Do You Excel at the Grace of Giving? There is a curious phrase in the Bible: “grace of giving.” It occurs only in Paul’s second letter to his friends at the church in Corinth. Without it appearing elsewhere in the Bible, there are no other verses...
A Fresh Start: It’s Time to Plant, Water, Nurture, and Prune A friend recently shared how much she was enjoying spring, of seeing flowers bloom and once dormant grass turn green. I connected with her joy, warmed by the thought of spring and...
Were Adam and Eve Married? The Bible Never Says that Adam and Eve Married To consider Adam and Eve had children without the benefit of marriage is disconcerting to many; it assaults our traditional idea of matrimony and having kids. The Bible...
What Do We Do To Dishonor God? In his letter to the Christians living in Rome, Paul talks about people who attempt to live life according to a bunch of religious rules, that is, the law. The result is that God is disrespected, not so much by the...
Are We Merely Human? Can We Have a Superhuman Spirituality? Paul reprimands the church in Corinth for many things. One time he points out that they envy one another and argue a lot. There is jealousy and quarreling in their church. It happened...
Reflecting on Church #52: Misrepresented Services With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #52. This church offers two services. They call the...
Hold On To That Thought Paul tells the church in Corinth to capture every thought and make it obedient to Jesus. Likewise, Proverbs advises us to guard our thoughts. (Some translations say to guard our hearts, putting a different twist on the...
What is the Origin of Baptism? The word baptize is only found in the New Testament of the Bible. Prior to John the Baptist preforming this water ceremony, it is never mentioned. John, by the way, baptizes Jesus. The Old Testament doesn’t mention...
Reflecting on Church #51: Come Back Twelve Times and See How Your Faith Grows With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #51. This mega church...
Should You Pay Your Minister? For the most part, the church of today is an institution. Institutions require structure and leadership; self-perpetuation is essential – regardless of cost. For an institution to work, it needs paid staff. That’s...
