the gaps that science cannot explain.  They treat and teach these theories and assumptions as facts…….even though they are unproven. In effect, science, as we use it today, is a mixture of measurable fact, unproven assumptions, and evolving theories. Anything that science cannot explain, anything that contradicts the theories and assumptions, is discarded as untrue…….myth. The creationist, on the other hand,  accepts the idea that science has limits……..that there are things that are true but that science cannot and never will explain. Both sides accept the existence of the physical/temporal world. The creationist also accepts the existence of a parallel spiritual universe. The secular humanist rejects the existence of a parallel spiritual universe. 

For the secular humanist, the spiritual world is a myth, a fairy tale that unsophisticated, naive people cling to. 

The secular humanist asks, “does the spiritual world fit into the scientific framework that governs everything?” This, in spite of their admission that the scientific framework is incomplete…….that the scientific framework is, and always has been, full of holes. 

The creationist asks, ” is the spiritual world true……is it real?” The answer to this question requires the creationist to look beyond science…….to the truths that are in our heart and in our soul…..to the truths that were put there by our creator. It also requires us to believe things that cannot be proven by science…….things that must be felt…..things that must be spiritually discerned. This is the realm of faith.

The spiritual world……God’s world……promises blessings. But, in order to enjoy those blessings, we must first satisfy a rock solid, non-negotiable, requirement:

The creationist…….the Christian……must act on faith. The Christian must accept as true ideas and entities that cannot be proven using the limited rules of science. I believe that this is no accident.  This is a requirement of the creator. This is how he set the whole game up. In a way, this physical/temporal life is a pop quiz……a test……to separate those who can act on faith from those who cannot or will not act on faith.

You cannot access and enjoy the blessings of the spiritual world if you are unable to act on faith. This is a rule of the creator……..and it is non-negotiable. 

After all…….it’s his world………both the physical/temporal world and the spiritual world.

This is the truth.


He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his world.

Paul describing Jesus, Collosians 1: 15-20, ESV 


If you would like to hear more about magic…….search the list of prior posts for “Magic Smoke”. 

I recently watched a movie, “A House of Dynamite”. As you might expect, this is not an uplifting movie. The plot line is this: someone fires a nuclear missile at Chicago. We don’t know who or why…..and we cannot stop it. The movies deals with how our government reacts to this unfolding catastrophe. In essence, a huge cast of imperfect people operating on imperfect information must decide whether to initiate nuclear Armageddon. All they know is that there is a very high probability that Chicago will be vaporized in 19 minutes. Even that is not certain.

The theme that runs through the movie is that mankind, in spite of our many triumphs, is operating out of our depth. We cannot solve the big problems. Often, we cannot even identify them. And yet……we forge ahead…….confident in our ability to manage the world. We build weapons that we cannot use. We engineer viruses that we cannot survive. We create waste that we cannot get rid of. We exhaust resources that we cannot replace.

“It is in your nature……to destroy yourselves”

The Terminator

We know in our heart that there can be a world where these problems are solved. We know in our heart that such a world exists. We cry out for that perfected world. But, we fail again and again to achieve it. We fail because we lack the wisdom, the self sacrifice, the integrity, the generosity, and the cooperation to build that world.

The hallmark of this perfected world is love…….and the peace that flows out of that love.

“Then, peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars”

Aquarius by the 5th Demension

Such a world once existed. It is described in the book of Genesis. Even more importantly……..such a world will exist again. That is the promise of Christ……a promise to every human soul……living and dead. If we fearlessly search our heart…….we know this to be true.

Such a world can only be the work of a being who operates on an entirely different level than we do. History teaches us that mankind is not capable of this work. Such a world can only be the work of a supernatural being.

God

Love is the essence of God
Peace flows from God’s love
Hope is what connects us to the promise of God’s Peace.
In our heart…….we know this to be true.

Without God……….there is no peace.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Jesus in John 14: 26-27, ESV

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Paul in Phillipians 4:7, ESV

The Trinity is a difficult idea for us to grasp. Three entities who are united and yet distinct.  Father…….Son……..Spirit. I doubt that during my temporal/physical life that I will ever fully understand the Trinity. 

The best tool that I can come up with is to consider the Trinity to be three faces of one entity. In practice, we relate to the Trinity by interacting with one of these faces: sometimes the Father, sometimes the Son, and sometimes the Spirit……but always the Trinity.

In the Old Testament, we are repeatedly told to “fear God”…….that is to fear the Father. We are never told to fear the Son. We are never told to fear the Spirit. Many teachers of Christianity tell us that this usage of the word fear really means to honor and respect God, the Father. Call me a literalist…….but I believe that fear means fear. The key to understanding the idea of fearing the Father hinges on the face of the Trinity that the Father represents.  The post this week is my attempt to understand the three faces of the Trinity…….the Godhead.

Each face of the Trinity embodies the entirety of the Godhead. But, each face of the Trinity also emphasizes one facet of the Trinity.

The Father represents justice. He is the repository of everything that is right. There is no wrongness in the Father. Anything that is wrong is cast away from the Father. But, in my daily walk, I am wrong. Every day, over and over, I think and do things that are unrighteous. Every day, I try……and fail to meet the Father’s standards of righteousness. My unrighteousness separates me from the Father. This is the very definition of sin. The Father’s justice requires my separation from his righteousness. So…..do I fear the Father? Absolutely. I fear the separation that my sin creates between me and the Father’s justice. If the Father and his justice were the only face of the Trinity, my death would be terrifying. 

But, then, there is the Son…..Jesus.

Jesus is the face of the Trinity that represents mercy. At the cross, Jesus suffered to pay the price for my sin…….your’s too. This act is his gift to mankind. This voluntary act erases the separation from the Trinity that our sin has created…….at least for those who recognize and accept it. This rapproachment is summarized by the encounter between Jesus and an adulterous woman whom he had just rescued from justice by stoning.


Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”  She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

John 8:10-11, ESV 


Jesus paid a horrible price to purchase for us the most valuable gift we will ever receive. This act is the very definition of mercy.

And finally, the Spirit, arguably the most difficult face of the Trinity to get a handle on.

For those of us who accept it, the Spirit lives inside of us. The Spirit is the repository of the knowledge of good and evil. It is the source of wisdom to navigate between good and evil. It is our connection with the justice, the mercy, and the love that is the Trinity. For those of us who have accepted the divinity of Jesus and the Father, we experience the wisdom and knowledge of the Spirit. We may not always act on that wisdom and knowledge.  But, we know it. For those of us who do not accept the divinity of Jesus and the Father……is it any wonder that you lack the wisdom and knowledge of the Spirit? Is it any wonder that you fill that void with your own limited wisdom and knowledge……..wisdom and knowledge that is heavily contaminated by your appetites? In our daily life, the wisdom and knowledge of the Spirit is essential to our success……..indeed to our survival. 

Each face of the Trinity is essential.  Together, they constitute a whole.  You cannot understand Christianity until you deal with all three. 


according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

1 Peter 1:2, ESV