Matthew 7:11 “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Sometimes I get overwhelmed with God’s good gifts. About 17 years ago, a friend asked if our Continue Reading…
2 Timothy 3:2 “People will be lovers of themselves….” I found myself irresistibly drawn to rereading The Lord of the Rings this past summer. As I did, references to JRR Tolkien’s trilogy started popping up everywhere. Quotes on social media, mentions in a book I was reading, in a magazine Continue Reading…
Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” I need God. And the more I sense my spiritual poverty, the richer I become. No matter where I am or what I’m doing, my lack always leads me to his abundance. As some of Continue Reading…
Luke 15:24 “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Prodigals. They can be found in every spectrum of Christianity. They flee from religious establishment congregations as well as free-in-the-spirit flocks. Kids raised on the Donut Man, Veggie Tales and Jesus Continue Reading…
Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” Is anything worth losing Jesus? I’ve been reading The Dusty Ones: Why Wandering Deepens Your Faith by A.J. Swoboda. In one of the chapters, “Losing Jesus,” Swoboda writes how even Continue Reading…
Joshua 3:13 “And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.” Most miracles don’t just happen. God seems to like our involvement in Continue Reading…
Matthew 16:15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” By the time Lauren Daigle’s phenomenal song, “You Say,” went triple platinum, it became clear a lot of folks were looking for the answer to who God says we are. Are we really loved? Do we truly belong? Continue Reading…
Mark 10:14 “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” As I looked over the peaches in the fruit and vegetable isle at my local grocery store, he approached me. He appeared to be around 10, Continue Reading…
James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Two acquaintances of ours died unexpectedly this summer, leaving behind families totally unprepared for life without them. Although I didn’t know Continue Reading…
Romans 15:4 “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” You’re probably familiar with the saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Continue Reading…