Tag: argue

  • Passed The Gates

    Passed The Gates

    Psalm 88; Leviticus 15:19–31; 2 Corinthians 9:1–5 I have long felt this passage in Leviticus to be unfair to women. No, not because of certain cultural influences of today. Perhaps it was the era I grew up in, or because my mom worked as a school teacher. Or in conjunction with that, my dad was…

  • All About Me

    All About Me

    Psalm 130: Genesis 3:8–15; 2 Corinthians 4:13–5:1; Mark 3:20–35 Self-examination is probably one of the hardest Christian practices. It is probably also the one most needed today. When we do our self-examination properly, we are better equipped to recognize some issues we have that inhibit our continued transformation into the likeness of Christ. First, the…

  • Sackcloth and Ashes

    Sackcloth and Ashes

    Psalm 115; Ezra 9:5–15; John 16:16–24 Collective guilt has been on the top of many lists in the last year. Regardless of your political, philosophical, or religious perspective of the collective guilt issues, it does allow us to better understand the pressure that Ezra felt…somewhat. Ezra was trying to make up for generations of sin…

  • Stingless

    Stingless

    Psalm 118:1–2, 14–24; Genesis 1:20–2:4a; 1 Corinthians 15:50–58 God created humanity in God’s own image. When we read Paul, it may be easy to conclude that this is only a spiritual image. In many respects, it is indeed a spiritual image. On the other hand, as God made us even our physical being is an…

  • Cursing Blessings

    Cursing Blessings

    Numbers 21:4–9; Psalm 107:1–3, 17–22; Ephesians 2:1–10; John 3:14–21 One of the biggest dangers of constant blessings is that we often disdain them. We become so accustomed to them that we become blind to them. Even worse, we then grow to despise them. The Israelites were in the middle of the desert. They were being…

  • Mindset

    Mindset

    Ephesians 1:17–19; Philippians 4:1–9 There is a pernicious thought floating around that if Christians really believed what they say they do; they would all think similarly. Sadly, that often comes from Christians who perceive they are not being heard or perceive that someone with whom they disagree is being heard. In my immediate family, I…

  • 3 Greats

    3 Greats

    Luke 11:9–13; 1 Corinthians 12:31–14:1 It’s a little presumptuous to talk about Christmas. However, it is likely that Christmas will be very interesting this year. Either the traveling will breakout to overwhelm the system (which is suffering from abandonment, at this point), or everyone will stay home. Regardless, children will still eagerly await to see…

  • Instigation

    Instigation

    Jeremiah 15:10–14; Matthew 10:16–23; Matthew 12:46–50 Christmas is coming! All I want for Christmas is for 2020 to be over. How about you? 2020 may be the year of division. There is no question that the country is divided. While 2016 was certainly divisive, it is almost nothing to today. As much as many may…