Pastor Goforth

Podcast Episode: What an Opportunity

September 8th, 2026

Pip: Pastor Goforth opens with a question that sounds simple and lands like a conviction: what exactly is the church supposed to be doing right now?
Mara: That's the thread running through today's episode — the church's silence on ethnic division, and the scriptural case for why silence isn't neutral. Let's start with the opportunity that silence might actually create.
What an Opportunity
Pip: The post opens with a frustration that a lot of people probably share — the church is either missing from conversations about ethnic division, or it's making noise in the wrong direction entirely.
Mara: The framing is direct: "the church is either silent, or so loud that you can't hear, and generally loud about the wrong things." That's the diagnosis. And the argument is that silence, paradoxically, creates an opening.
Pip: Right — the person who never speaks commands the room when they finally do. The post is essentially saying: church, you have accumulated credibility by staying quiet, now spend it on something that matters.
Mara: And the theological grounding comes fast. On the question of racial supremacy, the post is unambiguous: "The truth genetically is that there really is only one race, the human race." Ethnicity, nationality, culture — real distinctions. But not a basis for hierarchy.
Pip: So if supremacy is off the table even as a concept, what's the model? The post goes straight to Philippians — Christ, who had every claim to supremacy, emptied himself and served.
Mara: That's the pivot point. The most Supreme Being in the universe, as the post puts it, did not flaunt it. He took the form of a servant. The implication for the church is: you don't get to claim innocence and do nothing.
Pip: And the scriptural case for action is extensive. Exodus, Deuteronomy, Psalms — the post builds a pattern: God defends the alien, the fatherless, the widow, and expects his people to do the same, because they were once the outsider too.
Mara: Deuteronomy 10:19 is the hinge verse there — "you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt." The reason for the command is embedded in the command itself.
Pip: Then First John ties it to something material. Not just spiritual solidarity — actual need, actual response.
Mara: "Let us not love with words or tongue, but with action and in truth." That's the close. The post ends with a rewritten Psalm 68 — the church cast as a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, settling the lonely in families. A vision, not just a critique.
Pip: It's a long post, but the argument is tight: silence is not innocence, the model is Christ, and the ministry of reconciliation is already assigned.
Mara: The through-line is reconciliation — between people, not just between people and God.
Pip: And the church, apparently, has both the assignment and the opportunity. Whether it shows up is the next question.
What an Opportunity

September 8th, 2026

So, in the growing face of division on the ethnic front, my frustration is often that the church is either silent, or so loud that you can’t hear, and generally loud about the wrong things.

However, in the reality that the church, especially the church of a lighter hue of skin, is often silent on these issues, there is an opportunity.

Do you ever have a friend who never says anything, and then they finally speak, and everyone just stops and listens? Well, silent church, it’s time to speak. It’s time for the church to be the church. It is time for the church to model Our Lord, humble ourselves and get into the equation, in order to draw men to God.

The idea of one group or another thinking that they have supremacy over another is ludicrous. The idea of differing “races” is first designed to divide us. The truth genetically is that there really is only one race, the human race. There is so little difference between differing ethnicities that you cannot divide us into “races” genetically. A difference in hue of skin is not enough to call for supremacy. We are different ethnicities, we are different nationalities, we are differing cultures, but even those are not limited to hue of skin or language spoken. Some of the greatest atrocities in history have been carried out in the name of supremacy. Even if supremacy were a reality, what should be the attitude of the one who thinks themselves supreme?

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on the cross! (Philippians 1:5-8)

The most Supreme Being in the universe, who has lived in and out of time for eternity, who created all things, who is himself completely pure and holy, did not consider his Supremacy something to be flaunted, but emptied himself, made himself nothing, took up the clothing of a servant, and served!

What should the church, the people of God be doing in the world? No less. We may be ourselves “innocent” of any wrongdoing, though that is probably not true, but still even if we are, there is action to be taken. We are given the ministry of reconciliation by God in 2 Corinthians 5. That, I believe, includes reconciliation between God and man, and people to people. Why, because Paul also says in Ephesians that the great mystery of the work of God is that people who were separate are brought together by God. People who were God’s Special people, and people who were not, are brought together by the work of Christ at the cross. How can WE do any less?

