Author: William Douthwaite

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

A sermon interrupted

Posted on by William Douthwaite
From Gospelimages.com

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Mark 2.

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. (Mark 2:2-4)

This unusual sermon interruption brought back memories of some of my interrupted sermons.

  • My sermons usually began about twenty minutes into the worship service. When someone walked in after I started preaching, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Really? Twenty-five minutes late?”
  • Some sermons were interrupted by the arrival of EMTs to care for a worshiper who passed out during the sermon. In those cases, I would stop and lead the congregation in prayer, resuming my sermon once they had left for the emergency room.
  • A malfunctioning fire alarm panel would punctuate my preaching with a series of beeps. It was both annoying and amusing to see folks scrambling around trying to silence the alert.
  • Except for a few Covid-19 Sundays when I was alone in the sanctuary preaching to a video camera, I could count on hearing sneezing, coughing, nose blowing, and candy being unwrapped.
  • My favorite interruption was one I engineered. When my wife was in Haiti providing medical care after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, I had her call me during the sermon so she could report on her experience. That was the only time my phone rang during a sermon.
  • Before online giving, some folks wrote out their offering checks during the sermon. They tried to be quiet, but I could hear them slowly and carefully tearing the check out of the checkbook.
  • On a stormy day, I often had to compete with rumbling thunder and the sound of a downpour on the sanctuary’s metal roof.
  • Babies liked to make their presence known. I love babies and I love babies in worship. Bring it, little one. I’ve got a lot of volume in reserve.

The sound of people tearing a hole in the roof interrupted Jesus’s preaching. The paralyzed man from above encountered the son of God who came from above. Jesus forgives the man and heals his condition, as powerful a message as his preaching that day.

According to my WordPress statistics, this is my 2,000th blog post! I published my first post October 23, 2008.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Are you ready for this?

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Anyzoy studio on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Mark 1.

“Prepare the way of the Lord” (Mark 1:3).

I have painted my share of inside and outside walls over the years. I can attest to the fact that preparation is at least half of the job.

Let’s say my task is to paint the front bedroom of my home, which measures 12 foot square. I first need to get all the furniture out of the way, and everything off the walls. That includes the curtains, blinds, and hardware that goes along. Next, I have to fill in all those holes in the wall were nails used to be. After they are filled, I sand the spot smooth and spray the area with wall texture.

What’s next? I tape off the baseboards and spread out the drop cloths. Once that’s done, I wipe off the walls and let them dry. I’ll be cutting in all the trim next, so I make sure that I have the right brush along with a few rags. Oh, and of course, I spread out my drop cloths. Because guess what? I’m a little sloppy when I paint. When I’ve got enough paint, rollers and covers, I’m ready to get to work.

Bottom line? I spend much more time preparing to paint a room than I do for the Lord’s arrival.

I hear “Jesus is coming!” from every angle. Songs and sermons say it’s going to happen any minute. History tells me our predictions will be wrong. Scripture says, “Be ready!”

So how do I get ready for a certain event that will happen at a completely unknown moment in time?

I study to get ready for a test. I run lots of miles to get ready to run a marathon. I clean every nook and cranny of my home when we’re expecting guests. I put all my ingredients in small bowls before I begin cooking. I practice my part over and over again before the concert.

What do I do in preparation for the Lord’s arrival?

Most of the time, I do nothing. I pray for his activity, and then I’m surprised when he shows up. I’m shocked when he heals, reconciles enemies, overwhelms demons, and gives new life. Rather than being prepared, I’m surprised by his powerful presence.

Prepare to be surprised. Prepare for the unexpected.

Prepare for grace.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

I don’t believe it!

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Some “through the Bible” thoughts from Matthew 28.

In the aftermath of Jesus’s resurrection, the disciples gather in Galilee, where they see the Lord one more time before his ascension into heaven.

“But some doubted” (Matthew 28:17).

What did they doubt? There’s no denying the resurrection. Jesus is standing right there. It wasn’t the first time they had seen the risen Christ.

Most commentators say that it was more like a, “I don’t believe it” kind of moment when they saw him.

