Teachers are a whole lot like people. One day I saw my first-grade teacher, Mrs. Thompson, at the grocery store. I thought it was strange. Why would she be at the store? In the ninth grade I was shocked one night at church when my science teacher, Mr. Mashburn, turned out to be one of the guest soloists at the Christmas Cantata. Right then I had this incredible insight—schoolteachers must be people too. Some of us take a little longer to discover the obvious. My favorite teacher was Mrs. Evans. She taught fourth grade.

Do you remember the rule about not chewing gum at school? Mrs. Evans explained it this way: “Do as I say, not as I do.” She always chewed bubblegum after lunch. Sometimes she forgot to throw it away before class. She told us that the real reason we could not chew gum at school was because some children did not throw away their gum properly. She made us look under our desks. Petrified gum and freshly chewed gum can be easily distinguished. Her solution was Lifesaver mints every day after lunch for everyone. Mrs. Evans also taught us how to read with understanding. It was one thing to read the words, she said, it was quite something else to understand the “intent and content” of a book or story. She opened my world. Also, she could blow the biggest bubbles with her gum.

I liked some of my teachers more than others. I preferred the explainers, challengers and encouragers, but I have been shaped by each of my teachers. I have worked with public school teachers and principals now all my adult life, from homeroom parent to community board member. The teachers I know live for those moments of insight and understanding. They rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Teachers prepare, plan and provide, over-and-above all that they can, so their students will catch the joy of life and discover their own dreams for tomorrow. As the school year rapidly comes to its conclusion next month, be mindful of the teachers who sacrifice so much in order to make our world a better place. 

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Thank the teachers you know. And let’s experience the love and power of God together. 

I came across some long-forgotten notes and papers while searching for things totally different. I recognized these were from a retreat I had attended in Atlanta about 2003. It was a gathering of urban pastors from across the south to talk about ministries in our old neighborhood, metropolitan cities. We were seeking to discern the patterns of God’s leading in the congregations located in or near the heart of our city centers. Most of the 25 or so of us knew each other either by reputation, through denominational service, or from college or seminary days. We covered a wide range of topics. My notes reminded me that we even spent time discussing war. This was after 9/11, and deployments to the Middle East were affecting thousands of families. How do pastors and church leaders reconcile the call to war, the call to peacemaking, and the teachings of the Prince of Peace? 

We sought to understand how Jesus dealt with evil in everyday relations, not just demon casting. I wrote notes that reflected a couple of things that struck me that were discussed about war. Because of Jesus’ work of redemption and reconciliation to all the world, war is no longer God’s work in the world. War is of the devises of men. Our nation continues to exhibit Vietnam Syndrome, which is ambivalence toward foreign wars because of that war’s mix of honor, controversy and shame. War magnifies the suffering—people are dying, widows are being made, children are orphaned, and the once whole are lamed, maimed, and blinded. The concluding words of our discussion on war spoke of a healthy dose of humility.  As the current US/Israeli War threatens to purposefully “wipe out the Iranian civilization,” my observation is:  this needs to end now. This war is not just. War is evil, and pretending our God chooses us in any war, goes against all that Jesus died and rose again for.  

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Honor the Prince of Peace. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

Easter 2026 is here already. In preparation I was reading the back story of some of the traditional Easter hymns we sing each year. I came upon this first-person account in the Companion to the Baptist Hymnal:

Although history has revealed that this world has never been very stable, it seems that our century has been especially a time of upheaval and crisis. Our world is a planet filled with injustices, betrayals of national and personal trust, bigotry, greed, and immorality, situated on a nuclear powder keg, the fuse of which is well within the reach of men who may be lacking in sound moral judgment and personal integrity. It was into this world at this time we were bringing our third little baby. Assassinations, riots, drug traffic, and war monopolized the headlines. It was in the midst of this kind of uncertainty that the assurance of the Lordship of the risen Christ blew across our troubled minds like a cooling breeze in the parched desert. Holding our tiny son in our arms we were able to write: “How sweet to hold our newborn baby, and feel the pride, and joy he gives. But greater still the calm assurance, this child can face uncertain days, because He lives.”  Bill and Gloria Gaither named their tune Resurrection for the Baptist Hymnal (1975 Edition). 

