In Spirit and Truth

"Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white." —Matthew 17:1-2 Peter, James, and John were in the inner circle. Jesus would tell and show them things that he didn’t reveal even to the other disciples. They went everywhere with him. They saw the masses fed, the sick healed, and the dead raised. Jesus was doing things that only the prophets of God had ever done before. It was clear to them that Jesus belonged in the ranks of the holiest men known to history. But for all that they had seen, nothing could prepare them for that day on the mountain. They expected this was just another "small group meeting." They would pray for one another and for the Kingdom of God. Can you imagine their surprise when before their very eyes Jesus was transformed before them? He shown like the sun, and

"I wash my hands in innocence, and go around your altar, O Lord, singing aloud a song of thanksgiving, and telling all your wondrous deeds." —Psalm 26:6-7 The calendar moves on, and we are quickly closing in on my favorite time of the year—Lent. It may seem odd that a time of repentance and fasting would be anyone’s favorite time. What good can come from focusing on our faults for 40 days? No good can come from us simply looking for all of our faults. It can only bring depression and malaise. But Lent is not a time to focus on our shortcomings, rather it is a time to focus on Christ, and on his sacrifice for us. Then, with an attitude of grateful joy, we look to ourselves and see how we might become more like him. This should be a hopeful time, a time of overflowing gratitude for what Christ has done for us. I invite you to participate in all of our Lenten opportunities this year. With all of the emotional heaviness we experience in our culture, this season is a great

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." —Philippians 4:4-8 Norman Vincent Peale once wrote about the Power of Positive Thinking. He believed that simply having a good attitude about things could improve your circumstances. It has never quite worked that well for me. Trying to drum up a positive attitude can prove to be difficult. I'm a "hope for the best, plan for the worst" kind of a guy, so it is fairly dif