In the Bible, there is only one mention of a man named Jude. That lone reference occurs in the opening greeting of the letter that he wrote. However, Jude is a variation of Judas. Apparently, Judas was a common name two thousand years ago: We can rule out Judas Iscariot, because he committed suicide before […]
Independence Day in the United States To all my friends and followers living in the United States of America, I wish you a wonderful Fourth of July (Independence Day, if you want to be formal). While there are certainly reasons for concern, worry, and even complaint, we do live in a wonderful country. We enjoy […]
The End Will Come Unexpectedly Like a Thief in the Night John’s epic vision that he records in the book of Revelation includes many perplexing allusions. One is a warning that Jesus will return unexpectedly, like a thief (Revelation 16:15). Note that this doesn’t say Jesus is a thief, merely that most people won’t be […]
We Can Impact Others by Being Intentional with Our Words Are we someone who others want to talk to about spiritual matters? Are we open to pursue a meaningful spiritual conversation? A Timely Phone Call As I made lunch, my phone rang. Few people have my number—only family and close friends—so I expected another scam […]
It’s Father’s Day and we visit our fourth Baptist church in ten weeks. Like two of the others, this one is both a small congregation and an older congregation. They’re friendly and welcoming, but an absence of younger people points to a bleak future. Despite efforts to keep the facility nice, there remains subtle reminders […]
The short, often overlooked book of Philemon is tucked towards the end of the New Testament, nestled between letters to Titus and to the Hebrews. Philemon and Onesimus Philemon is a letter written by Paul to his friend Philemon about a man of mutual interest, Onesimus. The short version is that Onesimus is a slave […]
Whoever Has the Son Has Life In the first of John’s three letters, he writes to the early followers of Jesus, reminding them of God’s essential message about Jesus, light, and life. Jesus, by the way, is the light and he gives life. So amid John’s poetic flare, his words all revolve around Jesus. And […]
Discover How God Can Have One Son and Have Many Sons (and Daughters) The Bible calls Jesus the Son of God. We see this in forty New Testament verses from speakers ranging from his disciples to his detractors, including evil spirits and even Satan. Saying that Jesus is the Son of God suggests there’s only […]
I pride myself in having the discernment of knowing when to not take shortcuts, those times when doing so would likely end up costing more work or taking more time. Conversely, I also know which shortcuts are actually worthwhile. This applies to travel, repairing things, performing work, and so forth. Although I don’t believe in […]
This Sunday we visit a United Methodist church with two traditional services. We go to the second and I’m expectant for what I will learn. Two greeters hand out nametags to the regulars; they offer us welcome stickers and we write our names. The nametags are a first in our 52 churches journey, an appreciated […]