Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭45‬:‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Seems simple enough.

But from birth, our human orientation is to sin, having a basic evil nature and propensity to do wrong.

“Turn to me…” acknowledges this and instructs us to turn AWAY from evil, thus coming eye to eye with the living God in whom salvation exists.

An informed, sober decision is the critical turning point each of us encounters with abandonment of all things we have been making gods in our lives.

Drugs, sex, money, work, relationships, ignorance, the list of impotent gods goes on.

That god-shaped void we all so desperately seek to fill can be fulfilled only with the truth, word, life and purpose of Jesus in whom we can finally live and have our being (Acts 17:28.)

Turn to me.

The most potent invitation you will ever receive.

R.S.V.P.

As culture wars heat up, society breaks down, and the two camps fortify their positions.

It’s harder and harder to find a little humor to lighten the load enough to make it bearable.

Truth is, I’m not sure making things bearable is even a noble goal any longer.

Issues once resolvable are now so poisoned and polarizing there’s no wiggle room for a giggle.

And while mirth has been my worth and contribution during decades of battles, I find that today’s kings no longer summon jesters for comic relief, but enlist them into a war of their own making or banishment altogether. 

This is what the Lord says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭44‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God’s authority over history and creation means everything begins with Him, and everything will culminate in Him.

The math:

First and last=only.

There IS no God apart from him despite efforts of the people at that time who were wasting their faith and worship on idols they were making in the same fires where they cooked their food and warmed themselves.

People have an innate need for god. It’s basic to all of us.

He is a jealous god who doesn’t tolerate replacement by cheap idols made with human hands and doesn’t take kindly to losing the hearts of those he created and possesses to powerless substitutes.

I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state the case for your innocence.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭25‬-‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What if confessing your sins was replaced by arguing the case for your innocence?

No attorney alive would take your case.

First, if you’re granted an audience with God to ‘clear the air’ so to speak, Jesus already lawyered-up on your behalf in a courtroom emptied since the day of your pivot.

He himself became your golden ticket and court is no longer in session.

As far as the east is from the west, your sins are remembered no more. While north and south each have a terminus at their poles, east and west endlessly circumnavigate the earth in relation to one another, demonstrating the endless distance between you and your sin.

So much clear cut evidence against you and yet no recollections of any of them except by you.

Erasure is the most wonderful gift but still so hard to wrap our heads around and accept.

Some mornings, choosing a single passage for my study and brief commentary is impossible.

Today for instance.

Like trout in a stocked pond, the book of Isaiah is loaded with life and promises bigger and better than the one before.

So today, without further ado, you pick which of these 3 gems stirs that something inside to take into your Monday this Holy Week.

I chose all of them because in THIS pond, there’s no limit.

I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭42‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭42‬:‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭42‬:‭1‬ NIV‬‬

750 years before Jesus’ birth, Isaiah knew.

One among hundreds of prophecies telling of the coming Messiah, this week we celebrate the triumphant entry into Jerusalem for what soon becomes his death and resurrection of eternal hope for all mankind.

Fulfilling prophecies from the Old Testament (e.g., Zechariah 9:9) it signifies the beginning of Holy Week with the waving of palm branches and shouting “Hosanna,” acknowledging Him as the Messiah and King.

Growing up Lutheran, our youth crafted hundreds of palm crosses worn by parishioners in remembrance of the day.

Today I’ll again make a few more to bless some close friends who never worn one before but have since obtained the privilege.

Hosanna in the highest!

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭28‬-‭30NIV‬‬

An estimated 2 billion people still remain behind the Jesus paywall.

The fact you’re reading this excludes you from that number who still never heard the story or know of its embedded invitation.

That places you in one of two camps and you can still switch sides up until the moment the music stops.

These days, having faith in anything is tough. So much deceit and manipulation has infiltrated every institution including our churches that trusting anything carries big risks and comes at a price.

I get it.

If my end game was merely to win for winning’s sake, the trust card would be my play at every move.

But salvation’s not a game and eternity’s a costly bet.

There’s only one suit that punches your ticket to everlasting life.

Read and trust in the word of God.

Faithful s always win.

The Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭29‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus’ return promises to be like a Michael Bay movie that happens in real time everywhere.

