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The Incredible Love of the Church
8 We were glad to share not only God’s good news with you but also our very lives because we cared for you so much. (1 Thess. 2:8, CEB) Before we moved to Minneapolis we lived for a few years in Colorado. I was working outside the church at the time. The church we attended was fairly large and after…
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Reading Acts
In our journey through the New Testament, this next week is to be spent reading the Book of Acts. Some thoughts as you move through the Book of Acts: 1. What emphasis does Luke put on the Holy Spirit and prayer? 2. What would you find to be a key theme or themes in the Book? 3. What patterns do…
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Best Commencement Speech EVER
This has been making the rounds on Facebook, but when I saw the speaker was David McCullough (and I hope it’s the historian), I couldn’t resist putting some of his remarks here. We need extraordinary people in our world, but it doesn’t come just because someone told us it was so. The full speech is HERE. Resist the easy comforts of…
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Jesus Invites Change… Without Asking
Making my way through the Gospel of Luke this week, and reflecting on other passages in other gospels, I find something interesting. In Luke 19 Zacchaeus is a tax collector wanting to see Jesus. He pays to get the skybox view (which are the better seats at a baseball field, I’m told) and looks for Jesus. As Jesus passes by,…
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Are You Ready for the Invitation?
In Luke 14 someone declares to Jesus, “Happy are those who will feast in God’s kingdom!” Jesus’ illustration that follows gives a chilling thought: Not all will feast. Some will just refuse. They are invited. The invitations are given without hiding anything. The invitations are given ahead of time. But people find all kinds of excuses not to come. Those…
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The Living and Active Word of God
We are on our way as our church starts into reading the New Testament this summer. The order of how we will read the New Testament is HERE. It was exciting to have our “launch” last night. We discussed the issues we are facing as believers in today’s culture. We talked about the struggles of communicating faith effectively, living out…
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Moral Equivalency
If you have not yet read David Brooks’ column, “The Moral Diet,” do yourself a favor and start there. Then, read Luke 13. Our church is beginning an incredible journey this week. We are reading through the New Testament as a community and Luke is our first book. Tonight we are having our kickoff event and our discussion will center…
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The Dangers of Thinking of Ourselves as Basically “Good”
There is hardly a David Brooks column I wouldn’t recommend. He is one of the most even handed columnists I can find anywhere. His column today, however, is simply exceptional. He usually is worth reading, so I would say if you have a chance to read a column of his, do so. With today’s column, I would say, “READ IT!”…
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What Is It That We Have?
One of the great challenges for our contemporary church is this question: What do we have? We need this ability to hear the voice of the Spirit and act. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold! But I will give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, get up and start walking.” (Acts 3:6,…
