July 15, 2011

7-15-11 Friday, 5:49 am Springfield, full moon just setting in the west, 74 degrees.

Today will be an unusual Friday. I will be playing golf with pastors from the Springfield region. I have not swung a golf club since the church golf tournament in September. (I should be eligible again for beginner’s luck!) This outing is hosted by The Wind 88.3, and each of the previous years I have had to decline the gracious offer to participate. It starts early, and I will leave at 7:00. I will miss being in the office today, but I have already proofed the bulletin.

I had an interesting dream last night. I was in the vicinity of a meeting of the district superintendents of Missouri. Twice I encountered them heading to their meeting room, and they were like zombies, walking single file and unresponsive to my greeting and attempt at interaction. There are twelve superintendents, and I know them all. I do not know what to make of this brief “dream clip”.

Romans 3

As with each chapter of Romans, there is much spiritual meat in these 31 verses. It is in this chapter that I find twice the concept that has brought much comfort to my soul over the 37 years that I have been walking with Christ. That concept is “there is none righteous, not even one” (verse 10, quoting from Psalm 14:3) In the Bible I am using this morning, in the margin near Psalm 14:3 I find a handwritten note stating “the beginning of the good news for Bruce Baxter!” As an only child growing up, I did not see other children get in trouble and developed the concept that I was uniquely corrupt. Discovering that no one is righteous on their own was very comforting for me.

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Paul restates this truth from Psalm 14:3, and then continues in verse 24 “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;” In every religious system there is the tendency to gravitate towards works righteousness. Until my last breath I will emphasize “justification as a gift by His grace through redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”

Guide me most Holy Lord on the journey today. Use me, fill me, pour me out for the building up of your kingdom.