Meditate on the True Meaning of Easter as a Christian Holy Day of Ultimate Importance Every Sunday morning for several years I have shared my thoughts about God, the Bible, and the church on this blog. Because Easter always falls on a Sunday, one post a year is usually about Jesus’s resurrection. This year’s reflection […]
What are the Ramifications When We are Kind to the Poor? The book of Proverbs, most of which is written by King Solomon, reels off a list of pithy one-liners. Such is the passage for today’s reading. One that captured my attention is “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,” (Proverbs 19:17). […]
Can You Have a Church Service Without Hearing a Preacher Speak? My wife and I recently visited a church. Though we didn’t know it before we walked in, their service would be different that week. There was no sermon. The church used the normal sermon time to talk about the missionaries their church supported. They […]
We Need to Love People Who are Different from Us, Just Like Jesus Did Last night I had a dream, the kind you remember when you wake, the unsettling sort that you can’t shake. Even as I sit down to write an hour later, it remains lodged in my gut and won’t go away. I […]
Designed to Teach Illiterate Kids to Read, Sunday School Needs to Reclaim its Vision of Community Service Quick, what is the purpose of Sunday School? Your answer is likely that Sunday School is intended to teach children about God. Yet, that is not why Sunday School was first started. Sunday School was launched as a […]
Daniel Reads the Scriptures, Fasts, and Prays, Confessing the Sins of His People When I think of praying, confessing my faults to God is not the first thing that comes to mind. And when I am convicted of the need to admit to an errant act or a missed opportunity, I don’t linger there. I […]
Stop Thinking of Church as a Place You Attend but as Actions to Pursue Yes, I know that linguistically church is not a verb. A verb indicates action; it shows movement. Church falls in the noun category, specifically a place. Places don’t move. They have no action. They don’t do anything. Most places, in and […]
Emulate the Man Who Drove Merchants from the Temple and Denounced Hypocrisy When I blogged about the need for a male role model, I wondered if the life of Jesus might stand as an example for men to follow. Is he the perfect blend of godly power and God-intended masculinity? Indeed the character and actions […]
The God of the Old Testament Seems Different Than in the New The book of Hebrews says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). And since Jesus is God (John 1:1), doesn’t that mean the God never changes? That’s what I’ve been taught. That’s what this verse in Hebrews seems to […]
God Sends an Angel to Guard and Guide His People into the Promised Land I’ve read the book of Exodus a dozen or so times, but I never remember reading today’s passage. I’m sure it was there, but it never clicked with me until now. The Israelites have left Egypt. They wander around in the […]