The expectation of God has always been that his people would be loving toward outsiders in an effort to bring them inside. Oh I am not talking about our right and expectation to defend ourselves against those bent on destruction and desolation. But the issue is that God always has a place for the outsider who desires to be in.

Homeless/Displaced, Fatherless, Faithless, Spouseless, Voiceless –

God has always reached out and always calls his people to do the same. Why? Because we have ALL been on the outside. We all needed to be brought in, and Christ has made that possible for all of us.

I don’t want to take time for an exhaustive exposition of the scriptures on this topic, but let me bring up a few

Exodus 22:22–24 (NIV84)

²² “Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. ²³ If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. ²⁴ My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.

Expectation? Responsibility? Accountability? Yes, yes, yes.

Deuteronomy 10:18–21 (NIV84)

¹⁸ He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. ¹⁹ And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. ²⁰ Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. ²¹ He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.

Did you see verse 19 “and you …” there is an expectation and a reason … “for you yourselves were … (so) fear the Lord … serve … hold fast … he is your God”

In Deuteronomy 16:11 – every category or division of persons are called to Praise and Worship God together

Deuteronomy 24:17–22 (NIV84)

¹⁷ Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. ¹⁸ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this. ¹⁹ When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. ²⁰ When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. ²¹ When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. ²² Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.

What does God think about our failure to join him in these things? Notice here what God says, AND that the response of God’s people is “Amen” (so be it)

Deuteronomy 27:19 (NIV84)

¹⁹ “Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

Psalm 10:14, 18 (NIV84)

¹⁴ But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁸ defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.

How do we understand love?

In 1 John 3:16-18, we see love, and see the expected response from those who know the love of God.

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.”

Love requires action and is directed toward those who need it, not just toward those to whom we want to give it, or to those who give it to us. But if the scripture stopped there, Jesus did that, we would be left to decide if we should just say “thank you” or if something else was expected of us in response. But then the Holy Spirit inspired John to continue in v17 …

and WE ought to LAY down OUR lives for our BROTHERS …
Then speaking materially John says if we see our brother in need (having ability to meet the need) and do not meet the need, how can the love of God be in us?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this takes the Spiritual response of Christ that entered the Physical Realm of laying down his life, then ties it to material needs … But the principle is there. If there is a need, and we CAN meet the need, but will not, how is that a reflection of one who is indwelt by the Spirit of God? So then John tells the Church what to do in v18 …

let us not love with words or tongue, but with action and in truth …

What should the church be doing and saying?

It is time for the church which is often silent, to speak up. Here is our opportunity. It is time for the church, which is often seen in the posture of kneeling in prayer, or standing in worship, to get busy walking in truth and acting in love. I tweeted out today, “if the church Lives Love, we earn the right to speak. When we do NOT love, we cannot speak, we lose our right to lead when we do not Live Love.”

So then, let me come back to two scriptures and close,

Psalm 146:5–10 (NIV84)

⁵ Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, ⁶ the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the Lord, who remains faithful forever. ⁷ He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, ⁸ the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. ⁹ The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. ¹⁰ The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.

This is what God does. He is our hope, he is the hope of the one who is hopeless and will but turn to him. Remember Isaiah quotes God as saying “Turn to Me and Be Saved all the ends of the earth.” Oh that the Church of the Lord would live like he lives IN us. That we would be a place that upholds the cause of the oppressed, hungry, the prisoner, the blind, the broken, the displaced, the fatherless, the spouseless. If God stands with them and for them, we better get on God’s side.

