We were singing “Revelation Song” in church last week, a song I love because of the lyrics. I will attach the song at the end, but the chorus is what caught my attention, especially the bolded line below.


​
Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord, God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come, yeah
With all creation I sing, praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Numerous verses sprung to mind about creation, and so knowing I wanted to write this blog, I first searched for an appropriate image to accompany it. It was futile.

No one image could show all of creation. I then searched for a montage of images, but all of those fell short as well. Nowhere could I find one graphic that could encompass the mountains, deserts, oceans, plains, bayous, rivers, lakes, … then add to that every bird, animal, fish, insect, … then throw in the planets and stars and . . . well, it only made that one line “with all creation I sing” even that much more impressive. 

Which then took me to the truth of Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.”

Multiple Old Testament and New attest to the sovereignty of God in creation. (See verses below.) 

No wonder when the Pharisees demanded Jesus to silence his followers as they praised him as the “king who comes in the name of the Lord” Jesus responded:
​

I tell you . . . if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Luke 19:40

And the trees, and the birds, and the stars . . . . If even the most inanimate object attests to a God who creates all and to the truth of who Jesus is, how does anyone, anyone, attribute creation to anything else but God Almighty. 

* * * * *

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:1-4

O Lord, how manifold are your works!
    In wisdom have you made them all; Psalm 104:24

This is what God the Lord says--
the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
    who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
    who gives breath to its people,
    and life to those who walk on it: 
— Isaiah 42:5 (NIV)

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
    Tell me, if you know so much.
Who determined its dimensions
    and stretched out the surveying line?
What supports its foundations,
    and who laid its cornerstone
as the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels shouted for joy? Job 38:4-7

By faith we understand that the universe has been created by a word from God so that the visible came into existence from the invisible. 
— Hebrews 11:3 (CEB)

I have just returned from a surprise birthday celebration for my cousin. 

To put all of you at ease, it was a huge success, and yes, she was totally caught off guard. 

While there were many . . . many of her friends there, I was focused on our family’s reaction: a family whose ages ranged from 2 to 92 at this particular event. 

Some family members had traveled miles and across states to be there, and international members joined by Zoom. The excitement was palpable even before the guest of honor arrived. We were so excited to be a part of both the surprise and the celebrating. And as you can see by the picture, the youngest members showered adoration on their grandmother and she bestowed unrestrained love on them. 


We are not a family that has not suffered hurts from each other: unkind words or inconsiderate actions and at times rejection. All families have to deal with such actions. But all of those indiscretions had been — if not forgotten — at least put aside, as the family joined together not only to celebrate the honoree but each other. Over the course of the party and subsequent family get together — the older took an interest in the younger members, to applaud their successes and offer encouragement for the future. And the younger listened to the older. They showed respect and deference. 

It was the way families should be — at all times. I pray it continues.

And that reminded me that this is how the family of God — the church — is supposed to interact. The young respect, help, honor the elder members; the elder love on, take an interest in, and encourage those younger.

Unfortunately, our ages often create divisions (in music, activities, priorities) and isolation. 

Romans 12:10 reminds us to “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” (ESV)

And Philippians 2:3-4 tells us to “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others.” (ESV)

Paul wasn’t saying to be a doormat and let everyone else’s wishes supersede our own because he does say to look to our own interests but to look at them in light of others’ as well.  However, when our motives are born out of selfishness, superiority, or entitlement, then discord among God’s family begins.

Let’s do our best to sow harmony.

Now that might have caught the attention of some of you — whether out of judgement or with a smile. But no, this blog is not about cocktails.

I am a native Californian. I have lived in some part of California all of my life (save for a couple of very early years in Missouri) and as a Californian you learn to live with certain realities: droughts, wildfires, and earthquakes. 

Of the three, only one comes without any warning—an earthquake. Most are mild, ranging from 2.5 to 4.9, and cause little damage—just a slight ground shaking though at the upper end dishes might fall and the windows might rattle. But no danger.

But the more severe earthquakes can cause much damage. Besides buildings collapsing, water and gas mains can be damaged, landslides, fissures, and fires may develop, and tsunamis can cause destruction many miles away from the epicenter. 

Earthquakes can have devastating and far-reaching affects. 

