(Sermon) Election got you anxious or down? It’s a symptom of a bad builder. Psalm 127 reminds us that who we permit to build our homes matters to the children we will become.
(Sermon) John and James ask Jesus for a place of honor in the glory that is to come. In the Lord’s response, Jesus reveals much about human motivation. His words call us to soul-searching when asking God for guidance.
(Commentary) The Genesis story tells us about God’s creative work, but not so much about why God did that work. The commentary considers a few possible answers, but it all relates back to love.
(Sermon) The suffering metaphors of Psalm 22 are still relevant today as is the promise of God’s relief. One Hebrew word, ‘ă·nî·ṯā·nî, translated “you have saved me” connects metaphor and promise and is explored as it applies today.
(Sermon) John tells believers to love as Jesus did and feels no need to define the word beyond that. His approach is considerably more powerful and convicting than any secular definition of love.
(Sermon) When Peter is rebuked for believing nothing bad can happen to Jesus, Christ reveals a remedy for our human condition that is both paradoxical and beautiful.
(Sermon) Luke describes how Mary and Joseph complied with Jewish law for their son. The impact of abiding by the law on our service to God is explored.
(Sermon) It is hard to be Christ’s representative when your family and friends believe God’s principles are false. Jeremiah walked this path as a prophet and shows us the journey we can expect and how best to complete it.
(Sermon) Paul warns against the hazards of false apostles (unbelievers) within a Christian community. How his warning intersects with the great commission and the reality of the world is explored in the context of psychological realities about human behavior.
(Sermon) When a Canaanite mother comes to Jesus for help, she encounters a harsh reply. Her response is a wonderful exposition on grace from which all sinners can learn.
(Commentary) A new nihilism fueled by scientific speculation of multiple universes is the topic of this year’s best picture, Everything Everywhere All at Once. The action-packed romp with a happy ending offers a solution to today’s nihilism that is as depressing as the nihilism it seeks to address. God offers a compelling alternative.
(Sermon) When God told Abraham and Sarah that she would bear a son at 90, they laughed. The reasons why might keep today’s believers from seeing divine miracles in their lives. Miracles that testify to the presence of God and once noted should be passed on as a testimony to the pervasive presence of God.
(Sermon) Paul believes that the body of Christ has many members and, like our own bodies, each is important for healthy function. This post explores the truth of his wisdom from the unusual perspective of the life of a man with no faith.
(Sermon) A confrontation between the Sanhedrin and the apostles reveals four lessons for how any Spirit led Christian can serve God at peace in a world where opposition to the Word abounds. Remarkably, the lessons create peace within the believer and minimize conflict with those who may oppose our faith and its teachings.
(Sermon) Fear is the first thing encountered after the heading Jesus Has Risen in Matthew’s gospel. Maybe the reason is because our empathetic Savior is the death of fear.
(Sermon) Seeing God’s principles at work in the good old days makes us long for them to return or for ill-advised progress to at least stop. Peter had a similar response to the Transfiguration of Jesus. His experience instructs us how best to use the past and see the power of God in the world today.
(Sermon) When Isaiah and Simon meet God face-to-face they are overwhelmed with God’s holiness and their own sinfulness. God’s response to their honest, repentant hearts reveals that remembering the infinite holiness of God is the first and perhaps most important step in serving the Lord.
(Sermon) Isaiah predicts judgment and redemption for the Jewish people. His words are applicable for us today. They convey that you and I are loved, redeemed and summoned by name to uniquely serve. That service may be surprisingly simple, wonderfully important, and personally gratifying.
(Sermon) Paul describes the devil’s schemes to destroy the unity of the church as an individual assault on each of its members. He then describes the armor needed to defend against it. Here the armor is discussed in the context of a single person’s life lived defenseless and defended.
(Commentary) The Old Testament reveals a God of justice that many find disturbing. Yet it is indispensable in answering the question of why Christ had to die so brutally. The violent nature of the Old Testament is directly addressed in the broader context of God’s solution to original sin.
