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Sharpening and Armor
Matthew 15:10–20, Luke 6:39–42, Ephesians 6:12–18 In our current political and cultural climate, there are plenty of sharp barbs being thrown out. If we wanted to, we could say flaming arrows, which is metaphorically accurate. It’s pretty nuts, and certainly unloving, unpeaceful, impatient (i.e, doesn’t bear), unkind, bad (i.e., not good), unfaithful, ungentle, and lacks
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Nourishing
Exodus 16:13–36, John 6:29–41 Who’s On First? was a comedy routine honed and made famous by the comedy team of Abbot and Costello. It is a masterful—and frustrating—play on words. Mana ≈ What is it? How would you like your food—for 40 years, no less—to be named, “what is it?” Imagine teaching a child the
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What God’s Will?
Genesis 37:16–27, Deuteronomy 30:15–20, Matthew 12:46–50 One of the most heartbreaking things taught by certain Christian traditions is that God wills bad things to happen to people. One of the reasons they draw that conclusion is that we are able to look back at stories like Joseph’s and say, “God knew/planned/designed this to happen.” For
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Boundaries of Service
Numbers 32:16–22, Matthew 3:13–17, John 13:1–17, 2 Corinthians 5:14–17 Service takes many forms. We are often tied into our mind’s understanding of service, and thus become blind to what service can look like. In the case of Reubenites and Gadites, their service took place in the form of aiding their fellow Israelites to secure the
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Grace for the Askers
Luke 24:36–49, Matthew 28:16–20, James 1:2–18, Jude 20–25 So, this guy you’ve been hanging out with for three years dies a brutal death. A few days later, he’s alive. He was dead and buried, and now alive. Must be a ghost…except they could touch the wounds and he ate. They doubted. After some more time,
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Law and Grace
Exodus 20:1-21, Psalm 51, 2 Samuel 11:1-12:13 The law (whether Jewish, US, or others) would seem to be pretty black and white. Yet, if you spend any time driving, you can quickly realize that while the speed limit is 60, only one lane of traffic goes that slowly, and even the state patrol passes others.
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Living in the Gray
Nehemiah 13:4–22, Matthew 12:1–8 Nehemiah was “just” a layperson. He probably had no formal religious or other education. He wasn’t a “leader” of the people. He did, however, have an important position of trust with King Artaxerxes. To be the cupbearer meant that you were trusted with the king’s life and even the life of
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Work Assignment
Genesis 14:17–20, Hebrews 5:1–4, Acts 13:1–3 The calling of God is mysterious. The Levitical line produced the priests, but who would be called was something different. The calling of pastors is equally mysterious (including to the pastors). How and why God calls certain people to be pastors and doesn’t call other equally equipped (or equipable)
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Who Are You?
Exodus 3:1–15, 1 Samuel 18:15–28, 2 Samuel 7:11–21, 1 Chronicles 29:10–19 There is one question spoken in each of these passages, who am I? When we are born, we have no concept of self. Eventually, we look in the mirror and say, “that’s me.” As a child, we grow and change. The “who am I”
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Open and Closed
Jeremiah 15:19–21, Mark 2:1–12, Matthew 11:20–24 “One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.” Romans 10:10 (CSB) “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13 (CSB) Confession and repentance resulting in salvation is a constant theme in the Scriptures.