Christmas Presence: An Anthology from Word Weavers West Michigan Christmas is a time of reflecting and rejoicing in the greatest gift on earth ever given … Jesus! The memories of the past and hopes for the future give plenty of ideas to the Word Weavers West Michigan writers to embrace. Discover them in Christmas Presence. The […]
Paul tells us that faith and love is what matters most In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he opens chapter five with a discussion about freedom and slavery, about following the law and not following the law. He says that in Jesus these things have no value. So what counts the most? His explanation of […]
From time to time, I read about some group that wants to “end poverty” or “stamp out poverty.” I don’t give much thought to such pronouncements—because they will never happen; they can’t. But before I explain why, let me share two similar-sounding initiatives that are more important and can happen: Clean Drinking Water It is […]
Jesus Elevates the Standing of Women and Treats Them as Equal to Men As the book of Matthew winds down, we see in chapter 28 that Jesus rises from the dead, appears to his followers, and ascends into heaven. As he arises, he leaves us with the Great Commission: to go throughout the world and […]
Living a life for Jesus is living contrary to our culture Jesus often warns his followers to not be hypocrites. As an example of who not to emulate, he usually singles out the religious leaders. This is a sobering thought for anyone on a church staff or who has a following of spiritual seekers. Don’t […]
Once when my wife and I returned from a trip, we allowed plenty of time to make the trek from hotel to airport—more than three hours, in fact. However, a series of unforeseen events conspired against us, making our schedule tighter and tighter with each progressive twist. As each delay transpired, it became less likely […]
Jesus calls us to change and become like little children Matthew tells the story about Jesus asking his disciples, “Who’s the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” The disciples don’t answer. Either they don’t know or they’re afraid to attempt an answer, for fear they might be wrong. Jesus takes a child and places this […]
Though We Cite Scripture When We Take Communion, We Don’t Do it in a Biblical Way Most Christian churches celebrate communion in some form in their worship practices. Though they do this in different ways and with varied frequencies, the central process is similar. As a basis for their practice of communion—also called The Lord’s […]
A friend in a Master’s program recently took a pass/fail class designed to weed out weaker and mismatched students from the program. After spending less than 10 minutes in one-on-one communication, the professor deemed him to be ill suited for the program and its associated profession. He was summarily failed. Although discouraged, he repeated the […]
Like yeast in a lump of dough, a little bit makes a big difference In the thirteenth chapter of the book of Matthew, we read many parables of Jesus. This includes the parable of the sower, the parable of the weeds, the parable of the hidden treasure, the parable of the pearl, the parable of […]