It sounds like a paradox. It’s one of the most difficult verses in the New Testament to wrap our minds around. It’s disarmingly simple, yet deeper than the deepest ocean. “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). Jesus is not … Read more
All of us have inadequacies. Many of us have insecurities. Perhaps you feel like you’re unimportant to the Kingdom of God, that there’s little you can do that will matter for God. Perhaps you feel too fragile and frail. You may lack social graces or talent in certain areas. You may be awkward around people, … Read more
So, Jesus tells a story. It’s a story about a “man” [hint: the “man” is Jesus Himself] who’s going away for a time, but is coming back. He calls His servants and entrusts to them a certain amount of money that he expects them to invest on his behalf while he’s away. To one he … Read more
Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He asked His disciples to pray that the “Lord of the Harvest” would send workers into the field. He’s the woman in the parable who sweeps the house clean to find that one lost coin. There are multitudes who are lost today. They are without hope, … Read more
In Matthew 22:36, Jesus was asked which of all the commandments of the Law is the greatest. It’s an interesting question and He answered it on several different occasions. The tradition, which began with a 3rd century sermon by Rabbi Simlai, tells us that there were 613 commandments in the Torah from which Jesus could … Read more
God beckons us to Himself. He beckons us to come daily and honestly. And when we do, He shows us things that we couldn’t have previously known. God created us. He knows us. We stand naked before Him. (Yikes!) His Word scrutinizes the thoughts and intents of our hearts with surgical precision. It’s “sharper than … Read more
Telling the truth is not usually an easy thing to do. Remember when you were a kid and you did something wrong? Remember when mom or dad or a teacher asked you to ‘fess up? You knew what telling the truth meant. It was a risk then, and it still is. Telling the truth can … Read more
HAPPY REFORMATION DAY! 500 years ago today Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg rocking the Christian world to it’s core, purifying its doctrines, and (eventually) making the Bible available to all, scholar and ploughman alike! So, let’s get to some personal reformation … Recently Catherine Parks, author … Read more
The familiar phrase, “How now, brown cow” has been used to teach how vowels are rounded out in elocution (the study of formal speaking) since at least 1926. I like cows. Brown cows are OK, but the black-and-white ones are my favorites. We have a farm near our house that reminds Mary and I every … Read more
In what may be the Old Testament’s most famous passage, Solomon, the wise king who wasted years searching for happiness, wrote, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Is this true? Do you feel like you have time to do everything you need to do? … Read more