Life can seem like a maze. Within its walls we have limited vision, and choices that sometimes seem to go nowhere. In narrow passages that make us long for wide open places, we often have more than we need and less than we desire. Sometimes our choices take us in a circle, or to one […]
Jesus used the promise of his return to comfort his friends and to warn his enemies. On that his followers agree. It is at this point, however, that the Body of Christ divides over several prophetic scenarios. While many of us disagree among ourselves about whether current events are setting the stage for what Jesus […]
Only hours before his death, Jesus told his followers that he was leaving them. Then he said, “Let not your heart be troubled . . . . I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3). Years later, a follower of Christ by the […]
Someone has said that wise parents give their children two lasting things: (1) roots and (2) wings. I’ve noticed over the years that our Father in heaven seems to follow a similar pattern with us. As time goes on, he “carries” us differently in our spiritual adolescence and adulthood than He did in our infancy. […]
Last Wednesday, the front page of our local newspaper declared, “In the Fed we Trust…bailout of insurance giant aims to stabilize quaking global economy.” Then came the bad news. Behind closed doors, Washington lawmakers got enough of a wake-up call to prompt a rare bi-partisan agreement. All said that without urgent Federal intervention, national and […]
One of the best teachers I’ve ever had likes to say, “Something is not true because it’s in the Bible. It’s in the Bible because it’s true. My first impulse was to reject the idea. It seemed like a subtle insult to the best measure of truth we have. After all, I thought, in my […]
For the last couple of days, we’ve had a healthy, though difficult, discussion about whether forgiveness is meant to be conditional or unconditional. Not surprisingly, along the way, we’ve agreed and disagreed. There are good reasons for the push and pull of our conversation. Sometimes the Bible, itself, calls for forgiveness based on a change […]
There are ideas in yesterday’s conversation that make a lot of sense to me. It seems to me that it is consistent with the Bible to say that: 1. Bitterness is not an acceptable option for followers of Christ. 2. A desire to get even is also not a Christ-like option. 3. Our Lord gives […]
Yesterday, National Public Radio’s All Things Considered recognized the 45th anniversary of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. It was on Sunday morning, September 15, 1963 that Christopher McNair and his wife Maxine lost their 11 year old daughter, Denise, in the blast that also took the lives of three […]
Envy is not always bad. But it can be evil. In the best sense it’s a desire for the good qualities we see in others. In the worst sense it’s a desire to see others deprived of their joy. Reference.com says, “Aristotle in Rhetoric defined envy “as the pain caused by the good fortune of […]
Someone has said, “Wise are those who look at others with the same generosity they offer themselves, and, at themselves, with the same critical eye they have for others.” Such advice is difficult to disagree with because it amounts to treating others the way we’d want to be treated. But just because the “golden rule” […]
Most of us remember where we were when we first heard that a commercial airliner had crashed into one of the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center. Today we reflect, as best we can, on the immeasurable pain of those who lost one of the 2751 victims from 90 countries. We remember the […]
Today is the day that science news services have been anticipating. For months they’ve been describing the excitement and fear surrounding the firing up of the world’s largest atom smasher– in yet another effort to unlock the secrets of the universe. 10,000 scientists are involved in the 10 billion dollar, 17 mile underground particle generator […]
I remember hearing my dad read this poem. He thought enough of it to have it framed on his office wall. Over the years, I’ve realized that it’s part of a legacy for which I’m deeply grateful. It was written by a 19th century Scottish minister. Certainly not high brow stuff. But seems to me […]
The longest Psalm in the Bible has 176 verses. Over and over, and in so many ways, this song celebrates the words, principles, and laws of God. Interestingly, 119 is a lot like Psalm 1 and 19, but much longer. The first two verses of Psalm 119 give a taste of the sustained, repetitive praise […]
Sometimes I wonder whether I’m half asleep even when I think I’m wide awake. I say that while reflecting on some words of the New Testament that seem dangerously extreme– and radically sensible. In his first letter to the Corinthians, and in anticipation of an unnamed impending crisis, the Apostle Paul wrote, “The time is […]
Over the years I’ve concluded that seeing “headship” in marriage as a basis for the authority of a husband to tell his wife what to do says more about the customs of fallen culture than it does about what the God of the Bible wants for us. My last post is an attempt to explain […]
Seems to me that “headship in marriage” remains one of the most misunderstood principles of the Bible. On one hand, the Bible predicts that along with the curse of weeds, burdensome work, multiplied pain in childbirth, and death– husbands will dominate their wives (Gen 3:15). The same Bible acknowledges that under the fallen conditions of […]
Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God” (Matt 5:9). So why did the Teacher from Nazareth say on another occasion, “Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one […]
The FOX News Network has made a name for itself by promising to present the news “fair and balanced.” Its anchors say, “We report. You decide.” Bill O’Reilly opens his hour-long program with, “You’re in the no spin zone.” He closes with a bit of a smile and twinkle in his eye, saying, “Remember, the […]
