Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town. There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and…
Month: September 2013
Why God Uses Unlikely People
Now Elijah, who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told King Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives—the God I serve—there will be no dew or rain during the next few years until I give the word!” (1 Kings 17:1, NLT) Elijah was a remarkable man. So remarkable, that many thought him…
Understanding Christian Love:: 4
This week I’ve been posting reflections from John’s third exhortation on the subject of Christian love in his epistle. Yesterday I noted that God’s indwelling love enables us to love others. In this final section John points to how God increases our capacity to love. “And as we live in God, our love grows more…
5 Reasons Millennials Stay in Church
There’s a lot of concern today about why the Millennial generation (1984-2002) is leaving the church, thus producing a host of theories about how to reach the generation and get them back into the fold. Barna Group has published a new research report titled 5 Reasons Millennials Stay in Church. Perhaps our concerns are best…
Understanding Christian Love:: 3
Before we can understand how we are to love each other, we have to first understand a couple of things about God’s love. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, God’s love flows out of his character. His love is most clearly demonstrated through the sacrificial gift of Jesus Christ. That brings us to my third…
Understanding Christian Love:: 2
“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the…
Understanding Christian Love:: 1
There’s an old story that’s told about a young preacher who was called to his first assignment as Pastor of a church. The congregation was excited about his first day in the pulpit and the young pulpiteer did not disappoint. After the service the congregation congratulated themselves on finding this diamond in the rough, and…
Where Have The Real Heroes Gone?
Today I met one of our church members for lunch. Outside of his retirement community, the staff and residents were honoring public servants with BBQ and the appropriate side dishes. As I walked through the tables and smelled the smoke from the grill, I remembered that today is September 11. I’m confident that the meal…
Be Discerning:: 2
Today we face different challenges than John’s first century audience, but there are challenges nonetheless. God has given us three tools to help us be discerning regarding the messages we hear. The first tool God has given us is the Bible. One thing the New Testament Church lacked that we have readily available is Scripture….
Be Discerning:: 1
God has always encouraged his people to think critically about the content of the teaching they hear. Twice in Deuteronomy (13:1-5; 18:22) and again in Jeremiah (28:9), tests are provided the verify the authenticity of the prophetic message. Jesus addressed this as well in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:16-20) with the challenge, “You…