We live in a world of earthquakes: political, moral, communal, familial. Our world is not stable as we all can attest, and to trust or seek our security in anything whose foundation is on this earth, no matter how “earthquake-resistant” we believe it might be, is futile.

King David knew this as he wrote Psalm 62 when he was dealing with false friends and  political upheaval during Absalom’s rebellion and he himself was extremely vulnerable. Yet, he doesn’t turn to money or help from other powers. Instead, he recognizes that God is the only stable foundation — God alone — not God and something. And because of that he could stand firm and not be shaken. While everything else would be affected by the quake — could be shaken — God could not.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. Psalm 62:2

Likewise, we can claim that same stability. Instead of being shaken by these outside forces, the Holy Spirit stirs within us, giving us power, love, self-control — not fear (2 Timothy 6:1-8) The Holy Spirit will teach and remind us of all that Jesus said (John 14:26), and help us to rejoice during difficult times, knowing that trusting in God alone leads to perseverance, character, hope, love. (Romans 5:3-5)

​We have the promise of being stirred by the Holy Spirit not shaken by a volatile world.

Isn’t it interesting and comforting how God cares about every aspect of our lives?

Take our words. There is more to them than just their meaning.

A word’s sound and form have power and purpose as well.

Alliteration, consonance, and assonance — the repetition of consonant or vowel sounds — create cohesion or rhythm or music or mood.

And then there is the form of the word itself. Is the word closed, a moment unto itself like “stop”? Short and tight and over in a moment, just like the word suggests? Or is the word open from beginning to end like “alleluia” or “hallelujah”— “God be praised.”

We were singing a worship song last week in church when we came to this word, and I realized that there is no way to sing “alleluia” with only a portion of your being.

It begins with a full, open mouthed, vowel sound and ends the same way with only one full consonant sound, the L, which is rich and mellow and moves you along until the Y sound pushes you home. You can’t sing this song half-heartedly, the word won’t allow it. You must sing it from the core of your being.

And isn’t that the way it should be? Whether Greek or Hebrew. Whether Alleluia or Hallelujah, the word requires us to fully engage. God be praised! 

Please enjoy one of my favorite artists, Lauren Daigle, and one of my favorite songs of hers — “Let it be a Hallelujah.”

Lord willing, this year I will be entering a new decade of life. And with that comes excitement, reflection, and enough discouragement and disappointment to taint the first two.

When we are entering our twenties, the whole world of possibilities is open to us, and we dream with abandon. 

In our thirties, most likely we have narrowed our career opportunities down, having tried and jettisoned various options.

Our forties? We have probably settled into a career and are now looking to move forward and make our mark.

But somewhere around fifty and as we grow older, we begin to realize that perhaps there is not enough time to do all that we had hoped to do. We remember lost opportunities, opportunities that never materialized in the first place, or those that we might now be too old to pursue. These reflections only increase as the years past. And sometimes we feel a bit like a failure, like we really haven’t accomplished much over the years.

But . . .

One of the most beloved Christmas movies is It’s a Wonderful Life — the story of a young man who because of life circumstances and personal decisions is derailed  from his life’s dreams and puts him on a path he hadn’t wanted to take. As his career crumbles around him because of someone else’s actions, the weight of this failure crushes him, and he decides the world would be better off without him, so he resolves to jump off the bridge into the swirling river below. Until . . . Clarence.

We all know the story. Clarence reruns his life for him, and even though it was not the one he had hoped and dreamed of, there was no mistaking that the life he did live, the decisions he did make, the person he did become was invaluable to those around him.

Wherever we are in life—whatever age —whatever circumstances—we need to remember that nothing is wasted with God. He uses everything to either bring us to Him or to sanctify us and bring Himself glory.

We need to remember that what we deem as lost opportunities have been either redesigned into new opportunities or were the original opportunities to begin with.

Remember Jeremiah 29:11 states that just as He had with the Israelites, He knows the plans has for us, “plans to prosper [us] and not to harm [us], plans to give [us] hope and a future.”

And perhaps we need to be reminded of Proverbs 19:21 as well that says, ”Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

As 2025 ends, let's not look back over the year or years with disappointment on what didn’t happen. Instead, let's praise God for what He has done and the role we played even if we are not aware of it. 

And as 2026 unfolds let’s remember "We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps” Proverbs 16:9.

Happy New Year!