Phonies, Posers, and Thanksgiving
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a […]
Prediction: Who Loses the 2016 Election
Tomorrow we will have a new President-elect. By now, you’ve heard all the predictions. Who will win? Not us. Whether she wins, or he wins, the American people lose. Even if MY candidate wins…I lose. The reason? For the first time in American history, we have two candidates who both hold worldviews different from our […]
Decisions, Decisions
“How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!“ (Proverbs 16:16, NIV) The Wisdom Literature of the Bible is filled with instruction like this one, encouraging us to make wise choices. But as we all know, some choices are easier to make than others. Every decision we make is a […]
Love One Another
““A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.“ (John 13:34, NIV) It seems our country is more divided than ever…politics, race, even gender are issues that pull Americans apart. It’s even true in the church, to some degree. A friend of mine pastors […]
The Fear of the Lord
“‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.“ (Leviticus 19:14, NIV) We read this and think who would do such a thing, anyway? But you and I both know there are rotten apples out there who would and do take […]
Get Wisdom!
“Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:7, NIV) That’s the Bible’s verdict on wisdom. In fact, six different times in the Proverbs we’re told to get it…whatever the cost…and hold onto it for dear life. We Christians take this to heart, so we start our quest […]
Doing the Hard Work
“You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.“ (James 3:18, The Message) I really like that interpretation of James 3:18 from The Message because it stacks up […]
The Three “I’s”
“Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” (Psalm 100:3, NIV) In school they taught us the importance of the three R’s: reading, riting, and ‘rithmatic (maybe they should spend more time on the one S!). In our […]
Hard-Headed
“I have made your forehead as hard as the hardest rock!”” (Ezekiel 3:9, NLT) A friend of mine reminded me of that passage from Ezekiel today and it encouraged me. In the past, I, too, have been told (I won’t tell you by whom) that I am hard-headed. It wasn’t meant as a compliment. But […]
“The Plans I Have for You…”
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.“ (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV) In the real estate world, they say “location, location, location!” In Bible study world we say “context, context, context.” How many times have […]
My Hope is in You
“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.“ (Romans 5:5, NIV) I saw a political bumper sticker the other day that actually made me laugh. Picture a typical political endorsement but instead of the politician’s name it read […]
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 […]
