Being Christian Without Losing Your Mind
If there are some poor persons among you…don’t be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward your poor fellow Israelites. To the contrary! Open your hand wide to them. You must generously lend them whatever they need. — Deuteronomy 15:7-8 What striking contrasts. “Hard-hearted” vs. soft-hearted. “Tightfisted” vs. open-handed. Which do we choose to be? Hard-hearted/tightfisted was the …
At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” — 1 Kings 19:9 Of the many shared experiences we have in life, asking “Now what?” is one of the most common. We ask that after epoch-marking events. …
If you stray to the right or the left, you will hear a word that comes from behind you: “This is the way; walk in it.” –Isaiah 30:21 One of the most profound revelations I’ve ever come across is that we are programmed to be either liberal or conservative. We’re predetermined to traditional values and …
God kept remembering that they were just flesh, just breath that passes and doesn’t come back. –Psalm 78:39 Have you ever encountered people in your life who you just didn’t like, who irritated you? We all have, of course. They are the ones who ping your internal radar with a warning to avoid them if …
“Who among you by worrying can add a single moment to your life? If you can’t do such a small thing, why worry about the rest?” –Luke 12:25-26 Just as we can be enslaved by seeking the conditional love of others, so can we enslave ourselves by our self-chosen problems and projects. I have a …
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” –Luke 2:32 (NRSV) Father Henri Nouwen once said that if we are concerned with the world’s “if’s,” then we are destined to be enslaved. We look for love, and the world gives it… “if.” If you think like me, …
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.–Revelation 21:1-2 And to Think That …
“Yet [I] came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’” –Matthew 11:19a One evening at bedtime, I asked my son Cameron, who was five, what he’d like to thank God for. He replied, of course, “I don’t know.” “Well, what makes you happy? …
Luke 18:35-19:10 The two characters in the passage from Luke aren’t very lovable. One is a whiny blind beggar with an attitude problem. The other is a corrupt businessman who extorts taxes from his fellow citizens. Social media would have lit up these two men. Insults, stereotypes, rumors. But since such postings wouldn’t happen for …
He will rest in His love for you; He will joyfully sing because of you like a new husband. – Zephaniah 3:17 (The Voice) I’ve officiated at hundreds of weddings. Each was unique and special. There was one, though, that made a lasting impression on me. It was that of a young couple, freshly graduated from college. …