At last weekend’s fall festival, I looked up from our vendor booth and saw a couple I hadn’t seen in twenty years! Together we mouthed, “I don’t believe it!” We didn’t doubt the reality of the moment. This blast from the past wasn’t on our radar.

But this was forty days after that Sunday when they first saw the risen Lord. They hadn’t processed it yet? They were still in shock? Some still thought it was too good to be true?

Maybe their doubts were about the future. Now what? There were lies about the disciples stealing Jesus’s corpse. They may have been safer in Galilee than Jerusalem, but for how long? Nothing was certain. After three amazing years, maybe they should just go back to doing what they did before.

“Could have,” “Should have,” and “Knew I shouldn’t have,” show up in the best and worst moments of life , and everywhere in between. Did you pay too much? Should you have said something? Or kept your mouth shut? Should you have showed up? Or just stayed home? Did you do your best?

Any of us can second-guess ourselves to death. So Jesus’s next words are important: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (28:18). Rather than doubting, over-thinking, or second-guessing, listen to him. He’s got the last word.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Sweet (sleepy) hour of prayer

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Some “through the Bible” thoughts from Matthew 26.

“So, could you not watch with me one hour?” (Matthew 26:41)

The disciples snooze as Jesus prays in the garden of Gethsemane. What do you think? Is an hour of prayer a long time or a short time?

I guess it depends. I’ve tried to listen and keep my focus as someone said a long, involved prayer before we sat down to eat a meal. The prayer went far beyond, thanking God for food, and the friends who were gathered, praying for healing, peace, church, and numerous other issues. Those five minutes seemed like a very long time to me.

On the other hand, I remember taking tests that had a one hour time limit. That hour passed by so quickly. I could’ve used a little more time to go back over some of my answer answers.

At the airport, a one hour flight delay seems to take forever. I wander around get some coffee find a snack and still have 15 minutes to wait.

When we’re driving somewhere small voices from the backseat say how long till we get there? There are lots of grounds when I say an hour. Even though I might know where I’m going, I’ll bring the GPS up on the screen so it can tell them how much farther we have to go.

Some people feel the need to include some doctrine statements in their prayers, probably more for the benefit of those listening. We want to make sure that people know what it is that we believe. To me that seems kind of redundant, since God knows what I believe.

In conjunction with a fundraising effort for sanctuary, our church had a 24 hour prayer vigil. People signed up for an hour slot and came to the church to pray, as we suck God‘s blessings not just for a new building, but our church’s ministry. Not many people wanted to be there between three and four in the morning, so that’s the slot that I took. I have to to admit it seemed like a very long hour to me.

I guess that’s because I tend to get to the point. When I’m called upon to pray before a meal or to begin or close a Bible class, I generally say what I can in one breath. I can usually capture the essence of my thoughts in 20 words or less. But that’s just me.

But the same token an hour of prayer doesn’t have to consist of your words. That sweet hour of prayer could also involve reading God’s word, hearing God’s word, thinking about God’s word, and listening. I believe we pay attention to God‘s half of the conversation when we pray. I do find that hour in the morning of reading my Bible, journaling, praying, thinking, and planning my day does go by pretty quickly.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

I have a question for you

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Edwin Andrade on Unsplash

Once Jesus goes public by riding a donkey into Jerusalem as the king predicted in the Old Testament, challenges to his authority come from all directions.

  • Pharisees ask, “Should we pay taxes to Caesar? (Matthew 22:17)
  • The Sadducees ask about marriage in heaven (22:28).
  • A lawyer asks, “What’s the greatest commandment in the law?” (22:36)

They weren’t curious, though. They weren’t seeking answers to difficult questions. They were trying to trip up the one who claimed to be the Son of God. They wanted to discredit him, at the very least getting him to incriminate himself.

I’ve heard many say that when they get to heaven, they’ll have lots of questions for Jesus. In this world there’s much we don’t understand about tragedy, conflict, and death. We just want a moment with the one we know is omniscient.

I doubt we’ll have many questions once we get to see Jesus face-to-face. I believe we’ll forget about all that in the awe and joy of being with him. We may see very clearly what we now see dimly. Plus, we’ll remember that Jesus often replied with questions of his own. Or he told a story about farmers, fishermen, birds, and flowers.

