Stephen De La Vega

I started writing this post before the killing of George Floyd . We were still grieving Ahmaud Arbery’s senseless murder . We cry, “Enough is enough.” We wonder when this wretched devaluing of life and livelihood will end. And we are justifiably angry. I don't normally mention people or current events in my posts. 'Always relevant' is my aim. But this is critical. It's serious. And it is, indeed, always relevant. I had planned to write about this topic before either of the two murders had occurred, so this is even more awakening for me as a writer. This is what I hold fast to and what I conclude from God’s sacred Word:   Everyone has value. Everyone is somebody. God cares about everyone. We should, too. When we hear about heartless killing, we get angry and we might even rise up and do something about it.   There’s a story about Jesus in John 2 where we imagine Him in a fit of rage. We imagine Him trashing the profiteering exploits of the wicked people who set u...

  Two arms, two legs, ten fingers, ten toes. Perfect! All is good in the maternity ward. Or so it seemed… When will the crying end? Why do the ‘terrible twos’ last more than a year? Why won’t they listen to me? How did they become friends with ________? Teenagers! Sometimes they grow up, but too many of them just get older. (Sigh) We’re not really cute, little bundles of joy underneath those chubby cheeks. That’s what the Apostle Paul would tell us: As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way o...

I used to think I was very patient. Any offense was water off my back.  If things didn’t work out, no big deal. ...Then my patience was tested.  This was some 30 years ago, so I don’t recall the circumstances, but I do remember the ego shock when it hit me:  I really did have a problem with patience. Since then, I’ve been tested and tested again, continuously, and I’ve fallen short.  I’m not the guy I so naively…and arrogantly…thought I was. The kind of patience I’m writing about is the kind that is associated with forbearance, forgiveness, understanding, gentleness, and self-control. It’s the kind of patience that directs a right response when we experience the unpleasantries of people. About a year ago, I shared with the men in our small group that various little things had been bothering me and I had trouble just letting them be. Some things should bother us as Christians, but these were not those things. A couple weeks later I shared the following...