Being Christian Without Losing Your Mind
[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 …
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 …
I received a call from a Census Bureau worker the other day. She thanked me for returning the census form and asked if I’d mind answering a few followup questions. I agreed. We talked a couple of minutes, then she briefly broke from the script. As I recall, she said, “Sir, I’d just like to …
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 …
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 …
Let your gentleness show in your treatment of all people… Don’t be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks. Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:5-7 I’m writing …
With protests against COVID-19 restrictions popping up around the country, I’m wondering if we’re not seeing a display of a new kind of fundamentalism. Christian fundamentalists, a sliver of believers, have been around a long time. They derive their name from adhering to five fundamentals of the faith. Their resulting version of Christianity comes across …
On the Sabbath, he began to teach in the synagogue. Many who heard him were surprised. “Where did this man get all this? What’s this wisdom he’s been given? What about the powerful acts accomplished through him? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t he Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t his …
They were saying to each other, “Who’s going to roll the stone away from the entrance for us?” – Mark 16:3 The women going to anoint Jesus’ body after the Crucifixion should have planned better. Wouldn’t they have thought, before leaving, about the stone being a problem? Maybe they didn’t plan because nobody thinks clearly …