Then … here is a vision for the church in the world today …

Psalm 68:1–6 (NIV84)

¹ May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him. ² As smoke is blown away by the wind, may you blow them away; as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God. ³ But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. ⁴ Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds— his name is the Lord— and rejoice before him. ⁵ A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. ⁶ God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

Oh could we tread on thin ice here and put ourselves, as imitators of God, in this equation? Let me say it this way …

Let The Church Arise, may the enemies be scattered; may their foes flee before them. As smoke blown away by the wind, as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God. May the righteous be glad and rejoice, be happy and joyful. Sing to God, sing praise to his name, and rejoice before him. But may we be more than worshipers in a church building. May the church, modeling God, be a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, believing we must, because God is on his throne in the Holy Place. May the church be God’s instrument for settling the lonely in our families, leading forth prisoners with singing instead of stealing their song. May their ever be room, for all, in our walls, who are needy and seeking. May there be NO ROOM, for those who will abuse and divide.

Let us, dear children, love, not just with words or with tongue, in silence and separation, but let us love with action and in truth, out of the church and into the streets.
Repost from 2017

September 8th, 2026

What an Opportunity
Why Do We Need to Believe in Him?

August 30th, 2026

Photo by Mitch Teemley Why do we need to believe in him? One night many years ago, I ran into a young woman “witnessing” on a street corner. 248 more…
Why Do We Need to Believe in Him?
Podcast Episode: Where Is Your Wealth? Lay it Down

August 18th, 2026

Pip: Pastor Goforth is preaching out of Luke 18, where Jesus meets a man who has done everything right and still walks away sad — which, honestly, is a mood.

Mara: This episode follows that encounter into some real territory: what it costs to follow Jesus, what it means to actually leave something behind, and why children might understand faith better than rulers do.

Pip: Let’s start with the wealth we carry and what Jesus asks us to do with it.

Where Is Your Wealth? Lay it Down

Mara: Luke 18 sets up a contrast that drives this whole post — children coming to Jesus with nothing, and then a wealthy young ruler arriving with a very specific question: what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Pip: And the post points out that “what must I do” is already the wrong question. Children don’t come with a to-do list. They come with excitement, expectation, faith, and humility.

Mara: Jesus meets the ruler where he is, runs through the law, and then in verse 22 delivers the line the post anchors everything on: “you still lack one thing — sell all you have… then come follow me.”

Pip: That word “lack” is leipo in the Greek — to fall short. The ruler had kept the law and still came up short, not because of what he hadn’t done, but because of what he wouldn’t release.

Mara: And the post broadens that out deliberately. Wealth here isn’t only money. It’s property, possessions, competence, confidence — anything we hold onto that makes it harder to come like a child. The post puts it plainly: it’s easier for the down-and-out to come than the up-and-out.

Pip: Which is a quietly uncomfortable observation, because most people reading a sermon blog are not the down-and-out.

Mara: The post then works through what leaving everything actually requires. Peter says, look, we left what we had — and the post notices he’s almost keeping score. As long as you’re tracking what you gave up, you haven’t really left it.

Pip: There’s a detail from John 21 here worth catching: after the resurrection, Peter and the disciples went back to their boats. Jesus showed up and gave them a fresh call — and that, the post argues, is when they truly left everything, all the way to death.

Mara: The post closes with a disarming move. The disciples didn’t understand where following Jesus would lead — the betrayal, the death, the rising. And the post imagines Jesus responding: “What did you understand?” “You said follow me.” “Then do that, and leave the rest to me.”

Pip: Excited, expectant, humble, faith-filled — coming like a child is the whole posture, not just a metaphor for the young.

Mara: The question underneath all of this is what we’re actually gripping when we say we’re following — and whether we’ve scored it or surrendered it.

Pip: Come back next time. There’s more Luke 18 ahead, and Jericho is just around the corner.
Where Is Your Wealth? Lay it Down

August 18th, 2026
Luke 18, Jesus has a several famous encounters in this and chapter 19. But I started at what we call the “Rich Young Ruler”.

This story is in the midst of the ministry years. After this, he heals a blind man, then he enters Jericho and meets that diminutive man named Zacchaeus.

Before this, Jesus tells a parable showing that if we persist in prayer, we can know that God grants justice. Then in v9 he told a parable to some who “trusted in themselves” and took pride in their own goodness while looking down on others who didn’t live up to their self-created standards.

Then Jesus encouraged children coming to him. “Let the little children come to me because the kingdom belongs to such as these.” He takes it a step further to say that whoever does not receive the kingdom like a little child will never enter it.

