Westminster Christian School Chapel Blog The Standard for Excellence in Christian Schools

More Than Bread

3/18/2025

There seems to be a nutrition fad right now labeling different foods as, “superfoods.” I choose to side with Jim Gaffigan that this all started with the kale people. Gaffigan describes kale as hairy, bitter spinach, and he’s not that far off. Yet kale in the past twenty years has moved from salad bar garnish to star of Olive Garden’s Tuscan Soup.

Kale is just one of many superfoods, though. You see clickbait ads on YouTube (or whatever) that boast of superfoods that will ‘burn away all your fat in 30 minutes’ or ‘leave you looking twenty years younger overnight...’. Maybe some of these claims are true; I wouldn’t know. But I’m pretty certain that nothing we put in our stomachs will save our souls.

We are physical beings living in a physical world with natural desires, but that’s not all we are. We are also spiritual beings with souls and eternal needs that can only be satisfied in supernatural ways. Jesus said something in John 6:35 that must have sounded so bizarre to the people who heard it, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry.” Jesus did provide for the physical needs of the people he interacted with and so should we. Caring for those who do not have bread, giving generously and serving selflessly, are essential aspects of a genuine Christian life, but giving someone bread to eat without introducing them to the bread of life can only go so far.

Branching Out

3/11/2025

Selfishness is, for many of us, a default setting. Scientists that would reduce our divine nature to animal characteristics may try to justify this kind of behavior as survival instinct or something. But I’m not so sure. After all, humans are pretty helpless apart from community. No, I don’t think we can excuse ourselves of our selfish tendencies, we need to come clean and call it what it is; it’s sin, and it’s also just dumb. If we act in such a way as to drive away the people we need to truly thrive, we are hurting, NOT helping ourselves.

Consider Colossians 3:3-13. In an initial read it feels very much like a list of ‘thou shalt nots’ intended to leave us feeling condemned, ashamed, guilty, and hopeless. But that’s not what’s going on here. Paul understands the damaging nature of selfishness, not just to the person acting selfish but to the whole community they’re connected to. Paul is writing to a church, a group of people who are following the way of Jesus, and what he’s really telling them is this, “You need each other! You cannot do this on your own.”

Dig Deeper

2/11/2025

“6 Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ 8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

I’ve got two mango trees, an avocado tree, and a bunch of coconut trees in my yard. One of my mango trees did not bear fruit this year, but I’m not worried, because I pruned it back at the end of last season. I expect to get a “bumper crop” of mangoes next year after it has time to heal and regrow. Fruit trees are supposed to have fruit on them. If I had a mango tree in my yard that never produced mangoes it would be clear something was wrong, and action would need to be taken.

It Takes Time

2/4/2025

I will never forget the moment while we were remodeling our house in Charlotte, NC, and my wife walked in to where I had pulled up floorboards in the kitchen so that she could see the dirt under the house. With a look of horror and discouragement on her face she said, “I didn’t realize that vaulting the ceilings meant gutting the house.”

For anyone who has ever been through a remodeling project, you can relate. Having to change your routine, share space in ways you normally wouldn’t, work around mess, and deal with financial uncertainties are just a short list of issues you need to be prepared to navigate well.

In our case, we also needed to deal with the foundation, hence the torn-up floorboards. But you can’t build up (vaulted ceilings) without first digging deep. It was a long few months, but we finally moved in. The house was well worth the wait and the pain of the construction process. I guess you could say it all worked out in the end. Most especially because of the valuable life lessons our family gained in the process.

Check Your Streams

1/28/2025

Julia Tuttle’s orange blossoms, sent to Henry Flagler during a particularly harsh freeze in the winter of 1895, played a significant role in the oil-baron-turned-railroad-tycoon’s decision to bring his trains south. In reality, Flagler had always had his sights set on Key West, believing it would be a great city and shipping port. With the failing health of his wife, and the mounting frustrations and costs of building railroad tracks through the swampy everglades, however, he may have simply stayed in Palm Coast. But for Tuttle’s creative persistence, Flagler came south! Three years later, Miami was incorporated.Today, it is everything Julia thought it would become and more, as one of the premier cities of the U.S. and a gateway to Latin America. And Flagler too, spurred on by an irrational drive, made it to Key West cutting the path that would become what is now U.S. 1 on the first “railroad across the sea.”

The Dull Axe

1/21/2025

Have you ever tried to cut using a dull knife? My mother-in- law has spent most of her life preparing meals with a dull, three-inch paring knife. Whether she’s chopping meat, vegetables, or trying to cut a pie, she instinctively reaches for the same small knife. She’s generous and thoughtful and always has food on the table so there are no complaints from me on that front, but I’ve never understood why she uses that tiny little knife.

The truth contained in a little verse in Ecclesiastes 10:10 sheds some light on this little conundrum, “If the axe is blunt, and one doesn’t sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but skill brings success.” I’ll stand by and watch as my mother-in-law will labor over chopping up celery for a salad, having to make every single slice and taking forever to get it done. It’s a labor of love, but she’s skilled. She knows what’s she’s doing, and she doesn’t mind taking the extra time. A sharper knife more suited to the task would make the job significantly faster and easier, but with skill she’s able to produce the same results even if it does take her longer (shrug).

The Boastful Axe

1/14/2025

It’s about to be Super Bowl weekend again. Of course, I’m writing this in June, so I have no idea who is in the Super Bowl this year. But for the purpose of this article, let’s assume it’s the Dolphins and the 49ers. Why not?

Obviously, the Dolphins will win the Super Bowl and they’ll get rings. But did you know that for most teams, the owner, the general manager, the whole coaching staff, managers, even athletic trainers, get rings too? Everyone gets one.

Is that fair? None of the support staff could win the championship without players, so do they really deserve one? On the other hand, could the players win without the owner, the general manager, the coaches, or even the athletic training staff? It’s hard to say.