A Long Obedience
“Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev…. He went by stages from the Negev to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been, to the site where he had built the altar. And Abram called on the name of the Lord there.” (Genesis 13:1, 3–4) Eugene Peterson famously […]
Stability of Place
“The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1) In essence, God told Abraham, “Leave this place because I have another place for you.” The idea of place has been important throughout biblical and church history. 1,500 years ago, […]
The Company We Keep
“And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple…” (1 Peter 2:5, NLT). For the last two weeks, we’ve been discussing the church. I’ve locked onto Peter’s description of the church: God is in the process of building this spiritual temple, and we are the building blocks. The church isn’t just […]
Where is the Lamb?
“Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, ‘My father.’ And he replied, ‘Here I am, my son.’ Isaac said, ‘The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’” (Genesis 22:7) That haunting question was asked atop Mount Moriah 4,000 years ago. Little did ten-year-old Isaac know […]
Believing and Doing
You and I can exercise the faith of Abraham… What God calls us to do doesn’t have to make sense – it didn’t to Abraham. He decided that he would do what God commanded not because it made sense but because God said it. That’s what makes it faith.
The People You Meet
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I […]
Warm and Friendly
The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners so that no one could swim off and escape. But the centurion kept them from carrying out their plan because he wanted to save Paul, so he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to follow, some on […]
