woodbrook-baptist-church

a morsel

jsballenger@woodbrook.org (John Ballenger) — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 17:56:30 GMT

don't miss the point!

a morsel of goodness taken from a worship service at Woodbrook

second thing next

jsballenger@woodbrook.org (John Ballenger) — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 01:24:21 GMT

know who demeans and who affirms you

It is precisely the world

(don’t let it tell you otherwise)

that tells you your life doesn’t matter—

that you’re of relatively minor significance—

that your voice doesn’t count—

that your perspectives and choices don’t bear meaning.

It’s the world that would smallify you.

It’s the world that values

men and power and white and wealth

and christian (in name anyway)

and tall and skinny etc etc

It is God who says, you are created in my image.

Male and female (and anyone who feels

more like somewhere on the scale between

than appropriately relegated to one of two points on a line),

rich and poor, gay and straight, trans and cis,

christian and anything else.

And my image, says God, is best (most appropriately) conveyed

in many images—as different from each other as different can be.

Don’t smallify me when I am all about biggering your reality

beyond any false constraints of expectations.

first things first

jsballenger@woodbrook.org (John Ballenger) — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 21:32:52 GMT

the fundamental

I think I’ve got it!

By George, I think I’ve got it.

After all these years of Bible study,

and going to church, and hearing sermons—

and studying, and taking classes—

preaching, praying, contemplating …,

I think I’ve got the essence of holy sacred text

distilled—boiled down—to this:

your life matters immensely.

And it’s really not so much to determine

the state of your eternal soul

(your eternal soul’s not really even a scriptural concept)—

or the results of some great, cosmic, spiritual war.

No, it’s really more about

whether you choose to live your days

aligned to the ways of God

or according to the ways of the world.

And yes, yes, of course I know none of us are perfect.

This is not about any kind of absolute consistency.

We’re talking about the preponderance of evidence—

how you choose to live … most of the time.

Are you mean or kind?

Do you prioritize justice or privilege?

Do you speak truth or tell lies?

Do you line up with Paul’s think-on-these-things list

(Philippians 4:8) or not?

Do you understand the gift of someone different from you or not?

These everyday choices are critically important—

essentially relevant to the redeeming of all creation.

Your life matters profoundly.