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Fire Is Best
Psalm 66, Revelation 3:14-22 You may not be aware of how the metal you are using comes to be. Most metals are dug up in an unusable form. They have to be made usable. There are three primary methods to get the raw material to be more like the goal: mechanical (e.g., crushing), chemical (i.e.,
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Blessings and Love
Ecclesiastes 4:4–8, Ecclesiastes 5:8–17, Luke 12:13–21 “Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.” —John Wesley Money and all that it can get a person is what drives so much. The worst aspects of capitalism are very visible, and rightly so. The media (capitalistic endeavors) are quick to question many with
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Coming to Life
Psalm 122, John 17:12–19, Revelation 2:8-11 Definitions are very important. Whether it’s theology, politics, or general conversation, having the same definition for a word is key to communicating. On top of that, there are cultural expectations and presumptions where two people can agree on a definition, but then disagree on how it is actually lived
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Avoiding Shaping
Psalm 103, 2 Peter 1:3–11, 1 John 1:5–2:2 Have you ever whittled, shaping a piece of wood cut-by-cut, flick-by-flick, putting something into life that was only in your mind? While God does not use a knife to whittle on us, through others and life’s trials God does shape us. Sometimes it is to bring something
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What Doesn’t Change
Psalm 146, Isaiah 43:8–13, 1 Peter 2:2–10, John 14:1–7 While we are still in the Easter season (the church year span between Easter and Pentecost), it is always good to recall all which testified to Jesus being the Messiah. This passage in Isaiah is a good reminder. Through the Messiah (Jesus) nations have been brought
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Community Rhythm
John 16:16–22, Galatians 4:8–20 How often when we know the story so well do we look down on those who don’t get it? The disciples certainly didn’t get it. Jesus often spoke in parables, and because we think we know the answer, we find it easy to impose our understanding onto Jesus’ words. If we
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Living After
John 21:1–19, Isaiah 43:1–12 We often stop with the Resurrection of Easter. That’s the big event. It’s understandable. It wasn’t the end of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Often when we are stressed or unsure of ourselves, we return to old habits. Peter’s old habit was fishing (it was his occupation, too). It was quite
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All To Be Reconciled
Genesis 4:1–17, Ezekiel 33:10–20 Cain is often portrayed as the human embodiment of evil. In popular media, he’s the ultimate bad guy. Which makes sense. Cain invented murder. Yet, Cain lived. Later, the rules would be set, he would be dead according to the penalties, but for this time and age, he lived. What about
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Wednesday after Easter
Genesis 1:24–2:1, Genesis 3:6–13, Psalm 11, Matthew 6:22–23 Up through verse 25, God’s creative acts end with the epithet, “…God saw that it was good.” Then God made mankind. With the completion of that act, “…God saw that it was very good.” The word very can also be translated as exceedingly. Look around. Do we
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God’s Good Life
John 14:15–21, John 15:26–16:11 There are two types of “good life.” There is the world’s version of the good life. There is God’s version of the good life. In some ways, they overlap, but let’s be honest with ourselves, we want them to overlap far more than they do. Some believe that being in a