Tag: healing

  • Sacrifice of Living

    Isaiah 1:10–18, Psalm 50, Romans 5:20–6:11 The problem with the Law was the human ability to think out the payment schedule, particularly the wealthy. What the wealthy did, it seems, was to commit the sin, then pay the penalty. In other words, the payment for the sin was considered as part of the “cost of…

  • Not All Good

    Lamentations 3:16–33, Job 2:11–13 James 1:9–18 Wikipedia summarizes Nathan Robinson’s take on platitudes as: “A platitude is even worse than a cliché. It’s a sanctimonious cliché, a statement that is not only old and overused but often moralistic and imperious. … [they] have an aphoristic quality, they seem like timeless moral lessons. They therefore shape…

  • The New Healing Miracles

    2 Kings 4:18–37, 2 Kings 5:1–14, Mark 10:46–52, James 5:13–18 We are embodied creatures. In other words, our bodies are part of our being, well-being, and attitudes. When it isn’t well, it is harder for our perspectives to be positive or good. We have to work harder, pray harder, trust more to be joy-filled when…

  • 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.…

  • Significance Over Wealth

    Psalm 49, 1 Chronicles 29:16–22, Acts 3:1–16 Wealth and prosperity have long been a source of strife, envy, pointless striving, overwork, and abandonment of others. In an achievement-driven culture, it became an even greater issue as an “achievement” of wealth is measured against those whose wealth is an astronomical amount (i.e., a person valuated higher…

  • Eve of Pentecost

    Isaiah 24:4–13, Zechariah 14:8–11, Revelation 22:1–5 The curse. As we read about the curse in Isaiah, we can easily read into it the current fears, concerns, and observations regarding our environment. Truth be told, if we are called to be stewards—rather than dominators—of Creation, we can see our responsibility regarding Creation. The context of this…

  • Good Friday

    Isaiah 52:13-53:11, Luke 22:39–23:56 You might wear a cross. You might have one on a wall in your home. You probably have one on your bible. Today the cross has lost much of its brutality and disgrace. Movies like the “Passion of the Christ” attempt to convey the brutality, but it is so very hard…

  • Worth or Hardly Worth Doing

    Psalm 1; 2 Kings 5:1–14; Luke 3:1–18 Let’s reword Psalm 1:1… How happy is the one who walks in the advice of the holy and righteous, who walks on the path set by God, and sits in the company of those who follow the Lord. Sometimes by writing the opposite in the Wisdom/Poetry literature, it…