The Wolfe Den

I ended my Saturday by having dinner with my dear friend tonight. She is brilliant. A self made biblical scholar who actually does her best to be a disciple of Christ. I admire her so much and her opinion and input is something I consider priceless.  After a much needed kick in the butt and a pat on the head from our time together I was drawn to pray.   I guess God finally recalculated my GPS because as soon as I said amen, I was drawn to a passage in scripture- "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs--beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity.” Matthew 23:27 I had to ask myself am I a whitewashed tomb? Short answer, sort of. I am trying. I can say that much. I am doing my best to follow God and do the basics. But I have been apprehensive to go that step further and do what I know God wants me to do. And God wants me to do it without...

Not all who wander are lost. That is what was ringing in my head as I was underscoring some discussion topics in Deuteronomy for a bible study discussion. It was causing me to reflect on how we do not hit our destinations because we do not let God lead and we neglect to do what he says. Then I finished the thought, Not all who wander are lost, they just want to argue over the directions or they want to be driven.   How often have you not trusted your GPS? Personally, it is more times than I can count.  On more than one occasion I have said, “That can’t be right.  This place is in an opposite direction,” and completely disregard the machine.  My other favorite is when I say, “That is near this other place I know how to get there!” and then I don’t even turn the machine on! If you know me you laugh at this because I have a terrible sense of direction.  Living in NKY it took me years to know the difference between 18 and 42. I had to always ask, is thi...

Between Sunday school and church services I get a few hours of God time :-)  That being said, I wish I could say that I really sat in the scripture from yesterday's sermon.  However, I did not.  I did continue along with the same school of thought the pastor took us on (preserve the things that matter). That school of thought, strangely, led me to thoughts of technology today. Around a decade ago social media and text messaging were non existent. Email was gaining popularity as a means of communication, however, most communication was still done by telephone and hand written letters.  Chances are, your main means of communication did not involve a send button. The evolution of communication has brought us to a point that we feel if we feel it or think it then the entire world must know of it.  We can broadcast it to the world instantly if we choose or we can simply "put someone in their place" with an email or text message. In other ...

I was watching a story yesterday on a cable channel on the staff of Moses.  The show itself was poppycock and the main driver of the thing was a complete hack, but none the less, it made me reflect yesterday on the discussion lesson from Sunday school this past week. We are finishing up the book of Daniel, using a Beth Moore study, and we are in the second half that deals with prophecy. Trying to decide which piece to pick up and discuss from such a big confusing mess was difficult, but I found myself focusing on the point of Moses' burial. So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him...... Deuteronomy 34:5-6a Wait??? The God buried Moses? Is that right?  I cross checked Beth Moore and sure enough, there it was.  It is amazing how something like that can escape us as significant.  But I assure you it is and there is a lesson for us today, as I found out. God buried Moses....

My bible is filled with notes and agape.  It is actually a journaling bible with spaces designed for writing in the margin.  This is important because I write down notes on sermons, bible studies and times of reflection.  Most of the time I date them and indicate why it was significant.  It is awesome to thumb through and find them and remember that moment and then see the outcome.  I stumbled across a passage this morning that I found impactful almost a year ago, it was the 5th of January last year.  My only note attached to this line was "answer to prayer on feeling lost."  A few things happened around this time that made me pretty bitter and made me questions my decision of a church home. I would be lying if I said that this is still not a struggle, even today. "'I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued my faithfulness to you.  Again, I will build you and you shall be built." Jeremiah 31:3-4 I had to seriou...

Discipline? Yep, you read that right! I am not talking about flogging or self mutilation.  I am talking about restraint and saying yes to only the right things. In a lot of my reflection my biggest issues in life and faith come down to lacking self discipline.  Drawing on my limited knowledge of John Wesley and the Methodist way, I really think there is some genius in having a "method" in regards to your spirituality and your life in general.  This year is probably going to be a struggle as I try to navigate this path, especially in the beginning as I seek a "method" that truly works for me.    With kids and a busy schedule I have had a hard time staying focused and centered in on the important things.  Many people have told me over the years to get up earlier and read scripture, enjoy quiet and sip a cup of coffee before the kids wake up.  It is not that I would scoff at that idea, I just did not see the practicality in it.  I felt ...