In John’s visions of heaven in Revelation, people from every culture don’t gather around the Lamb for a Q & A. They’re there to worship. Maybe there’s something to that old bumper sticker, “Jesus is the answer.”

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

What’s in it for me?

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Yorgos Ntrahas on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Matthew 19.

It was a shock to hear Jesus challenge a rich young man to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow. The disciples paid close attention when Jesus spoke of how hard it was to get rich people into his kingdom. Peter responds, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” (Matthew 19:27)

We know exactly where Peter is coming from. We wonder, no more than that, we need to know, “What’s in it for me?” Is it worth it. What’s the return on my investment?

Why should I exercise? Why should I eat healthy? Why should I take the medication? Why should I care about someone else? Why do I have to learn this in school? When will I ever use it?

Of course, we’ve been conditioned to respond this way. If you eat your green beans, you’ll get dessert. After you clean your room, you can play with your friends. You get an allowance, but you’ve got to do your chores each week. If you want a starting spot on the team, you’ve got to show up and practice hard. Those who follow the rules of the road don’t get traffic tickets.

So why follow Jesus? Why trust in him? Why do what he says? What’s the payout?

Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life” (19:28-29)

When most of us read this, we like the idea of eternal life. But we really like the idea of receiving a hundred times what we’ve given up. That’s a 10,000% return on your investment! That’s nothing to sneeze at. Wouldn’t this be a great place to begin a prosperity gospel ministry?

Unfortunately, greed causes us to misinterpret that promise. Jesus also said that life doesn’t consist of an abundance of possessions.

So what is Jesus talking about here? What did he want the disciples to take home with them? Maybe this is his way of saying that the rewards are far beyond anything you could ask or imagine!

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

The Goat

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Florian van Duyn on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Matthew 18.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matthew 18:1)

I don’t have to look far or listen very long to find a discussion about who is the greatest. From “Who’s the greatest baseball (feel free to substitute your sport of choice here) player of all time?” to “Who was the greatest United States president?” we love to debate greatness.

The Sweet Bite is a gormet cookie shop in down town Bar Harbor, Maine. All they sell is a selection of eight large cookies for $7 or $8 a piece. As purveyors of custom iced sugar cookies, we were curious, “What’s your best selling cookie?” The owner, taking a fresh batch out of the oven told us, “By far, chocolate chip.” Interesting. While red velvet white walnut and white chocolate pistache sound fancy, I’ve never considered chocolate chip to be “gourmet.” By the same token, I’ve wondered vanilla would be the most ordered ice cream flavor, when there are so many others to choose from.

There’s nothing like a little competition among friends, right? Of course the disciples debated who was the greatest. Here they bring the matter to Jesus. He doesn’t really answer the question. (He rarely does.) Instead, he calls their attention to a child. “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (18:4).

Jesus could have easily pointed them to himself. “Hey, guys, I’m sitting right here.” Instead he focuses on a child, who in the culture had little status, value, or influence. But in God’s kingdom, they are the most significant.

Unless we grasp the humility of Jesus, we’ll never understand true greatness. He was born as a child. He emptied himself of divine status to become a servant. A relationship with God begins with understanding that he is our Father and we are his children.

Rather than constantly comparing ourselves to others, hoping to move up a few spots on the greatness list, we do better to recognize the greatness of the “least.”

The apostle Paul described himself as the least of the apostles and the least of all the saints. He considered himself the chief of sinners. That was the only place he truly excelled. Someone’s got to finish at the bottom of the class, right? Imagine applying to college and having to list your class rank as 838 out of 838?

But that’s the point. In God’s eyes you are great because of his love not your performance. If he truly is the King of kings and Lord of lords, there’s no question who is the greatest. And if he’s willing to give up his life for you, there’s no question how much you mean to him.

