What to Do When the Bible Doesn’t Make Sense Discover How to Grapple with Difficult Passages in Scripture When we read the Bible, it’s human nature to dwell on the parts we like and skim the parts that confuse us. We camp out at the many passages...
A Glimpse into the Future (Visiting Church #15) Sunday we visited our third United Methodist Church. I enjoyed all three, even though this one’s in sharp contrast to the other two. Based on our experience, it’s an anomaly for their denomination...
Inherit Eternal Life The Bible tells the story of a rich young ruler who asks Jesus the question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” His use of the word inherit is interesting—and a bit confounding. His question implies that...
Although I live in a rural area, my immediate surroundings are not; I reside in a subdivision. Even so, wildlife abounds. During the non-snowy months, I can, at any given time, look out my office window and see at least one animal and usually...
When God Calls Us to Act, We Better Act May We Never Be Lax about Doing the Work of God The book of Jeremiah contains prophecies about many of the countries that surround God’s people, many countries that tormented them in the past or are...
Don’t Elevate Human Traditions Over God’s Commands We Must Reform Our Behaviors Through the Lens of Scripture In the Bible we see example after example of Jesus extending love, grace, and mercy to people, especially those who are searching, who...
A Pentecostal Experience (Visiting Church #14) This Pentecostal church receives us warmly. The greeter is an amazing ambassador and will interact with us several more times throughout the morning. He introduces us to the pastor’s wife and it’s...
What Sycamore Tree Do We Need to Climb? There was a man in Jericho who was boss of the people who collected taxes. He was quite rich. He wanted to catch a glimpse of Jesus, but couldn’t because he was a short rascal and the taller people...
I remember when my wife and I were building a house. Actually, we watched someone else build a house for us. Though there were times I wanted to help, I suspect they would have charged more if I tried. The early stages clipped by quickly: digging...
How Do We Respond to Unpopular Messages? Not Liking What Someone Says Doesn’t Give Us the Right to Silence Them The prophet Jeremiah faithfully informs the people of the message God gives him. But they don’t like what they hear. They oppose...
