One of the stories that we tell our kids in Sunday School is that of Jonah and the whale. It seems tailor-made for children: a dramatic storm, a friendly whale, even a worm and plant. It’s a great story. But if all we see this as is a story for…
In the opening stories of John’s gospel, we have a curious story about how He called two of His disciples, namely Philip and Nathanael. After Jesus called Philip, Philip found his friend Nathanael and told him, basically, “We’ve found Him! We’ve found the Messiah, the one that we’ve waited for…
If you come from a more liturgical church, then yesterday was known as The Baptism of the Lord, a day when we remember that Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized by His cousin, John. This one event is the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, and the stories…
So what do you picture when you see or hear the phrase “wise men?” A lot of you, I suspect, had a flash of a nativity creche: Mary and Joseph huddled over an infant resting in a feeding trough; clean-cut and respectable shepherds coming in from the fields with their…
In Romans, Paul encourages us to confess and believe so that we might be saved. Over the last two weeks, we looked a little at what it means to confess. But Paul says that when we’re Christian, we believe as well as confess. Sounds simple enough, right? But what, exactly,…
Last week, we took a look at one way that we confess, namely when we confess our sins. But confessing has another meaning, one that I believe is just as important. “Confessing” is also a way that we take our stand about what we believe as Christians. Jesus puts it…
So what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? What does it look like? Is there an easy way to sum it all up in just a word or two? Maybe. In Romans 10, Paul writes this: …if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and…
I know that many of you are probably in the throes of getting ready for annual turkey-coma day, also known colloquially as Thanksgiving. This is one of those holidays that are loaded with family traditions. I used to have a Thanksgiving tradition that I haven’t had the joy to experience…
When I was in college, I did a lot of theatre productions (enough that I’ve picked up the pretentious habit of spelling live theatre with an R-E, thankyouverymuch). I remember that after one late night, one of the actors didn’t want to commute home (he lived off campus) and so…
Okay, so I’m either being kind of lazy or I’m giving you more than usual. You can figure out which one. Just some thoughts on Philippians 4:8-9. Your focus determines your reality, after all. So what do you focus on?