Lighthouse | Mysite

Lighthouse June 3, 2026

1+1+1=1

"Praise the holy trinity, undivided unity, holy God, mighty God, God immortal be adored." That refrain from one of my favorite hymns pretty well summarizes all we need to know about God. As Christians we adore only one God whom we describe as Trinity; whom He revealed Himself as simply ‘I Am Who Am’. How can we understand Him? How can we know Him? He is who He is. We probably know more what He isn’t than we do what He is. He simply IS. As such He has decided, as is the case in all love, to reveal Himself to some degree over the years. In the beginning of the Bible we hear the words ’let us make man in our image and likeness.’ Was he telling us then of His multiplicity of persons? When He appeared to Abraham to let him know he would have a child did He appear as three persons or was that three angels? What we know most we learn from Jesus Himself who said ‘the Father and I are one.’ ‘He who sees me has seen the Father.’ ‘It is necessary that I go to the Father for if I don’t I cannot send you the Holy Spirit.’ And, probably most sensually when Jesus was baptized we hear the voice of the Father say ‘this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.’ while the Holy Spirit appeared as a dove. Christians have always understood God as three persons. While there have always been attempts to explain such reality, they always come up short. There is the famous story of St. Patrick who describes the three petals on a clover leaf to the pagans as three independent leaves but one clover. However the individual leaves one would not call a clover. Some have tried to describe God as three ways in which water appears: liquid, ice, steam. But the reality is that there are three appearances of the same thing. God the father does not just appear in a human body as Jesus; Jesus is God, equal to the Father and the Spirit. Perhaps the closest we can come is based on the opening statement. God as a trinity of persons, pure love, who, always loving the other decided to create human beings as male and female taken from one substance and freely choosing to be one in giving themselves totally to each other thus reflecting the love of God in fulfilling the words of scripture ‘husbands, love your wives as God love His church.’ That unique, powerful love which makes them one finds ways of multiplying that love either in partnership with God creating another human to love or giving of themselves to enhance the love of others. Let us rejoice in the privilege which is ours to share in the very nature of God. And let us continue to offer all our prayers to the Father, in the name of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. The more we are willing to give of ourselves in the love of others the more we will know God.

Lighthouse May 27, 2026

Citizens of Heaven

This past Sunday we celebrated Pentecost. As we noted last week; we heard of tongues of fire coming down on the heads of all the apostles and then going out to the crowd speaking in all languages. They were made abundantly aware that the gospel was to go to all nations. In no sense was there ever the idea that there would be a worldwide oligarch, one person to rule the whole world as one country. No, rather that we were to go to all nations. Christians were constantly reminded that they were to be in the world and not of the world; they were to contribute to the good of whatever nation they were living in, recognizing that they were citizens of this world and of the kingdom Jesus established. Their home was in heaven. With that in mind, how do we look forward to the celebration of our 250th anniversary as a nation? Last week we celebrated a national day of prayer. We had a day long prayer at the capitol for God’s blessings on this nation. Next month the Catholic bishops of the country will dedicate the country to Jesus. And there will be many more celebrations coming which we should be glad to participate in. Celebrate all that is good. In March we celebrated the Irish with St Patrick Day, then Cinco de Mayo for Mexicans. That is all good. We can celebrate who we are without trying to destroy the good in other countries. As we look forward to July 4th we do well to be more especially aware of our gratitude to God and take more time asking for His blessings. As we look forward to July 4th let us not just see it as another four day weekend to indulge ourselves. Maybe each of us can be a catalyst in our own churches and encourage them to make a special hour of prayer reconfirming that we are: One Nation Under God. What a slogan, if we can live up to it. While God may bless us we each have to do our part. Can you imagine what this country really could be, and what others can be if we could invoke and be leaders in establishing a universal peace. One’s home, one’s city, one’s state, one’s country are all things to celebrate knowing that each one requires eternal vigilance. We must always be ready to root out the evil in our own lives in each of these areas if we truly desire to receive His greater blessings. Then rooting out our own evil let us truly be a blessing to the world.

