Pray for the Holy Spirit For much of my life when I would stumble upon a confusing section in the Bible, I would rush through it to reach something else that made more sense. Lately, I’ve been doing the opposite. When I reach a confusing passage...
Jesus Says to Ask, Seek, and Knock Jesus told us to ask in order to receive, to seek in order to find and to knock in order for the door to be opened. ask -> receiveseek -> findknock -> open This seems straightforward: ask, seek, and knock. But...
Should We Tithe or Not? Some people who follow Jesus give his church 10 percent of their income. The Bible calls this a tithe and it was a requirement from the Old Testament portion of the Bible. Other people say 10 percent is more a guideline...
Book Review: Heaven is for Real Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back By Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)Not yet four years old, Colton Burpo’s life was slipping away. His burst...
Be Careful What You Pray The Lord’s Prayer contains a curious phrase that gives me pause. Frankly, it makes me uncomfortable every time I say it. The passage in question is “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” We mean the first...
The Lord’s Prayer When Jesus’ disciples asked him how to pray, he gave them a short little example. It’s commonly called “The Lord’s Prayer” (though some suggest “The Disciples’ Prayer” would be a more appropriate label.) Others refer...
The Spirituality of Giving When it comes to giving to others there are two schools of thought. One is to give to whoever asks and the other is to be good stewards of the resources God has given us. The problem is, both of these are taught in the...
Diligence is Rewarded In my prior post, “Listen to Understand,” I noted that listening to Jesus results in more understanding; not listening produces confusion. This parallels Jesus’ teaching about the “talents” and the “minas” (both words refer...
Listen to Understand Doctor Luke writes that Jesus tells the people to listen carefully to what he says. When they do, they will understand—and then even greater understanding will follow. But there’s a warning, too. Those who don’t really...
Pray Once—and Without Ceasing When we ask God for something, is it a “once and done” effort or should we pray repeatedly until our request is granted? I think the answer is yes! If we truly believe God hears our prayers, then we only need to ask...
