“To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

Every time I think things can’t get any worse, any crazier, any more heartbreaking…

I have no words for what is happening in Israel and Palestine. There has already been too much suffering, too much death, too much devastation. Unfortunately, there is still much more to come.

Why? Why is all this happening? Why?

Here’s the thing about “why”…it’s absolutely unhelpful. Anyone can ask why? Asking why leads us nowhere. Why provides us with no solutions, no hope, no ways forward.

What the world needs today are Kingdom people who look at the craziness of our world and dares to dream of things not yet and asks, “Why not?”

• The Kingdom of God here on earth as it is heaven ? Why not?
• Peace, genuine peace in the Middle East? Ukraine? Sudan? Congo? Why not?
• The name of Jesus Christ hallowed, praised, and honored by all? Why not?

Show the world the Hope who lives in you. Show the world that there is a better way. Show the world how desperately she needs Jesus.

May God bless you with discomfort,
At easy answers, half-truths,
And superficial relationships
So that you may live
Deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression,
And exploitation of people, 
So that you may work for 
Justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer in pain,
Rejection, hunger, and war,
So that you may reach out your hand
To comfort them and 
To turn their pain to joy.

And my God bless you with even foolishness
To believe that you can
Make a difference in the world,
So that you can do
What others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness
To all our children and the poor.

Amen

“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8).

John the Baptist came preaching a word of repentance of the kingdom of God in the wilderness. People from all over Judea and the countryside came to hear and be baptized by John.

As John was baptizing the crowds, the Pharisees and Sadducees came out to him to be baptized. This is when John the Baptist declared to all who were being baptized, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”

John was declaring, “Don’t just go through the motions of religion. Don’t just react based on your emotions. If you are going to be baptized, if you are going to repent, if you want to live a new life, live in a way that demonstrate you have repented of your sins and turned to God.”

It’s not just about saying the right things. It’s not even about going through certain rituals. What counts is our genuine repentance and genuine change.

What would be the point of going through the motions of getting married and even saying all the right things but living as if you were single? Could such a marriage survive where your partner said all the right things but lived as though he were still single? Where his life, priorities, and habits hadn’t changed? What would it be like if he only said all the right things but was still dating and seeing other people?

John was telling the people, including the Pharisees and Sadducees, who were coming to be baptized, “If you are going to be baptized, prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and are now turning to God.”

What John the Baptist told the people in the wilderness still preaches today.