(Fiction) The fourth chapter in the purpose lost series returns to the day when Stephanie Holmes was in a psychiatric hospital (chapter 1). The security guard, Dave, is called when Stephanie’s parents become unruly. Dave has an unusual secret.
(Sermon) God compares prospering Israel and Judah against His plumb line of right and true in the book of Amos and finds them lacking. Are we? Paul describes overflowing thankfulness as the way home.
(Fiction) Jesus predicted persecution for his followers and it comes in many forms. In this fictional story, a college student must confront her roommate’s hostility toward her faith. In an interesting twist, she defends it with logic.
(Commentary) When Christians perceive the Spirit of God is it real? Could it be we want to have an encounter with God and our brains create one. Or is perceiving God as real as our other senses?
(Sermon) If God is absolutely just, how can He show mercy? If God is absolutely merciful, how can He be just? Yet God is both and only love can explain it.
(Fiction) When forgiveness is hard to find either from the world or yourself, Jesus will forgive. He longs to forgive and make things right. In this story, Juliann Masterson lives in the absence of that and the consequences on her life are revealed.
(Sermon) As Christians we often spend time trying not to sin, but sin is enticing. So we lie to ourselves and spin that lie out to the world to make the sin okay. In a confrontation between Jesus and Judas, Jesus confronts just such a lie and teaches us about our nature and how to manage it.
(Sermon) Every day, strive to love Christ exponentially more than anything in this life. Only when we give up our lives for this will we find life as the people we were intended to be.
(Sermon) Satan’s temptation of Jesus was unsuccessful. In the Lord’s response is everything we need to know to resist as well. An inspiring story of resistance from today reveals the truth of the Lord’s teaching.
(Fiction) The third chapter of the purpose lost series finds a young Steve Johnson (chapter 1) in a college class on religion. His professor believes God cannot be both good and all-powerful if evil exists in the world. As he attempts to convince his class that God doesn’t exist, he confronts a visitor who makes him and the class think.
(Sermon) What does it mean to have the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you? It could mean you will be blessed with material things. Philippians has an entirely different interpretation that is a real blessing.
(Commentary) A naturalist will often say to a Christian: “show me the evidence for God”. When we do, it is disregarded as anecdotal and unscientific. The question then becomes what is the nature of evidence and how do pre-held convictions influence it. In my journey to Christianity this was prominent, and I tell a bit of that story here.
(Fiction) In this second chapter of the Purpose Lost series, the life situation leading up to the suicide attempt by Stephanie Holmes (Chapter 1) is told through the eyes of her brother Mark. We meet for the first time the mother of Dr. Steve Johnson, who plays a prominent role in Chapter 3 (The Classroom Visit) of the series.
(Sermon) When you or I are separated from God, God is the last place we think to turn to settle our troubled souls. The sons of Korah counsel us not to continue down this pathway to despondency. Instead, be still and know the He is God.
(Sermon) Suffering is difficult for those who believe in a good God. Several theological responses are addressed here in the context of Job, the biblical book directly addressing the topic.
(Commentary) Reformed theology about predestination is difficult to reconcile against the lived experience of freedom. How both predestination and free will can exist is considered.
(Sermon) God’s justice and mercy by grace leaves believers wondering how justice and mercy can coexist. They do, and at the center is belief in grace, a complicated concept explored in this post.
(Sermon) Election got you anxious or down? It’s a symptom of a bad builder. Psalm 127 reminds us that who we permit to build our homes matters to the children we will become.
(Sermon) John and James ask Jesus for a place of honor in the glory that is to come. In the Lord’s response, Jesus reveals much about human motivation. His words call us to soul-searching when asking God for guidance.
(Personal reflection) A story of a climbing tree.
(Sermon) Mark’s depiction of the unforgivable sin conveys hope and warning. Both speak to how we should live every day.
(Commentary) The Genesis story tells us about God’s creative work, but not so much about why God did that work. The commentary considers a few possible answers, but it all relates back to love.
(Sermon) Isaiah’s vision of God challenges an unstated presumption of the Declaration of Independence and calls us to revisit our purpose in life.
