The place of the Old Testament (Old Covenant) Law in the life of one following Jesus is a significant issue that I believe needs to be clarified and understood. Frankly speaking, I think most Christians don’t get it. Reading through the Gospel of Matthew, I came upon a short passage that provides some clarity. What […]
No barrier
“But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Corinthians 6:17). In the beginning, when God created humans in his image, he came to be with them in the Garden (see Genesis 2 and 3). In that relationship, the Lord developed his plans for the humans and the world […]
God with us
“There is no God like YHWH, and He declares that with definitive finality when He descends into the deepest trenches of our suffering through the cross of Christ. In the freedom of His sovereign love, our Lord and our God penetrates to the heart of hopelessness and bears the full horror of His Bride’s godforsakenness […]
Who is with us?
Some children should be allowed to change their names as soon as they understand what their parents have done to them, like these: Audio Science Denim Derfla (a girl’s name; but read it backwards) Greedy Hellzel (a mashup of Hazel and Hell’s Angel) Jesusangel (no relation to Hellzel) Little Sweetmeat Moo Munpi (pronounced “moon pie”) […]
Teeming with grace and truth
John the apostle wrote, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). John and others saw the greatness, the magnificence of Jesus. They saw the real God, the real […]
The challenge of Christmas
Well, yeah: peace, joy, good will. We all want that. Who wouldn’t? Umm, King Herod wasn’t very happy about it. You remember the story in Matthew 2 – after Jesus was born one of those angels appeared to Joseph and told him to take the child and Mary and run for Egypt because “Herod […]
HE REMEMBERS
A story based on Luke 17:11-19 The old fellow is tired. His name is Ephraim. The day has been long and hard… and real good. All of his family – children, grandchildren, and a few cousins – came to his place for a big get together. Of course his wife is there, too. Lots […]
Weird church names
Some church names are just weird. I guess they weren’t really thinking ahead when they chose what to call their church – or they drank too much communion wine. I once saw a sign in east Texas for “Little Hope Baptist Church” – some but not much “hope for glory” (Colossians 1:27) apparently. Here are […]
Epic fail
When I was in seminary I played on a church softball team. In one game I was playing second base and the other team had a runner on first. The batter hit the ball to shallow center field. I went to second to take the throw for an easy force out. Now this was a […]
Reading the Bible for all it’s worth
At the close of his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus said: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that […]