Posted in cookies, lessons, Life

We learned a lot at our first vendor event

Posted on by William Douthwaite

After about a year of making custom iced sugar cookies for birthdays, showers, weddings, and holidays, we decided to sell as a vendor at a fall festival. The one we picked was a big one, with a big up front fee, and a big historic crowd. We baked, decorated, and wrapped up hundreds of fall and Halloween cookies that were sure to sell like hotcakes.

That event never happened. Weather predictions, which in Florida are always accurate (lol), called for severe thunderstorms that weekend, so on Wednesday we got the message that it was rescheduled for February. February? None of what we baked would keep till or sell in February. We got our fee back, but what about all those cookies?

We hurriedly discounted our inventory for some of our faithful customers and were able to sell a decent amount of product. But driving through town, we saw a sign for another fall festival at a local private school. When I stopped in the front office, they told me they had no room for any more vendors. But when I stopped back a second time with some sample cookies, we were in!

The festival was just four hours for a single day, probably a better first time event for us. The morning was gray and drizzly, but we headed over with our tables, tent, and cookies, setting up in the school parking lot with lots of other vendors.

We got our tent, tables, banners, and cookie displays set up in about forty-five minutes. I thought our set up looked nicer than most of the others around us. Maybe I’m partial, but we had nice colors, displays, and banners. In any event, we were ready for the onslaught of cookie lovers!

We didn’t sell out, but we didn’t do badly for our first time out. Our most popular cookies were traditional ones, like peanut butter, chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, and one with M&Ms. We sold some of the printed and decorated iced sugar cookies, but not as many as we thought.

Many people came by and asked, “Are those all cookies?” Yeah, that’s all we sell! I guess some of the square cookies printed with fall designs looked like coasters. We also had lots of princesses, unicorns, and mermaids, along with sports themed cookies. Add to that lots of “drip” baseball, soccer, and football designs, and we had everything kids were looking for.

A good number of people asked about custom orders and took business cards. We saw several families I haven’t seen in years with kids who had grown up so quickly. I think the best part of the day was talking to people from the school, the community, and other vendors.

As I expected, we learned a lot from our first vendor event.

Most people paid with cash. But I also learned how to work the hardware to accept credit card payments. Some used their card for a two dollar purchase.

Basic cookies sold well. The seasonal cookies didn’t really make a splash. Cute cookies did ok. It’s really hard to figure out what people will buy. When you’re selling a product with a short shelf life, that’s important!

Our set up and tear down was easier than we thought. There are a few things we want to get for a better display next time.

I enjoyed this first vendor event. I liked talking with people and talking about our product and how we made everything. We didn’t expect to make a lot of money. Some of the day was for exposure, to secure future orders.

We asked a lot of people what we should make and how much would sell. The many different answers we got didn’t help at all. I’ll bet any vendor has great days and awful days, without much rhyme or reason. It’s all part of the adventure.

If you’ve read this far, you probably want to learn more about and order our cookies. Just go to backseatgracebakery.com!

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

From small to large (and everywhere in between)

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Crystal Jo on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Matthew 14 and 15.

In quick succession, two people desperately ask Jesus for help in these chapters. Peter, distracted by the storm, learns that walking on water isn’t as easy as it looks. When he cries out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus grabs his hand and gets him back in the boat (Matthew 14:30-31). Soon after a Canaanite woman with a demon possessed daughter begs Jesus, “Lord, help me.” Jesus instantly heals her daughter.

They both needed Jesus’s help. But while Jesus says to Peter, “O you of little faith” (14:31) he says to the woman, “Great is your faith!” (15:28). Both did the right thing in a dire situation. Both knew only Jesus could help them. Neither one deserved Jesus’s help. Peter should have kept his eyes on Jesus. The woman wasn’t one of the lost sheep of Israel Jesus came for.

What makes the different between “little” faith and “great” faith? It can’t be quantity. Jesus taught that faith the size of minute mustard seed can move mountains. It’s never about quantity. It’s always about the object of your faith.

Was it her persistence and humility? “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” (15:27). Was it Peter’s bold challenge, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water” (14:28)?

I don’t have an answer. I just know on any given day, faith fills my field of vision, while on others, my faith tank seems to be empty. However, the object of my faith is the constant. He’s there regardless of the size of my faith.