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Nov 2017
Yesterday’s blog considered the leper that Jesus healed with a word and with a touch. As I mentioned, touching lepers was just not done. It was unhealthy, risky, socially unacceptable. But Jesus chose that path to bring healing to this outcast. I think it says something about Jesus’ idea of preaching. One morning, very early, Jesus rose and went to a desolate place to pray. It was still dark out. When His disciples arose, they saw that he was gone and began searching for Him. They eventually found Him. Simon and those......
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November 27, 2017
Just A Touch
The verse is striking in its simplicity: “Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him” (Matthew 8:3). We touch lots of things as we move through life without ever thinking much about it. But this...
November 17, 2017
The Very Best Reason To Die
John 12:20-26: “Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So, these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see...
November 16, 2017
Out of the Water to the Newness of Life
The image of coming out of death into life is the unavoidable core message of the Christian faith. It’s illustrated by biblical contrasts like the darkness and the light, the old and the new, the...
November 14, 2017
Glorifying God in Your Body
“Following” Jesus is synonymous with “obeying” Jesus. To follow is to obey, and obeying involves a long series of decisions that I make to glorify God by laying my life, my preferences, and my desires...
November 13, 2017
Finding Life on the Other Side of the Cross
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...
November 10, 2017
Feeling Unseemly, Uncomely, Unpresentable?
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...
November 09, 2017
Wasted Talents
So, Jesus tells a story. It’s a story about a “man” who’s going away for a time, but is coming back. He calls His servants and entrusts to them...
November 07, 2017
Searching for Ships Lost in the Harbor
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...
November 06, 2017
How ‘Not’ to Boil a Goat
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...