Being Christian Without Losing Your Mind
Intending to look mortality squarely in the eye, I recently attended the 50th reunion of my high school class in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. It turned out to be a lot of fun. Something strange happened, though. Someone brought up the name of Sam Giambelluca. He had been a leader in local sports when I was …
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. – Revelation 21:1 Sometimes I think the Good News comes down to this: You are now free to live God’s dream on earth. Jesus outlined it in the Sermon on the Mount. What does a …
He responded, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” – Luke 10:27 As I’ve lived with the Bible for decades, one fundamental truth has made itself clear: How we interpret the Bible reflects who we are at the time we’re interpreting it. For example, as a teenage Christian I …
Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:18 What do you see in the title of this meditation? Admittedly, what I see is: God Is Nowhere Maybe that’s because I see too many news feeds. Right now people are tagging different crises as Armageddons. Climate-ageddon. Violence-ageddon. Economic-ageddon. Racism-ageddon. …
God told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you.” – Genesis 12:1 My sister sent a picture that captures the tenacity of squirrels. She’d just bought another failed attempt by a manufacturer to create a squirrel-proof bird feeder. These rodents are eternally restless, creative, fearless, …
But the people refused to listen to Samuel and said, “No! There must be a king over us so we can be like all the other nations.” – 1 Samuel 8:19-20a This passage reveals the make-or-break point of faith. Israel started out trusting the manna-giving God then, when safe and secure, they wanted a king. That …
We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. – 1 Corinthians 13:12a (The Message) That sentence from Paul’s “love chapter” in Corinthians is quite out of character for him. He was uncompromising in his beliefs. Sometimes, when people argued with him, his temper rose proportionately. For …
Be sure to make friends quickly with your opponents while you are with them on the way to court…When they wish to haul you to court and take your shirt, let them have your coat too. – Matthew 5:25a, 40 At one point there were a dozen court programs on TV. A dozen! I believe they were popular …
A popular political cartoon has a man holding two signs. On one: “No Mask Mandate! My body. My choice.” On the second: “No Abortion After 6 Weeks. Her body. My choice.” This is, of course, hypocritical. How can you plead for freedom from government regulation at times, and for it at others? Yet, the cartoon …
I will lift you up high, my God, the true king. I will bless your name forever and always. – Psalm 145:1 It’s easier to have faith when the sun is shining, birds are singing, and you’re feeling fine. It’s a lot tougher when it’s stormy and you received the lab results. In other words, …