Building One Another

Building One Another is a weekly letter of encouragement I write to encourage your heart in Christian discipleship as well as your ministry in the service of Jesus Christ. The letters are short. Read each as you receive them. These letters are each one page long when printed. Create a folder in your e-mail to easily save and use them for future reference. Forward to friends, as appropriate. Reread for personal encouragement, use for brainstorming, or for handouts for small groups and Bible study classes.

THIS WEEK'S MESSAGE: OUR PERSONAL GOD Vol 9 No 9 - March 2, 2010
When I was in seminary I made an appointment with one of my professors and asked the question, "Do you believe that God is both personal and infinite?" 

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Select a category: All Abuse Accountability Addictions Adoption Alone Amazing Nature of God Amends Ancestors Anger Apocalypse Arrogance Awareness Backsliding Balance Being Chosen Belief Betrayal Bible Bitterness Blame Blessing Boundaries Building Call Caring Celebration Celebration Character Defects Choice Christian Life Christmas Church Circumstances Clean, Cleansing Comfort Committment Community Confession Connection Consequences Contentment Control Courage Death Denial Dependencies Desire Discipleship Discipline Disfunctional Family Disrespect Doubt Easter Education Emotional Intelligence Encouragement Endurance Enjoyment Equip Evil Excellence Exhaustion Facing the Truth Faith Faithfulness False Gods Family Fear Fellowship Following Forgiveness Forgotten, Remember Freedom Friendship Giving God God's Love God's Power God's Promises God's Provision God's Sufficiency God's Will God's Word Good News Gossip Grace Gratitude Greed Grief Guidance Guilt Heart Heart Smart Helping Hand Hitting a Wall Holy Communion Holy Spirit Honesty Honor Hope Hospitality How many times? Humanity's Sin Humility Idolotry Incarnation Inheritance Integrity Investment Jealousy Jesus Christ Job Description Joy Judgement Kindness Knowing Knowing God Law Leadership Learning Life's Troubles Lonliness Love Loyalty Managing it All Marriage Materialism Mercy Ministry Miracles Mother Nature's Beauty New Start New Year Obedience Obstacles Offering One God Our Place Our Response to God's Love Parenting Passion for Jesus Christ Passover Patience Peace Peer Pressure Perfectionism Perseverance Personal Legacy Praise Pray Prayer Pride Procrastination Promise, Covenant Punishment Rationalization Reconciliation Redemption Reflection, Self Examination Rejection Relationships Renewal Repentance Reputation Responsibility Rest Restoration Revelation Righteousness Sacrifice Salvation Second Chance Security Self Importance Self Protection Send Service, Servant Heart Sin Slavery Spiritual Growth Sponsorship Talking Christ Teachable Spirit Temptation Thanksgiving Trials Trust Truth Undivided Heart Waiting Will we ever learn? Willfulness Wisdom With me Witness Witnessing Word Worry Worship