(Sermon) The suffering metaphors of Psalm 22 are still relevant today as is the promise of God’s relief. One Hebrew word, ‘ă·nî·ṯā·nî, translated “you have saved me” connects metaphor and promise and is explored as it applies today.
(Commentary) What can pooping possibly have to do with faith? The answer might make you smile.
(Sermon) John tells believers to love as Jesus did and feels no need to define the word beyond that. His approach is considerably more powerful and convicting than any secular definition of love.
(Sermon) The angel at the tomb of Jesus gave a two-part divine message that no human could conceive.
(Sermon) St. Paul describes the mindset of Christ Jesus and the pathway that leads us from our own fallen mindset to that of the living Savior.
(Sermon) When Peter is rebuked for believing nothing bad can happen to Jesus, Christ reveals a remedy for our human condition that is both paradoxical and beautiful.
(Sermon) Luke describes how Mary and Joseph complied with Jewish law for their son. The impact of abiding by the law on our service to God is explored.
(Sermon) A lovely story of Biblical truth in one man’s life.
(by Dave) A short Christmas thought for today.
(Sermon) Isaiah predicts a fabulous Christmas present from God that never loses its ability to inspire.
(Fiction) Written for my granddaughter, the story follows Joe, Mary and Chloe through a most unusual Christmas Eve.
(Sermon) It is hard to be Christ’s representative when your family and friends believe God’s principles are false. Jeremiah walked this path as a prophet and shows us the journey we can expect and how best to complete it.
(Psalms and prayers) A prayer of questioning devotion.
(Sermon) Paul warns against the hazards of false apostles (unbelievers) within a Christian community. How his warning intersects with the great commission and the reality of the world is explored in the context of psychological realities about human behavior.
(Sermon) When a Canaanite mother comes to Jesus for help, she encounters a harsh reply. Her response is a wonderful exposition on grace from which all sinners can learn.
(Commentary) A new nihilism fueled by scientific speculation of multiple universes is the topic of this year’s best picture, Everything Everywhere All at Once. The action-packed romp with a happy ending offers a solution to today’s nihilism that is as depressing as the nihilism it seeks to address. God offers a compelling alternative.
(Sermon) When God told Abraham and Sarah that she would bear a son at 90, they laughed. The reasons why might keep today’s believers from seeing divine miracles in their lives. Miracles that testify to the presence of God and once noted should be passed on as a testimony to the pervasive presence of God.
(Psalms and Prayers) A prayer to hear God’s voice.
(Personal journeys/reflections) A personal testimony of God’s work in the life of one who suffers from chronic pain.
(Fiction) The fourth chapter in the purpose lost series returns to the day when Stephanie Holmes was in a psychiatric hospital (chapter 1). The security guard, Dave, is called when Stephanie’s parents become unruly. Dave has an unusual secret.
(Fiction) Jesus predicted persecution for his followers and it comes in many forms. In this fictional story, a college student must confront her roommate’s hostility toward her faith. In an interesting twist, she defends it with logic.
(Fiction) When forgiveness is hard to find either from the world or yourself, Jesus will forgive. He longs to forgive and make things right. In this story, Juliann Masterson lives in the absence of that and the consequences on her life are revealed.
(Fiction) The third chapter of the purpose lost series finds a young Steve Johnson (chapter 1) in a college class on religion. His professor believes God cannot be both good and all-powerful if evil exists in the world. As he attempts to convince his class that God doesn’t exist, he confronts a visitor who makes him and the class think.
(Fiction) In this second chapter of the Purpose Lost series, the life situation leading up to the suicide attempt by Stephanie Holmes (Chapter 1) is told through the eyes of her brother Mark. We meet for the first time the mother of Dr. Steve Johnson, who plays a prominent role in Chapter 3 (The Classroom Visit) of the series.
(Fiction) A neighborhood story of unthinkable sacrifice.
(Fiction) A story of a young woman’s struggle with feeling lost in a secular world.
(Sermon) God’s justice and mercy by grace leaves believers wondering how justice and mercy can coexist. They do, and at the center is belief in grace, a complicated concept explored in this post.