Being Christian Without Losing Your Mind
We must celebrate with feasting because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life! He was lost and is found!’ – Luke 15:23b-24a Luke, chapter 15: A widow loses a coin, a shepherd a sheep, and a father a son. All three grieve. Something of value has been lost, and there’s agitation and …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: Hiding, Drifting, or Running Away? (July 6, 2020)
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that somebody hid in a field, which someone else found and covered up. Full of joy, the finder sold everything and bought that field.” – Matthew 13:44 This one-verse parable stresses that the new way of living offered by Jesus is worth more than anything else in …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: No Need to Hide It (June 29, 2020)
Naaman went away in anger. He said, “I thought for sure that he’d come out, stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the bad spot, and cure the skin disease.” – 2 Kings 5:11 Most white Christians are avowed anti-racists. Those of us who fit that category want the …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: Racism and White Impatience (June 22, 2020)
He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” – Matthew 22:37-40 One …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: He Never Said “…As Long As…” (June 15, 2020)
Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses on account of the Cushite woman whom he had married—for he had married a Cushite woman. They said, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” The Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was humble, more so than anyone on earth. – Numbers 12:1-3 These verses are a soap opera …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: The Unseen Value of Humility (June 8, 2020)
[The magi] asked [King Herod], “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We’ve seen his star in the east, and we’ve come to honor him.” – Matthew 2:2 During the pandemic and people staying in their homes, an interesting phenomenon occurred. Pollution lifted and people saw things that they couldn’t see before. In one …
Because you are sons and daughters, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” – Galatians 4:6 The childhood of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, bore similarities to an Army boot camp. Everything was done on a rigid schedule. Any disobedience was punished swiftly, often with the “rod.” And …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: “The Faith of a Son (or Daughter)” (May 25, 2020)
God made every kind of wildlife, every kind of livestock, and every kind of creature that crawls on the ground. God saw how good it was. – Genesis 1:25 While sheltering in place, I’m binge-ing on some documentaries. One of my favorites is a Netflix series titled “Absurd Planet.” It highlights the strangest looking and …
A competent wife, how does one find her?… Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. – Proverbs 31:10a, 30 You can bet that when a man starts a conversation with, “I don’t mean to sound sexist, but…”, he will indeed sound sexist. Once he does, there’s no easy …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: “I Don’t Mean to Sound Sexist, But…” (May 11, 2020)
One of them, when he saw that he had been healed, returned and praised God with a loud voice. – Luke 17:15 In Jesus’ encounter with ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19), Luke says the lepers “kept their distance” from him. Thus is the earliest reference to social distancing. And from that distance, they cry out for …
Read moreMONDAY MEDITATION: Social Distancing and the Liberation of Appreciation (May 4, 2020)