Lighthouse May 20, 2026

Tongues of Fire Came Over Them

Certainly one of the strangest events of the beginning church. I wonder how many quickly looked around for the fire-extinguisher. All kidding aside, this Sunday we will be celebrating Pentecost Sunday. That was 50 days after the Resurrection which happens to coincide with the feast of weeks 50 days after Passover. Immediately that calls to mind Jesus telling us that the harvest is ripe but the laborers are few. It is about the harvest, the great command to go into the whole world and baptize in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit. And so, the church did indeed spread quickly to all the known world. So, what’s with the tongues of fire? As fire was a sign of God’s presence to Moses in the bush and later in the leading of the Jews through 40 years in the desert so now it is a visible sign of God’s anointing the apostles with His powers. Later on we would hear in Corinthians of other gifts, like the “working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” 1 Corinthians 12:10-11 RSV-SB. Later in chapter 12 we hear Paul saying that all do not have this gift. In another place he says it is better to speak a few words clearly rather than many others don’t understand or to use it as a prayer language in private. Whatever the context it did seem to be a real gift of the Spirit. Then, was it a real language as tongues means language and the people said “do we not hear them each in our own language” in Acts and yet we hear again in Corinthians if one speaks in tongues there needs to be an interpreter. As such it does seem to be both a known language or a language of the Spirit. Why was it not heard of for centuries? Basically Christians considered themselves speaking every language of the world.. Whatever the case, this original experience seems to have come alive again at the Azusa Street revival in 1906 in Los Angeles when believers prayed to know the original gifts. That seems to have sprung from an experience at a Bible College in Topeka , Ks. on Jan. 1, 1901. Today there are many throughout different denominations who have been open to this gift as primarily a prayer language. Whatever one’s experience Christians know that God and His gifts are real. Read Corinthians and don’t be afraid to pray for the different gifts.

Lighthouse May 13, 2026

Thou Shalt Not Kill

You know the commandments: Lk 18:20 ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ This has come up so frequently lately for me. Last week I was focused on participating in the Missouri Right to Life Annual Pro-life march in Jefferson City. We have a tremendous opportunity this year to enshrine anti-abortion, anti- baby killing into our constitution. Along with that we addressed the need to enshrine into law anti-euthanasia legislation as more and more want to be able to end the life of older people who have seemingly become a burden on society, or those who want to end their own lives because they have been led to believe they are such a burden. So why shouldn't one be free to end their own life through suicide? That has become a greater problem across the country. Recognizing the number of Viet Nam Vets who want to end their own lives has led the Navy to create a special program to intervene. And, isn’t it strange, we hear of social media programs actively leading young people to take their own life? This last week I was privileged to participate in a seminar for dealing with those who may have suicidal inclinations or how to recognize those inclinations in ourselves and be willing to reach out for help. The reality is, people don’t really want to kill themselves; they are just hurting so much they can’t see any other possibility for ending the pain. When the speaker asked if anyone knew where the favorite place in the United States for committing suicide was I answered ‘Golden Gate Bridge’ which was correct. It seems like a definite way. But some few have survived. And you know what? Recently, one jumper who claimed to have been an atheist claimed that during that nine second fall he wanted to change his mind. He survived and became a christian. The thing is, all who have survived realized they wanted to change their mind. So, how do we help? A century ago the church made it known that someone who committed suicide could not be buried in a Catholic cemetery. I know that seems so cruel but the intent was, with the force of the church’s authority, it was enough to dissuade a number of people from trying. They would think: “oh no, if I do this I won’t get buried with all my family.” Today we know most do not really want that and we have ways of recognizing the temptation. The biggest message I got out of the conference is: if someone is talking suicide, talk with them for at least 4 minutes and hopefully more. Accompany them to get help and call 988. Remember that number. Yes, the commandment ‘thou shall not kill applies to self as much as an enemy, or any other inconvenient life. Let us all help one another come to a fullness of life so that killing is never even thinkable. Let us truly love one another in that.

Lighthouse May 6, 2026

Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. But, what if someone never got to hear of Jesus? What if the Jesus they heard of was so misrepresented that they just couldn’t buy it? What about the young child or the child in the womb? Jesus does, after all say some very definitive things, like ‘unless you are born again of water and the holy spirit you will not enter the kingdom of God’, or ‘unless you eat the flesh of the son of man you will not enter the kingdom.’ I don’t have all the answers but I do know God is all loving and He loves each individual more than you and I can imagine. On the other hand He does have expectations. He wants to know that everyone in the kingdom truly wants to be there. Certainly we have to know that the normal way of entering the kingdom is to hear His call and choose to follow Christ. But beyond that I cant help but think He will give everyone a chance. Anyone seeking the truth who pursues that truth to the best they are able I would think, at the moment of death, recognize and accept Jesus as the fulfillment of that truth. If they are incapable of hearing the word I would think Jesus would give them the ability to know Him as He himself says ‘spirit speaks to spirit.’ We would also have to surmise that just because one dies at a super young age entering the kingdom would not be automatic as Jesus tells us ‘many are called but few are chosen.’ If one entered only because they were too young and innocent we would have to surmise that abortion might be the greatest thing that every happened. If the only purpose we have on earth is to get to heaven then they would have automatically achieved that. So we trust God gives them another way. On the other hand, if everyone who never heard of Christ had an automatic pass then what would be the need for evangelizing? What would have been the purpose of so many dying in order to bring the good news to others. In that case it would seem it is because it is part of the test of all who do come to know Christ. To fail to share that good news would be the greatest act of non love possible. As some say, ‘to share the good news is just one beggar showing the other where the food is.’ If in life, we knew where the food, the water, the life giving resources are and deliberately failed to share that with someone in need we become guilty of their bad health or death. So it is with evangelization. If we don’t love others enough to share the good news with them we don’t love them or really care enough for the good news

ourselves. Let us do all we can to bring others to Jesus and trust in His love and mercy to have a way for those we can’t reach.

