Being Christian Without Losing Your Mind
Joshua 6:1-5 God would have flunked West Point. With a walled city and its skilled army blocking your path, what’s your strategy? March around it for seven days then blow your trumpet. The walls will tumble down. Right. Yet there’s something both wise and refreshing in this old tale told around Hebrew campfires. I’ve spent …
Mark 9:2-9 Taking selfies is such a fun thing to do. But why do we do it? With iPhone in hand, we can release our inner toddler. “Look at me! Look at me!” Why else would we want to interject ourselves into a panoramic sunset or a chance meeting with a celebrity? If Peter had …
Psalm 91 My first response to this psalm is, “Yeah, right.” It implies that if you trust in God, you’ll get special privileges. Everyone else can get flu shots, but you don’t need them, because you believe. Faith will protect you from viruses. Our experience tells us that this isn’t the case. God-fearing, even “Bible-believing,” …
Luke 11:9-13 When Jesus gave the “Ask and it will be given you…” teaching, it was heard differently by Matthew and Luke. Matthew ended it with, “your Father in heaven [will] give GOOD THINGS to those who ask.” (Matthew 7:11) Luke, though, ended it with, “your Father in heaven [will] give the HOLY SPIRIT to …
Matthew 5:14-16 A young man, who’d been in my youth ministry twenty-five years earlier, walked into my church one day. After catching up with each other, he got to the point. “I stopped by to say thanks for saving my life.” That’s a conversation starter. He went on to explain how, as a youth, he’d …
Exodus 17:8-13 The ancient Hebrews painted this story with broad strokes of melodrama. When the Israelites, in a battle for their lives, saw Moses on a hill with his arm raised, they were inspired. When he grew tired and lowered his arm, they lost inspiration. Putting yourself in Moses’ sandals, it is a bit tiring …
Luke 10:38-42 Martha’s flaw in this story isn’t her attention to detail. Actually, her attention to detail is admirable. Who doesn’t want a clean house when you’re entertaining? However, Martha’s words reveal what’s going on in her heart, and that’s the problem. “Don’t you care that my sister has left me to prepare the table …
1 Corinthians 13:8-11 Having served as a campus minister for several years, I became acutely aware of how traumatic the transition between high school and college could be. Many young people, having been raised in sheltered environments, had to discover shocking truths. Clothes don’t wash themselves. Bathrooms don’t clean themselves. Checking accounts have to be …
John 20:1-18 Jean Vanier (pictured above) encountered the neglect and suffering of people with intellectual/developmental disabilities. He decided to do something about it and established a global movement (“L’Arche”) that provides authentic care and community for them. He once said, “The big thing for me is to love reality, and not live in the imagination …
Isaiah 49:13-18 That’s the estimate of how many times a child will be changed before earning their potty training degree. 7,000. A daunting number that could prompt any sane couple to double-think the parenting thing. Yet they choose it. Sometimes they even choose to have an additional child before the first one has graduated from …