Poverty Making Rich
Paul wrote of the early apostles, “as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (2 Corinthians 6:10). A competitive consumer world does not understand this; they cannot. The greedy hate the very idea. The prosperity gospel has turned this word on its head; they make many poor so that
The Only Way To Live
We may claim Jesus is the only way and yet mock it by our harsh words, brash unkindness, and blatant disobedience to His words. We may believe that His words are unrealistic in our world, but still claim Him as our way to heaven. Living His words is the way we walk the way.
The Shepherd’s Voice
Voices come to us and call us from different directions and for different reasons. As sheep, we are tasked with listening to and hearing one voice. “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep
I Need You
Father, may Your light guide me. May Your holiness shape me. May Your compassion grip me. May Your strong arm deliver me. May Your mercy rescue me. May Your Spirit fill me. May Your love flow through me. May Your Word transform me. May Your nature change my nature to be like You.
Mystery as Greater Reality
Mystery is not to enter an unreal world; God’s mystery is true reality. We are so given to want to explain everything. Our superlative adjectives used to describe Him fall very short in approaching Him who lives in “unapproachable Light”. Everything from incarnation. to Trinity, to atonement, to sacraments, to intercession are all wrapped
Slave to All
What was scandalous to the Roman world was that slaves were fully welcomed into Christian communities. Further, slaves partook of common meals and the Lord’s Supper along with the rich. What was shocking about Jesus’ teaching was that all of us are to be slaves to all. We like “servant of all” better because
Celebrating The Saints
In the NT all Christians are saints (“holy ones”). We are called saints, and we are called to be saints. This day celebrates saints living on earth and those who live in the presence of the Lord in heaven now. The two groups are one body. It also reminds us that Christians on
Twisted Love
Paul saw a time when love would be warped. Folks would be “unloving” to others but “lovers of self”. They love money and what it will bring them. They are boastful, conceited, revilers and arrogant because of their kind of self-love. They love pleasure but they do not love God. Any godliness they profess
Joint Heirs
Children of God are heirs with Jesus. We are joint heirs. We enter into an inheritance with Him. What is His is ours in Him. The Kingdom is His and becomes ours. We will rule with Him (2 Timothy 2:12, (Revelation 20:4). “All things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ
His Beloved Children
Jesus was declared as God’s beloved Son, both at His baptism and transfiguration. By the work of the Beloved we too are beloved. Early Christians anticipated the Holy Spirit to come on them at their baptism as He did at Jesus’ baptism. Water baptism was understood as being administered “unto the baptism of the
Sickness will End
Human history has been strewn with the visitation of plagues. In pre-science times the sources of these were unknown, so various explanations were offered, some of which blamed God, or the sins of the people, for these evils. Humans did not know then that they could come from contaminated water, animals, insects, all bearing
Laziness
I grew up with a strong work ethic, for which I am thankful. Work is good; it is assigned to us by the Creator. We have reached the place that work is a dirty four letter word. We avoid it at all cost. We are so preoccupied with electronic devices we want nothing to
Heart of the Heart
There is in each human being something that has the ability to recognize truth; something that we can’t deceive. Some have called it an “Incorruptible center”. I call it the heart of the heart. Its voice can be ignored, evil folks may seek to silence it. It is what makes us morally responsible; it
Christ in Scripture
The Jewish scriptures have their fulfillment in Christ. Dr. William Greathouse taught us, “Christ is hidden in the OT and revealed in the NT”. The bible bears witness to Jesus (John 5:39-40). Paul reminds us that those who come to Christ have a veil removed from their eyes when they read it. Without Him
Simplicity and Complexity
There is a tension between the simple and the complex. It’s simple, and true to say, “God is love”, but how that works out in touching everything in the universe cannot be put into words. Trusting Christ is simple but how that trust and surrender works out in our daily lives is anything but
Relentless Love
“This is a sure thing: If we die with him, we'll live with him; If we stick it out with him, we'll rule with him; If we turn our backs on him, he'll turn his back on us; if we give up on him, he does not give up— for there's no way he
A Lost Church
The church gets lost when it ceases to truly follow its Lord and His clear teachings. It sins when it becomes infatuated with lesser lords. The church and all believers need to repent of our pursuit of power and influence and get back to nitty-gritty ministry. N. T. Wright recently said, “The love of
Confident Assertions
Paul reminds us that people who assert that they know what they are talking about does not mean that they do. You can be confident about something and not know what you are saying. You can have a hunch about meaning, double down on it, and be dead wrong. Paul knew the OT scriptures,
A Pure Heart
The gospel holds out the grand possibility of a pure heart. The starting place of a pure heart for the Christian is the cleansing of the heart provided by Jesus Himself through His blood and the purging work of the Holy Spirit. A pure heart is an examined heart; a soul-center that has pure
A Good Conscience
Paul outlined what good Christian teaching is all about when He said to Timothy, “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” This was Paul’s vision for the outcome of Christian teaching; what a true disciple is supposed to look like. The
Get a Conscience
Much of the law and prophets was meant to give God’s people a conscience about things that the surrounding cultures did not have. Conscience was to be rooted in the nature of a Holy God and being made in His likeness. Over time the gospel has given us a conscience about caring for the
Not Just Once
Sweeping, washing and cleaning are activities that we have to repeat to keep our houses in order. You just can’t do it one time. Spiritual housekeeping is the same way. We do not get by with a single confession or repentance. Our surrenders must be lived out. We have to do what needs to
Mountains and Valleys
The mountain top is where we want to be. The valley may be where God really meets us. We prefer ecstasy over sorrow; we prefer calm over storms. We prefer ease over toil and pleasure over pain. We don’t always get our preferences. What you are going through now you likely did not ask
An Accusing Voice
When our lives are met with difficulty or tragedy, sometimes we may hear a voice which says, “This has happened because you did something wrong; it is because you sinned.” This teaching that your problems are because of your sin is denied by the whole book of Job. The disciples wanted to blame a
With Sinners
How many people came to hear the sermons of Jesus because He went to sinners’ parties? How many felt welcome in His presence because He talked with them and even ate with them? He did not live isolated from a world of need; He went to where they were. He was severely criticized because