Tag: individual
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Live Freely
1 Corinthians 6:12–20; John 1:43–51 In the US, freedom is a significant cultural word. Often, we use language such as “free country”. The Declaration of Independence is quoted most often with, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,…
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Freely Abiding
Titus 3:1–11 The next wave is coming. All around the globe, the next wave of COVID is coming. Countries that thought they were done are back to a true lockdown state. In the US, certain states are returning to more limited engagements. It’s hard for those of us in the US. We really do not…
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You|Me and Us
Matthew 18:15–20; Luke 5:23–32 There is nobody beyond God’s redemptive reach. No one. No matter what a person has done or how “unclean” they may be, God is still there waiting. Tax collectors were not well appreciated. We generally are scornful of the IRS. The tax collectors of the age of Jesus were despised in…
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Salvation Balance
Matthew 16:13–17; Romans 10:6–14 In the US, individuality is all the rage, and it has been since at least 4 July 1776. Individuality is not a bad thing, automatically. While there are many aspects to our faith that are indeed communal (and must remain that way), there are others that are certainly individual. The most…
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Get To Your Seats
Luke 14:7–14 When I was young, my father insisted on making sure I was appropriately experienced in “high” culture. We went to ballet and opera. My dad said that we were sitting in the Grand Tier (still sounds a bit grandiose). This was the tier above the Opera (i.e.,floor) Seats, and below the Upper Tier,…
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See and Be Seen
Genesis 16:7–14; John 1:47–51 Have you ever been to a big event? Maybe a concert? Maybe a sports game? And then you spend anywhere from 2 to 4 hours with thousands of your closest friends. Most of those people really aren’t your friends. Unless you are ticket holder buddies, you are unlikely to see them…
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Heart Mission
2 Chronicles 7:12–18; Matthew 9:1–8; Acts 3:1–10 Prayer times and services have often been called “aches and pains time”. The implication being that we often ask for physical healing for the aches and pains of our bodies. This can be from the innocuous pulled muscle to cancer. It’s not that we are called to pray…
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Crossing the Line
2 Chronicles 7:12–22; 2 Kings 21:1–17; 2 Corinthians 4:7–17 A great tragedy occurs every day, babies and children are abandoned. In all grace and truth, many of the parents are truly afraid of the responsibility and their inability to fulfill it. Some of these are abandoned at hospitals in the same way as babies used…