I trust we will have no better referent for that coming event which marks the end of this age.

The nice, gentle Jesus of our prayers and Sunday morning hymns returns in a sequel that wreaks disaster on those not choosing the kingdom over the world.

But…

He will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you, trust in the lord God forever, for the lord himself is the rock eternal.—Isaiah 26:3-4

So, the event awaited by history since time began will most certainly arrive in spectacular fashion, separating his sheep from the goats, the truly living from the dead, and an act of love by a jealous God to his faithful followers.

You wake up, and time has slipped away And suddenly it’s hard to find The memories you left behind Remember, do you remember?

It was 1975 and I was just shy of 16, counting myself lucky to have found a legally licensed friend to drive us both on double dates to sophomore prom.

As with all proms, it was themed after a popular song of the time. Paul Anka was big back then and “Times of your Life” had just hit Kasey Kasem’s top 10, earning it the theme of our adolescent gala.

Today at 64, single for 13 years, I heard the song again this past Sunday morning on the oldies station and sang along with all the memories wafted up from days gone by.

Back then, as adolescents with seeming immortality ahead as they often do, we thought it was all about us.

We’d understood the song to be about the hope of what lied ahead of us, not of one man’s reflection backward on those experiences which had already long passed into memory.

Tinkering along around the house as old men do, I was singing a song that brought back so many great memories of high school, while at the same time realizing it was truly a song of reflection on times and experiences long since passed.

And a lot has passed indeed.

Almost half a century.

I thought “So what do I have to show for those 50 years?” What have been those times of my life in particular that they say will race through your mind like celluloid as you wave and take your final bow only to retire your sore ash self dusted by family to the four winds over a favorite lake you once knew and remembered?

Apart from a knack for run-on sentences, a lot.

My list would first include people like my kids and grandkids, my family, my best friends, my dog, a few bosses, a few pastors, several complete strangers, all of whom might either not exist or whose lives and mine would otherwise be quite different without having spent at least some time or interactions with me. Indeed, they represent the most significant times of my life.

Next would be circumstances. My marriage, even my divorce, my family ad agency, my drug addiction, my recovery, my work with poor seniors and the homeless, and the times I spent writing stories about all these times of my life for others to experience.

Finally, I’ve spent much of my life urging my kids to “like things, and love people,” And as one who has given away 95% of my possessions as part of a purge while moving my residence, I condensed all things that ever mattered at all into a 5×5 storage space, which is still much more than I can take with me.

I’m not terribly thankful for the things I’ve accrued over half a century. In fact, I can’t think of any one item that has made any time of my life any more memorable.

Honest reflection makes gratitude easy.

At 64, I’m most thankful that the memorable people and memorable experiences, good and bad, are all that seem to matter anymore.

At 16 and self-centered with my whole life ahead of me, I never imagined that this time of my life would be the time of my life.

Good morning, yesterday.

30 years of looking left me one day short of locating my longtime best friend. At 12:19am 4 years ago this morning, Jodie notified me that Jim had passed in a California hospital just 6 hours earlier from a surgical infection.

For much of my 20s, Jim and I did everything together from hiking to biking to traveling and made some of the best memories up and down the west coast two quirky guys ever could.

I’d exhausted all leads many years back, resigned that maybe—or obviously—Jim just didn’t want to be found.

Turns out I’d been only 300 miles away and right on both counts.

His life was an inspiration for that wonderful decade of exploring our youth as single, available, adventurous young men.

I’ve assembled so much to tell him since, in hopes of finding him, if only he would have surfaced a little sooner.

But he was quiet, humble, unpretentious and always flew under the radar, never having coveted the spotlight nor celebration of anyone.

I’m told his final years were spent reclusive, likely fighting the mental health demons we’d discussed 40 years ago and about which I promised to never reveal for as long as I lived…but now wonder if that was the kind of promise that should ever be made or kept by a true friend.

Alas, I now have someone who I’m assured will be first in line to hug me at heaven’s gate soon enough.

I’d have loved to write a much longer story about our decade of friendship together but it wouldn’t be fair if he couldn’t read it first. So I’ll just keep that story inside me as a special parting gift from Jim.

Can’t wait to see you again man.