In the midst of that, a young man and a ruler, asked, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

Now, if he was a “ruler”, then he wasn’t too “young”, as that’s a relative term. He wasn’t aged, but was old enough for authority, and asks, what must I do?. That of course is the wrong question.

How do little children come?
- With Excitement
- With Expectation
- With Faith
- With Openness
- With Humility
Jesus said, if you want a “to do list” – you have the law. “I have kept all these from my youth”. We all have a list of what we’ve done or tried to do… and yet, we ALL come up short of the glory of God.

Then v22 When he (Jesus) heard this, he told him, ‘you still lack one thing’ (leipo = fall short) sell all you have… then come follow me.

It is not what we DO, but who we follow and how.

If you read on, the disciples say, this is hard so the disciples wonder, then who can be saved?
- Jesuus answers, what is impossible with man is possible for God.
Yes, it is hard to follow Jesus, particularly when we have “wealth”, whether that is money, property, possessions, competence, or confidence – those things make it hard to follow Christ. I’ve often said it’s easier for the “down-and-out” to come than the “up-and-out”. They often have the hardest time coming to the Lord.

Jesus flips those two words. The root word for ability is dynamai (looks like dynamite) and means to be able. The word then “possible” comes from that root and is dynatos – possible/powerful. Yet if you add “a” to the front, adynatos = impossible. God DOES flip the script from impossible to possible.
- This one thing you lack… you are holding on to your own competency…
- Sell it all – Lay It Down… and
- Come Follow Me
That man went away sad… why? Because he wasn’t willing to comes as a child.

Children, generally, don’t have wealth, don’t have influence, but they come with excitement, expectation, faith, and humility, desiring to be touched by God.

Peter said, “Look, we have left what we had and followed you.” You can almost see him making a “check mark” in the sky.

Yes, Luke 5:11 they pulled up their boats on short, left everything, and followed him.

But when we “Leave Everything…” – LEAVE IT. Let it go. Stop Keeping score. Don’t expect reimbursement. As long as I keep score, I haven’t “LEFT” it. Jesus said to the man, “sell it all”… then “give away the profit”.

Interestingly, in John 21, after the resurrection, Peter and the disciples still had access to their boats and went back to fishing – but if you read it, Jesus came them a fresh call and commission – Then they TRULY Left Everything and gave the fullness of their lives to him, to the point of death.

Jesus tells them to rest assured that no one who has left everything – people, possessions, purposes, priorities, posture, anything – will be repaid much more now and in eternity.

Then he tells them WHERE following him will lead. It will result in the fulfillment of Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53, and so much more, as he will be… handed over… mocked… insulted… spit on… flogged… killed… but will rise on the third day…

v34 they understood non of these things… they did not grasp what was said…

I think sometimes, we don’t understand, so we do not go.

“I don’t understand this, Lord.”

I can hear Jesus saying, “What DID you understand?”

“Well Lord, you said, ‘follow me’.

“So then, DO THAT, and leave the rest up to me.”

Here I come Lord… excited, expectant, humble, faith filled, following…

Touch me Lord.
But Grow in the Grace-2 Peter 3:18

July 21st, 2026
Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:1-2 to those who have received a faith equal to ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God…

Peter, though a “first follower” and leader, an Apostle chosen by God in Christ, did not think he had something that others could not have, but recognized that all can receive equal grace, equal promises fulfilled, because it’s all about, from, and through Jesus to all who believe.

So, may grace be multiplied to you…

Then he teaches such powerful things about growth in Christ in chapters one and two. And as he must have been aware that his days were numbered by both age and the attack of evil which would take his life as a martyr in the faith, he shifts to understanding that our days are numbered…

Since 3:11 these things are to be dissolved… so we should be holy and godly 12 as you wait…

If you live 5, 10, or 100 years, a “day” for the Lord… v8 is like 1000 years for us. So my life, over 60 years, has only been like about 90 minutes by the Lord’s watch. (if you know watches… I’m sure the Lord’s Watch must be a “Doxa” that’s why I have one)

So, if MY life has only been about 90 minutes… it’s only been about “two days” since Peter wrote these words, and then “any day now” he could come… or maybe in “5 or 10 or 90 minutes”.