DISTRACTION Vol 9 No 8 - February 23, 2010
I was walking down the street on a pretty day with fluffy white clouds floating in a stunning blue sky and birds chirping in the trees – while staring down at my smartphone – when it hit me, “What are you doing?”  
UNITY Vol 9 No 7 - February 16, 2010
I find the pair figure skating competition of the Olympics utterly captivating. 
FAITHFUL Vol 9 No 6 - February 9, 2010
Job speaks of a lifestyle that faithfully reflects the character of God that applies well to us all. 
COME! Vol 9 No 5 - February 2, 2010
How do you feel about asking someone to be with you in some endeavor?  
PRAYER PARTNER Vol 9 No 4 - January 26, 2010
One of the most encouraging spiritual disciplines available to us all is the idea of a prayer partner.
HAITI Vol 9 No 3 - January 19, 2010
Twice this week I was forcefully reminded that while we may fret over a variety of matters, the vast majority of us have our basic needs met and often much more than our basic needs met.  
TRUST Vol 9 No 2 - January 12, 2010
Do you ever feel restless, anxious, fretful about things going on in your life?
WARMTH Vol 9 No 1 - January 5, 2010
On Sunday we went to church on a very windy, very cold eleven degree day!
REFLECT Vol 8 No 49 - December 29, 2009
There are few better times to reflect on your life – where you have been – where you are going – than the week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day!  
INVITE Vol 8 No 48 - December 22, 2009
I love the music of Christmas!  It is so deeply invitational.
AWARE Vol 8 No 47 - December 15, 2009
This past Saturday my daughter and I were shopping at a major department store.  It felt like everyone on the planet was in the store and shopping was a hassle.
GOD'S OPENINGS Vol 8 No 46 - December 8, 2009
I dropped into my favorite bread and coffee shop.
SEE! Vol 8 No 45 - December 1, 2009
How aware are you of the work of God in and around your life? 
STOP Vol 8 No 44 - November 24, 2009
I love Thanksgiving!
HESED Vol 8 No 43 - November 17, 2009
How do you react when a fellow Christian grieves you, deceives you, hurts you?  
NEXT TO Vol 8 No 42 - November 10, 2009
As I write this I am flying to a city where coworker will join me.  A great question for any endeavor you find yourself engaged in is, “Who is with me?”  
TRANSFORMATION Vol 8 No 41 - November 3, 2009
It is easy for Christians, especially those who have been clear about their faith in Jesus and who have attended church for years, to develop a casual approach to the Bible, the Scriptures.
SLEEP Vol 8 No 40 - October 27, 2009
How is your sleep?  At times in my life I have slept all night “like a baby” and at other times have found myself wide awake at four a.m. and not a happy camper!
GOD GIVES! Vol 8 No 39 - October 20, 2009
Life is going smoothly along.  You are faithfully involved in worship and in the spiritual practices of the faith.  And you run into a brick wall.  What gives?
PEOPLE Vol 8 No 38 - October 13, 2009
I remember vividly the time years ago when I proudly told my father of a number of successful programs I was leading.
BALANCE Vol. 8 No. 37 - September 29, 2009
On an airplane this week the person next to me ...
LOOK UP Vol 8 No 36 - September 23, 2009
When a situation you must contend with arises, what are your first thoughts?
SACRED RHYTHMS Vol 8 No 35 - September 15, 2009
Years ago Edward Bosworth said, "What gets your attention gets you!"
LABOR Vol 8 No 34 - September 8, 2009
In his "Diary of Private Prayer" John Baillie offers a prayer on behalf of: "the overworked who have no joy of leisure; the unemployed who have no joy of labor."* In our day...  
KNOWLEDGE Vol 8 No 33 - September 1, 2009
How do you know what you know?  
COUNSEL Vol 8 No 32 - August 25, 2009
If your Mom or Dad were very wise but no longer around and you faced a major decision, would you heed the counsel of the people who counseled your parents or the counsel of your best buddies?
OPEN DOORS, Vol 8 No 31 - August 18, 2009
Acts 12 tells the story of two people who faced very difficult situations. “About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He had...
CRY TO THE LORD, Vol 8 No 30 - August 10, 2009
If you are down and out there is genuine hope for you!  Psalm 107 begins with...
LIVE IN CHAPTERS, Vol 8 No 29 - August 4, 2009
When the wonderful Quaker theologian Elton Trueblood was around eighty years old and I was about thirty, I remember him saying, “Young man, live your life in chapters.”   He went on to...
HERE I AM, Vol 8 No 28 (Part 2) - July 28, 2009
I imagine you have had the experience of being called to serve and had mixed feelings about saying, “yes – here I am – willing to do your bidding!”  When God calls...
HERE I AM, Vol 8 No 27 (Part 1) - July 20, 2009
Consider these life-changing moments as recorded in Scripture: God called to Abraham saying, ...
PRECIS, Vol 8 No 26 - June 29, 2009
A précis is a condensation, a short summary of the main points of something.  Psalm 73 offers....  
THE LORD IS NEAR, Vol 8 No 25 - June 22, 2009
Do you know of Christians who disagree with one another? I know you do!  Writing the Philippians...
SEND AND BE SENT, Vol 8 No 24 - June 15, 2009
Summertime is frequently a time of moving. Graduates from high school and college may move to a new life in new location. People take jobs in other communities and so on.
PROMISES, Vol 8 No 23 - June 9, 2009
When our children were little we learned how literally they took our words.
BE GLAD, Vol 8 No 22 - June 1, 2009
Do you ever feel jealous when another gathering of God’s people is growing?
MERCY, Vol 8 No 21 - May 26, 2009
The Psalms teach us that David at one time was proud of his life and other times immensely sad concerning his own behavior. How about you?
POSITIONING, Vol 8 No 20 - May 18, 2009
Think of the times you have found yourself with someone who went on to have a great impact on your life or you a great impact on his or her life.
GOD'S TASTE AND SEE, Vol 8 No 19 - May 12, 2009
Where do you find hope when your life is in a world of hurt?  
GOD'S FIREWORKS, Vol 8 No 18 - May 5, 2009
Driving through the suburbs of northern Virginia on a rainy day, my mind and mood centered on a number of pressing matters when I was suddenly aware of the brilliantly, beautiful, spring blossoms on every side of the road.  
HELPER, Vol 8 No 17 - April 27, 2009
Imagine you are Wile E. Coyote tearing down a road after the Road Runner when all of a sudden the Road Runner with a “Beep Beep” zips straight up just as a glass wall pops up on the roadway and you smash right into it – and you slowly slide down the glass and on to the roadway.
WHEN YOU TURN, Vol 8 No 16 - April 21, 2009
What are you to do after our Lord carries you through a rough time?  
PRAYED FOR!, Vol 8 No 15 - April 13, 2009
Have you ever felt sifted like wheat?
THE MAGNIFICENT GAP, Vol 8 No 14 - April 7, 2009
The apostle John marvelously captures the drama of Easter morning when he (assuming he is the “other disciple”) and Peter race to the tomb.  
JESUS' TEARS, Vol 8 No 13 - March 30, 2009
We know of two times Jesus wept. Do you know what they are?
INTO JESUS, Vol 8 No 12 - March 23, 2009
Last week we looked at the interesting way the Gospel of John in the Greek language speaks of believing “into” Jesus and not simply believing “in” Jesus as it appears in English translations.
BELIEVE INTO, Vol 8 No 11 - March 17, 2009
Dozens of times in the Gospel according to John we read the words “believe in.”
GUIDANCE, Vol 8 No 10 - March 10, 2009
 Last week I wrote of mulling over whether to try to make a scheduled flight or re-book for the next day knowing a major snow storm was coming.
GOD'S WILL, Vol 8 No 9 - March 3, 2009
On Sunday, knowing a major snow storm was heading into the area, I drove to church mulling over whether to stick with an airplane flight scheduled to depart right after the storm was to end or push it back one day.   
OUR STILL POINT, Vol 7 No 14 - April 1, 2008
Years ago, poet T.S. Eliot made famous the phrase, “the still point of the turning world.”