As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who ...
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. (James 4:10) So much in the Kingdom is counterintuitive. To live, we must die. To ...
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. (James 3:17) ...
A good man produces good out of the good storeroom of his heart. An evil man produces evil out of the evil storeroom, for his ...
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, ...
The whole crowd was trying to touch Him because power was coming out from Him and healing them all. Then, looking up at His disciples, ...
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) So often in life, we start a journey of relationship with someone, only ...
The clock was ticking, and we weren’t getting anything done. My son Bradley loves the pool, and this particular morning I had agreed to join ...
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not ...
After looking around at them all, [Jesus] told [the man with a paralyzed hand], “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was ...
But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for ...
Worship is not an event you attend once a week; it’s the lifestyle you practice every day. In reality, everyone, everywhere, at all times is ...
For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a ...
As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God’s word, He was standing by Lake Gennesaret. (Luke 5:1) People came for the miracles, ...
How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works ...
“For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12) Guilt is a powerful motivator. It can ...
“Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.” – Psalm 2:11 “Rejoice with trembling”? Doesn’t that seem like sort of an oxymoron? I mean think about it, how can you rejoice (def. “To feel joyful; be delighted”) with trembling (def. “To feel fear or anxiety”)? Actually, it’s pretty simple. …
TOPICS: fear, Psalms, rejoicing, roller coasters
All around me are people, squished and squeezed and packed in tightly, seat by seat, row by row, waiting for takeoff. The woman next to me looks so lost, like she’s frightened a bit and just wishing the trip was over. It seems she knows no English, and I am …
TOPICS: communication, language, Observations
Small to mid-sized towns have a certain charm about them. Perhaps it’s the sense of homey community, or the feeling of history behind each landmark. With big cities, it’s easy to get so focused on the new things and the energy of mass population that you lose sight of the …
TOPICS: art, Observations, photos
I’m sitting in a straight-back chair with a fastened safety belt, 35,000 feet up on a hot summer day. All around me are clouds; the white, puffy, cotton-ball clouds that give young imaginations the best fodder you could ask for. I remember clouds like this from summer afternoons as a …
TOPICS: Observations, perspective
“Why didn’t any of the gospels describe what Jesus looked like?” Ever get one of those strange questions that just makes you stop and say “hmm”? I was sitting at a cafe doing some devotional reading when I got this text message from a good friend of mine; “Very important …
TOPICS: heart, idolatry, image, Jesus, value
“God has made him both Lord AND Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified…” Acts 2:36b (emphasis mine). Sometimes we instinctively think of Jesus as Lord, ruler, Master, the One who calls the shots. We are comfortable with the idea that we are called to serve and obey Him, and our …
TOPICS: Acts, brief thoughts, christian living
Confession time: I’m an analyzer. Ok, make that an over-analyzer. I am the type that has a deep drive to take every fact or experience and try to fit it into a category or framework; some sort of structure to show me what it all means. It’s the never-ending push …
TOPICS: life in general, Observations
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” Acts 16:25 (ESV) Previously, we saw that for Paul, Silas, Peter and the other apostles in the New Testament, suffering is not something to lament over, but rather to rejoice in, …
TOPICS: Acts, contemplations
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” Acts 16:25 (ESV) I’m sitting at my kitchen table on a warm, humid summer morning. The sky outside is mildly overcast with a light breeze, and I keep thinking I should …
TOPICS: Acts, contemplations
It’s 2:00am on the morning of American Idol auditions, and I am remembering who I really am, and I’m switching my audition song… again. This will be the third time I’ve changed my main “audition song” in the past 24 hours. Mostly I’ve been thinking about what is a good …
TOPICS: american idol, contemplations, Observations
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