James Rush Manley – Writer

The ski instructor commands, “Attack the hill!” Easy to say, standing on the flats. Harder to apply while hurtling down a snowy precipice, dodging trees and rocks. Yet, the truth is that putting weight on ski fronts gives control, leaning back throws it away. Stretching our face closer to up-rushing destruction offers safety, leaning back steals all chances. Leaning forward yields survival’s only hope, leaning back bears only bad fruit.

Not exactly intuitive. Just like walking with God. He draws us surely, inexorably to Himself. We race through time towards a final meeting that seems so like destruction we name it death. Our self-instinct pulls us back, clawing at powdered snow on ice. Yet, seeing our plight, He calls out, “Lean forward!” read more ...

Our pastor asked us, “How good is good enough?”

Good enough for what? Pleasing people? Earning a good-person reputation? Showing genuine kindness? All worthy, reachable goals. While pleasing people is one thing, getting into heaven is an entirely different matter. Standards, after all, restrict entrance. Fortunately, Jesus illuminates the bar clearly. He says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Unfortunately, while acting good pleases God, good acting doesn’t get us to God. Jesus confirmed that no one acts or thinks good enough to make the cut. “Why do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone.” read more ...

Our solar system contains a lot of junk. Planets, moons, comets, and asteroids sail along in a pool, dirty with bits left over from creation and debris from celestial collisions. Engineers design spaceships to withstand the constant cosmic sandstorm—less dense than the earthly variety but much faster. Typical particles zip along at 20,000 miles per hour.

Fortunately, micrometeorites are tiny—one-quarter of a hair’s thickness. But even little things can add up big. Every year, 30,000 tons (that’s 16,700 gross weight Cessna-206s or 7 million gallons of milk) of extraterrestrial dust settles gently on oceans, fields, and rooftops. read more ...

Three things escape understanding; four remain a mystery:

* Particles that arrive before they leave
* God’s patience claimed as permission
* Temptation called His leading
* A cold heart described as His peace

We know that the cause happens first, followed by the effect. But quantum mechanics exposes our Newtonian bias and details an absurd universe rebelling against common sense.

Likewise, at the beginning, we agreed to see things the Lord’s way. But walking by His Spirit defies common sense. Our world bias paints us at the center of creation and disposes us to favor counterfeits above reality. Distorted truth—far more dangerous than the obvious lies we preach against—misplaces our confidence. We renege, ever so slightly, on total surrender and imagine successful negotiations for a few small, reasonable terms. That blinds us to the trouble of divided loyalties. Choosing between Jesus and the Devil is easy. The hard fight lies in the subtle, half-conscious middle ground of mixed motivation. Locked heart chambers hide idols of significance, security, jealousy, and fear, allowing them only to be fed regularly but never brought to trial. read more ...