Being Christian Without Losing Your Mind
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But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re drowning?” – Mark 4:38 Well, that seems like an appropriate question. If my boat is taking in water and going to sink, and I see a guy sleeping, I’d think …
“Return home and tell the story of what God has done for you.” — Luke 8:39 This is what Jesus told the man he had just healed from insanity. He had been a violent, crazy person who now calmly sat at Jesus’ feet, “fully dressed and completely sane,” listening to him. As Christ was about …
He found in the temple those who were selling cattle, sheep, and doves, as well as those involved in exchanging currency sitting there. He made a whip from ropes and chased them all out… — John 2:14-15 One Sunday morning a man whose appearance resembled our image of Jesus—long brown hair, white robe, sandals—showed up at …
“How terrible it will be for you, legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You travel over sea and land to make one convert. But when they’ve been converted, they become twice the child of hell you are.” — Matthew 23:15 Jesus didn’t mince words, did he? That’s one of the many things I love him for…and …
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. – Matthew 6:11-12 Jesus could have followed “bread” with a totally new sentence beginning with “Forgive.” That would have been grammatically correct, because every grammar teacher knows you don’t begin a sentence with a conjunction. But Jesus …
“I go to prepare a place for you…” – John 14:2 (NRSV) Whenever I need to go to a happy place, my mind wanders back decades to one evening on the farm. It’s late spring, just after sunset. I’m in the johnboat on the small lake down the hill from our house. Deep crimson and …
A quirky passage in Deuteronomy frames the breaking apart of the United Methodist Church quite nicely. Deuteronomy 15:1-6 presents a beautiful, idyllic vision for the Israelites. Personal debts would be forgiven/cancelled every seven years. If everyone honored such grace, Israel would find itself being a utopia: “Of course there won’t be any poor persons among …
All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands. – Matthew 22:40 When Jesus said we had only two commandments to worry about, I thought that was a license to let grace triumph over legalism. Love God and love your neighbor. Period. That means there are asterisks we can put after some of …
God’s purpose is now to show the rulers and powers in the heavens the many different varieties of his wisdom through the church. –Ephesians 3:10 What’s not to like about flying? Endless lines. Baggage fees. High ticket prices. Cramped seats. Rude passengers. Canceled flights. Lost luggage. Have I missed anything? Yet, the complaints don’t quite seem …
First of all, when you meet together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I partly believe it. – 1 Corinthians 11:18 Paul sounds as if he’s surprised there were divisions within the Corinthian church. There are divisions within any church, ancient or modern. People have different backgrounds, ages, expectations, political …