With that understanding, focus on the right things, while you wait

v14 while you wait for these things…
- Be found without spot… at peace
- Recognize delay = salvation for someone else
- be on your guard… not led away by error… which can move us away from truth and purpose
Then 3:18
- Grow in Grace and Knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
Oh my, sadly I know people who “seem” to be growing in Knowledge” but don’t seem to be growing in Grace – charis = grace, kindness, blessing, concession, favor.

I won’t make more of it than to say – Grow IN – axiano = to make grow, cause growth, full grown. It is a verb in the Present, Active, Imperative tense. That means “Right Now, you MUST cause to grow toward full growth and maturity.”

So, we don’t grow TO grace, that is a gift of God, but we are to grow IN Grace. We don’t achieve grace, but we do need to grow IN it.

I was born to my family, but then IN my family I did need to grow up to be who we are, love what we love, do what we do.

We raised our sons that way, “this is who we are, grow into that, or do not do this or that because that’s not who we are, so put that aside.”

Knowing that any day now Jesus is coming again, I want to grow up to be more like him today in grace, and know who he is, what he expects, what he does, and what he doesn’t do – then seek to be that.

In Grace – Grow to be Gracious, Grace Filled, Grace Giving, Grace revealing…

… So that I become more Special? Famous?… NO

3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – To HIM be the Glory, both now and to the Day of Eternity

Grow in Grace to Glorify Jesus, Make His Name Great, Make Him Famous, Make Him Glorious
Podcast Episode: I Saw The Lord… and Isaiah 6 1:1-8

July 14th, 2026

Pip: There is a particular kind of sermon note that starts with a king dying and ends with the cosmos, and Pastor Goforth has written one of those.
Mara: This episode follows a single extended reflection on Isaiah 6 — the vision, the confession, the call — and how a moment of personal grief becomes the doorway to encountering God.
Pip: Let's get into it.
I Saw The Lord — Isaiah 6 and the Shape of Encounter
Mara: The post opens with a disarming admission: most of us will never see God with our eyes or hear his voice with our ears, and the question it sits with is what it actually looks like to "see the Lord" through Scripture and Spirit.
Pip: And the framework offered is five words — Posture, Preparation, Provision, Persistence, Presence — which sounds like a conference handout until you realize the post is using them to trace something genuinely personal.
Mara: The anchor passage is Isaiah 6, and the post sets it up through the detail most readers skip. Isaiah and King Uzziah were likely related — uncle or cousin — and Uzziah reigned for fifty-two years before a catastrophic fall: he attempted a priestly sacrifice forbidden to kings, and God struck him with leprosy. His final days were spent, as the post puts it, "in separation, disease, and disgrace."
Pip: So when Isaiah says "in the year that King Uzziah died," he is not giving us a timestamp. He is telling us he was grieving.
Mara: That's exactly the point the post makes. It notes the phrase is "in the year" — not the day, not the week — because loss takes time. Isaiah came to the temple humbled, and what he found there is the famous vision: the Lord seated high and lifted up, seraphim calling out, the room shaking.
Pip: And his first response is not awe. It is collapse.
Mara: The post quotes directly: "Woe is me… I am ruined." And then the confession — "I am a man of unclean lips, among a people of unclean lips." The post wonders honestly whether those unclean lips had been asking hard, accusatory questions during the year of grief.
Pip: Which is where the post gets genuinely vulnerable — there is a story about losing a close friend, sitting in an office, and sensing a quiet question: are you going to figure this out? The answer was no, and the pivot that followed was an invitation simply to worship alongside the friend who was already doing exactly that.
Mara: The sequence the post traces is deliberate: see the Lord, then see yourself, then confess — and only then does the voice come. "Then I heard the Voice of the Lord… Who will go for us? I said, Here I am, send me." The post reads that progression into Psalms 121 through 124 as well, a chain of lifted eyes and arriving help.
Pip: Look up, look in, listen, respond — that is the post's closing line, and it earns it.
Mara: The through-line here is that encounter with God tends to move through grief and honesty before it arrives at commission.
Pip: Which means "Here I am, send me" is not a brave opening line. It is what comes out the other side of something harder.
I Saw The Lord… and Isaiah 6 1:1-8

July 14th, 2026
Most of us will never “see” the Lord with eyes or audibly hear his voice with

ears, but we have his Word and his Spirit within us.