Lighthouse April 29, 2026

Ps. 23 THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

Is there any more frequently chosen psalm than this for any funeral? I think we always find something so comforting in the idea of Jesus being a shepherd. We hear in Jn. 10 'the sheep hear his voice as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.' We think of the words in the great gospel song: 'we're poor little sheep who have gone astray, baa, baa, baa.' as if there is no accountability, no responsibility. As if we have gone astray through no fault of our own. So that, when the shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one lost one he can do nothing but put it on his shoulder and return it to the herd. We forget the next verse in John which says: 'He walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. To fail to do so is what we call 'sin'. There is a responsibility. There is a responsibility to always seek everything he says; to study the whole scripture which is his voice; so seek all truth, as he is the way and the truth. Jesus says that anyone who tries to get into the sheep fold in any other way is a marauder and thief; with the implication that they will be routed out. As we take comfort in the shepherd knowing each of our names let us remember it is about a relationship, a relationship of love so that we don't want to listen to any other voice as did Eve in the beginning. How can we not want to listen to His voice and follow closely in His steps where we not only find sure footage to arrive at the final destination but also have the constant joy of hearing the voice of one we love. Can we be lured away? You bet we can; just as Eve was when she heard those words: 'did God really say that?' I think of growing up and having to milk the cows. When I would go out to the milk barn and say 'suuuck cow' they would come running to be fed and milked. When I was gone for a while someone else began going to the field with a grain bucket in front of them and using a different call. When I came back to resume my responsibility they no longer responded to my saying: 'suuuck cow'. You and I can forget the call of Jesus by listening to the voice of the world drawing us away from worship by the lure of sports or some other distraction. Just as with Eve, it doesn't have to be sinful words, just words that lead us in a different direction than Jesus words. As we look forward to summer let us be committed to listening to the voice of the one we love.

Lighthouse April 22, 2026

In the Garden: Earth Day

Gen. 1:12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ...“Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.” Then in the second chapter of Genesis we hear this creation described as a garden. Adam and Eve had full control of it. They were given the privilege of sharing in God’s gift of creation by participating in its production. It was only after they were removed from the garden that that toil became a drudgery. I don’t know if you noticed, but when the scriptures present the resurrection it described the location as a garden. It was anything but a garden as you and I would understand but it indicated that Jesus was restoring us to a shared care of the earth. To live as a resurrected people is to recognize everything is a gift from God and we are being invited to share again in His creation. We need to continually re-evaluate the way in which we use the land, the water, the sky. There was a time when we thought we could sweep everything away by throwing it in the riverways. We finally became aware of how that misuse brought great sickness to ourselves and nature. We then discovered different chemicals which we thought would make our life better and are slowly discovering the tradeoffs. Many chemicals destroy something else. We have to use our knowledge of natural laws to truly balance out the trade-offs every chemical is going to have. I think of my cousin Billy Bader’s large peach grove and how he took a devastating hit from a new product called Decambra which was being used on neighboring crops before being fully tested. As we celebrate Earth Day let us rejoice in the privilege and responsibility which is ours and joyfully make sure everything we do is good for all around us. We are, after all, in His Garden.

Lighthouse April 15, 2026

Not Unless

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”.....a week later Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” As we continue to celebrate the resurrection these words come to us as a great support. Even though we don’t just say ‘we believe’, we know the resurrection to be a fact. And still, we might sometime wonder. Isn’t it wonderful that John gives us this little incident of Thomas’ doubt and calls him, Didymus, the twin. Who could he be referring to except us? Thomas leaves a lot of questions for us to fill in. why was he not with the other apostles by Sunday night? On Holy Thursday when Jesus was arrested did he totally disappear; perhaps afraid of being arrested as well? Did he dare to show up after dark on Sunday, seeing that the authorities were not going after the others, or was it a couple days later? Whatever the situation Thomas wanted to cross all his ps and qs before taking any more chances. In any case John seems to be calling him twin to draw us into the picture. How much are we like that? Wanting to make sure the coast is clear; make sure there is no great cost; make sure He has truly risen? We want to say we will believe in God when such and such happens; when He takes care of a certain problem for us. Jesus proceeds to point out that faith isn't like that. It might be natural, and even though He goes ahead and shows Thomas proof He also says 'blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.' I think you and I have more than a myriad of proofs of God's existence, of His love for the human race, of His love for us as individuals. Just look at the astronauts' responses after returning. There is so much out there if we are willing to see but as one grandmother told her granddaughter who was questioning how to know it is true she simply said: 'start living it and you will know it is true.' So it is for us. Sometimes we have to step out and live it first and you will know.

