Names are a big deal in the Bible. They are not just a handle to use to find someone on Facebook; names are intricately linked to character qualities, divine assignment or to historical events. Cities have names that reflect the builder, the geography around it, or the ruler-ship of it. Read more…
Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these will be yours as well. -Matthew 6:33 Thanks to countless church services and Bible studies (and my personal study), I have a lot of really great ideas about God, but my own functional thoughts about Him, how I relate to Read more…
My verse for 2019 is familiar “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” (Matthew 6:33 ) Easy to quote. Hard to practice. As I explore this verse, I discover places in my life that are still my territory, rather than the Read more…
When the inevitable round of new-year-new-you articles and advertisements come out, my inbox fills with guilt-inducing, wishful-thinking, low-monthly-payment plans for transformation. Jesus has His own plan for change. He started His earthly ministry with the message: “change your thinking.” This is much more slippery to grasp than a five-step plan Read more…
I do not write because I myself have something to offer, but because all I have is the One who is always Who we need. I have nothing but Jesus. Following Him today, in a time of pain and loss, means I hold on to the only thing that does Read more…
Following Jesus in the everyday means living a life characterized by faith. Guys like Abraham demonstrated their confidence in what God says by packing up and leaving their homeland. I haven’t been asked to do that…at least not yet, but I have been invited to declare my citizenship in a Read more…
On the tenth day of Christmas my True Love gave to me… ten filled commandments. The Ten Commandments, the foundation of every just system of law, represents how God wants to be treated and how that treatment works itself out in our flesh-and-blood relationships. Jesus taught that God’s intent for Read more…
On the ninth day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…nine fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control: the nine-flavored fruit is fragrant evidence of the presence and work of the God’s own Spirit in our lives. It describes a living still-life Read more…
On the eighth day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…eight days of His Name. Jewish babies are traditionally given their names on the eighth day after their birth. This one had His declared before His birth, but on the eighth day, it was official! What’s in this name? Read more…
On the seventh day of Christmas my True Love gave to me…the seven-fold Spirit. Of all the gifts given us by our True Love, this one is the most intimate! This is the one that makes “Emmanuel” mean something! “God With Us” becomes “God Within Us” because of this gift: Read more…