All the Easter hymns and songs are designed to be sung on any day that celebrates Jesus. Sunday is the Lord’s Day. Sunday is Resurrection Day. Easter is the embodiment of John 3:16. All sin, suffering, death and grief give way to the resurrection power of life today, and for eternity through Jesus. Our testimony has become,  Because He lives, I can face tomorrow; because He lives all fear is gone!  Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living  just because He lives.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Celebrate Easter! And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

In November 1997, I was leading a week-long prayer mission in the capitol city of Chad in central Africa. That Sunday afternoon the church leaders invited me to participate in a previously scheduled “everyone goes around the circle and prays” type meeting focused on the persecuted Christians of their country. As the time of prayer unfolded, I realized the people gathered for prayer had a different understanding of religious persecution than is usually discussed in U.S. church life. For them, religious persecution meant living on the edge of denying Christ, or becoming a refugee, tortured, or killed. 

From his observation point on Patmos, John becomes an eyewitness to another Palm Sunday, as recorded in Revelation 7:9-17. This passage tells of his vision of a great multitude waving their palm branches before the throne of the Lamb. According to the opening verses of the book, John’s vision took place on the Lord’s Day.  At this other Palm Sunday, the crowd reflects the persecuted believers of every land and time. At this other Palm Sunday, the martyred people’s blood-drenched clothes have been bathed again in the blood of The Lamb who was slain. At the other Palm Sunday, the witnesses’ garments glisten with the purity of the Savior’s love.  An abiding promise echoes through to the faithful—Never again, never again, will you have to suffer or die.

Our prayers that afternoon for the persecuted were interrupted by the presence of a stranger, who was whisked back to a different room. Later that evening his story emerged. He claimed to be a Muslim Imam. He told of a dream in the night of Jesus calling his name. He began reading a version of the Sermon on the Mount, eventually deciding to convert to Christianity. He was running for his life from his family and community, still dressed in his religious garb. The church was supportive, yet wary of the danger he might pose. The concluding conversations determined not to underestimate God’s salvation reach. Let us wave our palms in prayer this Palm Sunday for the faithful witnesses.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life. Stand with the faithful.  And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9

These words of Jesus are found in the heart of the Beatitudes. Eirēnopoiós, peacemaking in the Greek, means to actively cultivate and maintain peace in relationships. It is a characteristic of the children of God as they live out the Kingdom of God on earth. Peacemaking is an intentional effort to understand others despite the multitude of differences that can separate and divide. Peacemaking is a work of transformation as conflict is resolved and a spirit of unity is created. Jesus goes on to amplify peacemaking when he calls disciples like you and me to turn away from eye-for-an-eye thinking to actively loving your enemy. I refer to this teaching as Jesus encouraging us to turn our enemies into our friends.

Sometimes this Beatitude is mischaracterized as keeping the peace. Peacekeeping is closer to policing others—trying to implement a “no-disagreement” policy, or just an avoidance of any conflict at all. Peacemaking is harder than that. Peacemaking requires time, energy, and empathy. For all the people involved, it utilizes our skills of active listening and intentional learning. It demands a willingness to change our thinking and suspend some of our previous conclusions. It may necessitate a compromise of actions and planning. Peacemaking involves much prayer and tenderness, confession and humility. Peacemaking is on-going discipleship—encouraging each other, building up each other, and loving each other beyond politeness or mere civility. It is self-sacrificing and generous. Peacemaking changes us, our emotional tensions, and our mental wellbeing. It changes our workplaces, our churches and our homes. Peacemaking changes the world to become more like the kingdom of heaven.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Make peace. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.