Fire from Heaven?
“When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” (Luke 9:54) I’ve got to be honest with you: This is sometimes my default response when things don’t go my way. In this passage, a village refused Jesus entrance. They rejected […]
Streams of Living Water
“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” (John 7:38) I believe it was Shakespeare who made famous the phrase “too much of a good thing.” In ancient history, Greek explorers discovered a great lake in the Arabah wilderness. They named it Thalassa Thanatos, or […]
Family of Light
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8) We live in a dark, dark world…and it is getting darker. What does it mean, then, to live as children of light? Does it mean we use our social media pulpits to condemn sin and […]
DIY Religion
“Then Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and priest, and I’ll give you ten shekels of silver a year, your clothes and your food.”” (Judges 17:10) This week in our nice little stroll through the book of Judges, we’ll meet Micah. He’s like a lot of American Christians. He loves […]
Magically #Blessed
“Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him. Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake […]
God’s Crowbar
“(His parents did not know that this [Samson marrying a Philistine] was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)” (Judges 14:4) Samson, Samson, Samson, smh. This guy is a real piece of work. Still, God used him. The author of Judges […]
Finish the Race
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:24) Super Bowl XXVII and the Dallas Cowboy are beating the Buffalo Bills as the game winds down. Buffalo fumbles the ball on the Dallas […]
Slaves to Sin
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do (Romans 7:14–15). The Bible ties together the ideas of sin and slavery throughout its pages […]
God’s Team
“…But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had peace forty years. (Judges 5:31).” That’s the “happily ever after” ending of our message this week from Judges 4-5. But don’t let that little happy ending fool you. It was a hard-fought peace. I always […]
10 Shekels and a Shirt
“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.“ (Judges 17:6, NIV) It is a refrain that is repeated over and over in the book of Judges. As we study it together in church, several of you are reading ahead and have mentioned how frustrating it is…things keep spiraling downward and […]
Forgetting God
“The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs (Judges 3:7, NIV).” Sounds like a familiar problem, doesn’t it? We might not serve Baals and Asherahs anymore. We have different, more modern idols we serve. But, like Israel, we do tend […]
Talkin’ ’bout My Generation
“After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel.” (Judges 2:10, NLT) Funny that this topic of “generations” comes up this week with so much talk about this topic lately. The “Boomers” didn’t have much respect for my generation, “Generation […]
