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The Parable of the Sower
This week I begin prep for next Sunday’s message on Parables in Matthew 13. I love Matthew 13 because it gives the opportunity to reflect on the use of parables in the ministry of Jesus. The biggest section is the parable of the sower. It is not the very top of my list for favorites in this chapter, but I…
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Being Yoked to Christ
As I was doing research for this Sunday’s message based out of Matthew 11:25-30, I came across some thoughts from Paul Tillich in The Shaking of the Foundations. The sense of being burdened “is the general human condition to be heavy laden and to labor restlessly under a yoke too hard to be endured.” For Tillich, the yoke to be…
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True Bible Reading
The average “Bible consumer” owns NINE Bibles and is looking for more! (Guilty as charged!) “This a mute but powerful testimony to a deep and abiding sense of LACK — a sense that we have not really achieved a grasp of the Bible that is adequate to our needs.” (Richard Foster, Life with God)
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Translation Battles and the Advantage of One Main Bible
I try to read broadly on issues of English translations, though I know I miss a lot. Over the past several years I have wanted to settle in on a translation that is useful for me in personal study and in public reading. As I have settled on one main translation (and still using a LOT of others as I…
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Observing the Pattern of Prayer… and Action
I am reading/praying my way through Luke right now. One thing I truly love about Luke’s take on the life of Jesus is in the intricate tie between prayer and activity. In Luke 5 there is the constant rush of ministry activity. Healing, teaching, deliverance ministry, but Luke adds in, “Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.” (v. 16)…
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The Weariness and the Whining
Numbers 11 The parallels to our own attitudes is astounding. We just can’t be happy. Israel was being delivered from Egypt and were standing at the edge of the Promised Land. So, they go to complaining. They can’t take the hardship anymore. They dream of the great food back in Egypt! (Culture shock has set in. When we’re out of…
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Illegal Aliens
Not the subject matter that grabs headlines in Arizona. And, okay, maybe not “illegal.” It’s us. Believers in Jesus Christ. WE are aliens. No matter what country we live in on this earth, we are aliens. Our true citizenship is not here. Our homeland is not found anywhere around here. Our true worth is not found here. We act like…
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Living With the End in Mind
I am working my way through 1 Peter right now and the words of Peter are so incredibly challenging. This is one reason I write about multi-generational churches. We need the wisdom. Peter talks about it. But more than that, we need a higher calling. We need to be reminded of the great price of salvation. There is a call…
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Holy Week — The Power of the Gospel Story
“So Jesus deposits on public record, available to all, the most beautiful teachings about God and his world that have ever been given. At the same time he embodies and modes this teaching in his own life. With his public death and resurrection, Jesus’ name an face are inscribed on the drama of world history, and ever afterward he becomes…
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Reading the Word Well
As we need to be People of the Book, we need good tools to read the Bible well. This video features Gordon Fee and his books are incredibly helpful for anyone really wanting to dig into the Scriptures!
Category: Bible Study