Lighthouse April 8, 2026

HE IS RISEN

Mt. 28:1ff 'Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And the angel of the Lord....appeared and said to the women..'Do not be afraid. I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for He has been raised from the dead. Come see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'he has been raised from the dead and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him.” He has been raised! You and I take that so much for granted now, having been raised in a culture which has known and professed this wonder for 2000 years. But, can you imagine what these women felt? They were going to give this body a proper preparation for burial. Jews and only began thinking there might be some sort of life after death. Even now, a Jewish woman I spoke with a few years ago simply said 'worms' when I asked her about death. She is now a Christian. But, till the time of Jesus most believed that if there were any kind of justice it would happen in this life or perhaps in your next generation. Some began believing that there was a place of the dead and somehow believing that everyone put into the ground was in some sort of shadowy holding room where there was room for the righteous Jews, the bad Jews and then all others. But, these women had been exposed to Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, and he would die again. A few of the apostles had been given the privilege of seeing Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus about his upcoming victory over death. But, as of yet they 'did not know what rising from the dead meant.' what does it mean? Jesus' resurrected body was able to be one place and then another quickly; pass through doors; eat fish; be visible as He ascended into heaven. Will our body be like that? We don't know. Scripture simply tells us that 'eye has not seen, nor has ear heard what God has in store for those who believe.' that is why I don't really spend too much time trying to dream what it might be like. It's beyond our imagining. Then, if it is so far beyond our imagining I can't help but think it will far exceed what most people seem to ask about: will I know my loved ones? Hey, if the apostles could know Moses and Elijah. If God gave us these certain people to be happy with on this earth; people who walked with us, helped us on our journey, then why wouldn't he give them to us in the afterlife? And, if they are not there, because they chose otherwise, we know we are still going to be extremely happy as God gave them what they asked for. Most of all, we will see face to face Him who has loved us through our whole existence far more than we can imagine. Let us celebrate this great event with our lives so that we may give Him glory and be with Him forever.

Lighthouse April 1, 2026

CRUCIFY HIM, CRUCIFY HIM

Those words would ring out only a short time after they proclaim that they want to make Jesus king. The scriptures tell us “The crowds preceding him and those following kept crying out and saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.” How is that possible? Unfortunately it speaks loudly of our human nature. How prone we are to follow the crowd. We want to be on the winning side, or they might turn on us. How extremely important it is to stay awake, understand the times, and hopefully get ahead of those who appeal to crowd hysteria. Whether we are looking at a lynching of one or a revolution overturning a country there are always those even powerful individuals ready to invoke this phenomenon. The intention of many a revolutionist is to first of all create disturbances, create an enemy, and then incite the crowd. Whether its communism, fascism, socialism, or any other ism, it is seldom the real will of the people. I remember meeting with a priest in Peru who was serving the poorest of the poor. He shared with me how he had experienced the Shining Path in the highlands of Peru. They would simply enter village after village creating havoc. He said they had pulled him out of the rectory into the town's square preparing to shot him when a couple evangelists came walking into town. The Shining Path instigators just turned and killed these missionaries and then left. Hitler, Stalin, Tito all knew this process. In our own day we experience it a little more subtly as we witness how big money can manipulate the masses to go against the most innocent. A couple years ago we watched in horror as big money focused on inciting those in big cities to ensconce into their constitution the right to kill babies up to time of birth. Then, that big money came into our state to do the same. They didn’t need to appeal to everyone in the state. All they needed was to appeal to the empathy of the crowds in three major cities to doom babies throughout the state. They succeeded. Thankfully we live in a democratic republic or the same thing could happen on a national level by appealing to the populace of several great states. As a state we do not have the same protection for the people of all our counties. It only takes a couple major cities to declare what all will support. A couple days ago we celebrated the annunciation, the Word became flesh when Mary said ‘yes’ to becoming the Mother of God. Jesus, in the womb, was not a potential human being; he was not a fetus with potential; he came into our world, the Son of God. Each child in the womb is not a potential human being, nor just a human being with potential, but fully a human being as they are called to be in any moment of life. They are human beings who depend on us to overcome the cry of the crowd saying ‘kill him’ and be willing to say ‘let them live.’ Jesus was the most innocent human being to ever live, yet look how the crowds responded. How will you respond when Amendment 3 is put on the ballot in November. Will you vote 'yes' to support life or again let those in major cities dictate your proclaimed values?