God reveals himself to us and what then do we do with that?

How do we “see the Lord”? There are words that come to mind that Position us to see and hear the Lord.
- Posture
- Preparation
- Provision
- Presistence
- Presence
I was then looking at several passages where “saw the Lord” is shown. One that came to mind was in Daniel 7:13-14. Daniel saw the coming future of the full dominion of one like the son of man with clouds of heaven… given dominion, glory, and a Kingdom… every people, nation, and language to serve him in an everlasting indestructible Kingdom and then in v15 his reaction My spirit was deeply distressed and the visions in my mind terrified me.

Seeing God, sounds exciting, but it is frightening and carries responsibility.

But of course, the most famous passage is Isaiah 6. The prophet shares his testimony, In the year that King Uzziah died, I Saw the Lord…

Isaiah had a vision to prepare him to be used by God as his voice to the people of HIS day, but then literally to every generation since who seek the Lord. Isaiah was used by God to give us a clear picture of God’s call to his people, the Provision of the coming Messiah, and what the days would be like when he restores all things.

To See the Lord, Preparation has to happen and Posturing takes place. Sometimes this happens intentionally, and other times it is circumstantial.

I’ve read, pondered, taught, and preached from this passage many times, but the word of God is living and active… and I saw something yesterday that felt very real and relatable to me.

In the YEAR that King Uzziah died… Uzziah was a great king, militarily, in building projects, and in his love and passion for God. Uzziah was man who sought the Lord and led his people to do the same. But for Isaiah, it is believed that he and Uzziah were related, perhaps as an Uncle or Cousin. As King, as Family, certainly Isaiah looked up to Uzziah. Uzziah was King for 52 year, but Uzziah, in spite of success, had a great fall. Uzziah tried to step outside his role as King, and offer an Incense Sacrifice in the Temple, which is strictly forbidden, and God struck him with leprosy and his final days were spent in separation, disease, and disgrace.

All of this prepared Isaiah to seek the Lord.

Notice, in the YEAR that… not “in the day that” or “in the week/month that”…

When we lose someone close, a hero, it takes time to grieve, to mourn, to be humbled, “why Lord?”

I feel Isaiah, struggling, came to the Temple.

I’ve preached this passage many times, and so I won’t belabor the points… but Isaiah was Postured, humbled, he was Prepared, knowing that no one else was on the throne, so he Saw the Lord seated high and lifted up… The Lord is surrounded by servants and worshippers.

Isaiah Persisted in looking and staying there in the Presence, he didn’t run away or look away…

When he Saw the Lord, then he Saw Himself…
- Woe is me… I am ruined
We need to see ourselves, as we are…
- He Confessed his Sin – I am a man of unclean lips, among a people of unclean lips
I’m only conjecturing here, but it is interesting the confession he gives. a man of unclean lips. If he was grieving, I wonder about his days, what kind of statements and prayers had he offered. Were there perhaps honest “accusations”, spoken or unspoken that he made about “A God who would allow my king to die”. Or about “My hero that let me down”.

Just getting “real” here.

I remember losing a close friend to sudden death at a relatively young age. I was in a funk for a period after that. I wasn’t “angry” but I was “confused”. “Lord, why would this happen?” I didn’t “see” the Lord, or “hear” and audible voice, but one day in my office, I sensed the Lord ask, “Jim, are you going to figure this out?” I thought, “no”. Then the Lord impressed on me the question at what my friend was doing at that very moment. I sat forward in my chair and said, “he is Worshiping you.” Then as clear as a voice, I sensed the Lord say, “then why don’t you just join him, until or even if you never figure this out.” I said, “I can do that.”

