Being Christian Without Losing Your Mind
He said to me, “My grace is enough for you, because power is made perfect in weakness.” So I’ll gladly spend my time bragging about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power can rest on me. – 2 Corinthians 12:9 Many lifetimes ago, I tried my hand at writing fiction. I wrote a short novel and send …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: Creating a Compelling Character (February 22)
I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my solid rock, my fortress, my rescuer. My God is my rock—I take refuge in him!— he’s my shield, my salvation’s strength, my place of safety. – Psalm 19:1-2 How do you name the invisible? When you look around at the immensity, complexity, incomprehensibility of the world and universe, how can …
“If it seems wrong in your opinion to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve…But my family and I will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15 These famous words of Joshua to the Israelites came when the leader was old and about to die. He was encouraging them to remain faithful to God as …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: Honoring Your Sacred Place (February 8)
“I conclude that we shouldn’t create problems for Gentiles who turn to God.” – Acts 15:19 These are the words of Jesus’ brother, James. As the head of the Jerusalem church, he’s declaring what the church must always remember. He was speaking to a faction within the church that wasn’t happy that non-Jews were saved …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: Don’t Create Problems (February 1)
Now I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. – 1 Corinthians 11:3 Read 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 and you’ll read a man stumbling all over his words. I believe Paul knew treating women as subordinate …
We are fools for Christ. – 1 Corinthians 4:10a When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was imprisoned in 1963 because of a protest against segregation, he took it as an opportunity to write a letter. Known now as the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” he was responding to white clergymen who urged him to show more moderation, instead …
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Have no regard for his appearance or stature…God[ doesn’t look at things like humans do. Humans see only what is visible to the eyes, but the Lord sees into the heart.”…[David] was reddish brown, had beautiful eyes, and was good-looking. The Lord said, “That’s the one. Go anoint him.” – 1 Samuel 16:7,12 Well, that’s …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: Was Jesus Handsome? (January 11)
He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. – Luke 17:16 I bowl, and continually try to get better at it. I find it less frustrating than golf, which seems overly brutal on the ego. At a training facility for bowlers (yes, they have them), a study was …
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! – 2 Corinthians 9:15 One of the best spiritual exercises a Christian can undertake is to ask the simple question, “What would my life be like if Jesus hadn’t lived?” I’d miss out on grace. “Forgive seventy times seven.” I’d miss out on an extended family. “Whoever …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: If Jesus Hadn’t Lived (December 28)
Perfect love drives out fear. – 1 John 4:18 When I was five or six, Dad and I went on an overnight train ride to Chicago. We slept in a sleeping car called a “Pullman.” Our compartment had bunk beds you could pull down from the wall. I wanted the top berth, and Dad slept …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: “It’s OK, Daddy’s Here” (December 21)