My Focus Changed

Why was Isaiah aware of his sin and know that he was “ruined” in need of being silent? My eyes has seen the King, the Lord of Armies”

At some point, we need to look away from what we face, who we idolize, what we don’t understand, and look at the Lord.

Then with Confession comes Cleansing. Romans 10:9 and 1 John 1:9 are powerful truths that match Isaiah 6:7. Yes, if we confess that Jesus is Lord… we will be saved… If we confess our sin he is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse…
- 6:7 he touched my mouth… your iniquity is removed and your sin atoned for
Seeing the Lord, Seeing ourselves, Confessing Sin…

“Why doesn’t God speak to me?” Have you looked? Have you Seen, Have you Seen yourself and Confessed sin? Well, then you aren’t ready to hear anything else.
- Then I heard the Voice of the Lord… Who will Go for us?
- I said, Here I am, Send Me.
Yes Lord, it is a Process of lifting our eyes to the Lord, seeing, confessing, then hearing…

My mind immediately went to Psalm 121 – I lift my eyes to the hills 2 my help comes from the Lord 3 … your protector will never sleep…

Then I continued to read to Psalm 122:1 – the first verse I ever memorized as a boy, I was glad with those who said to me, ‘Let’s go to the house of the Lord’

Then I continued to Psalm 123 I lift my eyes to you, the one enthroned in Heaven…

And then finally to Psalm 124 if the Lord had not been on our side… they would have swallowed us alive… 6 Blessed be the Lord who has not let us be ripped apart… 8 our help is in the Name of the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth…

Go read all of those Psalms into 125 as well… My, My, My…

Look Up, Look In, Listen, and Respond
Podcast Episode: A Traveler or a Disciple – Luke 14:25-35

July 8th, 2026

Pip: Pastor Goforth opened up "the Google" this week, and what he found there might be the most convicting search result anyone has ever run.
Mara: This episode follows one extended study from pastorgoforth — Luke 14, the cost of discipleship, and a question that cuts right through comfortable church attendance. Let's start with what Jesus actually meant when he turned to face the crowd.
A Traveler or a Disciple
Pip: The setup here is deceptively simple: a massive crowd is walking with Jesus, and the post asks whether walking with someone is the same thing as following them. The answer, it turns out, depends entirely on what you mean by "with."
Mara: The Greek word behind "traveling" in Luke 14:25 is symporeuomai — to journey together — and it's the root of our word sympathy. The post frames the whole passage around that distinction: "Jesus is asking this great crowd — are you just sympathetic toward me, or are you my disciples?"
Pip: Sympathy is not discipleship. That is a short sentence with a long reach. You can feel warmly toward someone's mission and still be heading somewhere else entirely.
Mara: The post maps four traveler types onto that crowd — tourists, commuters, professional followers, and people just relocating — and holds each one up against Jesus's actual criteria from the end of Luke 14. Hating competing relationships, bearing your own cross, counting the cost, preparing for battle, renouncing possessions, staying salty.
Pip: That list is doing real work. Each item sounds like its own demand, but the post argues they all collapse into one.
Mara: Verse 27 is where the post plants its flag: "whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple." The post points out that the original audience had no resurrection theology to soften that image — they knew exactly what a man carrying a cross looked like, and it wasn't a metaphor. It was public humiliation, stripped of everything.
Pip: So every other item on the list — possessions, relationships, control, reputation — is already included in that one image. The cross-bearer has lost all of it before they even arrive.
Mara: The post closes with an Oswald Chambers line that reframes the whole thing: "Our Lord never proclaimed a Cause; he proclaimed personal devotion to Himself." The tourist follows a cause. The disciple follows a person, at whatever cost that person names.
Pip: Salt without flavor, the post says, isn't even good for fertilizer. At some point the question stops being theological and becomes very personal.
Mara: The distinction between sympathy and devotion is one that doesn't resolve easily — it keeps asking the same question every time you show up.
Pip: Which is, I suppose, the point. See you next time.