The Triumphal Entry is an event on the church calendar that churches around the globe look forward to celebrating. Waving palm branches, shouting Hosannas and singing powerful songs to our coming King…what’s not to love? For Jesus, I wonder if it was something else. For Him, it was an inauguration to priestly duties and offering […]
What if God anchored His blessing to something that He knew would be abolished? Would that not be the same thing as a broken promise, a bait-and-switch? I love that God anchors His promises and His blessings in something so powerful that it can never be broken: grace. The Apostle Paul says it this way, […]
Way too many people have a hard time with God as our Father. On one hand, it’s understandable if they had dads who were always gone or always drunk. Maybe their dads were not involved in their upbringing or education. There are some who were separated from their fathers due to death, military service, or […]
As we approach the final days of our devotional series “But God…” and come to know the peace of God even as Kingdom citizens of a foreign land called the City of Man, we can experience gratitude that God didn’t leave us with the Law. God didn’t leave us with earning impossible social credits required […]
Few things are harder to accept than trying to play by the rules, live righteous and holy lives, do good to others, loving them even if they’re enemies, and yet to see your life fall apart. Adding insult to injury, one wonders about God when one is suffering but evildoers still seem to flourish. I […]
God knows the difference between sins committed intentionally, flagrantly, audaciously, or maliciously and those that were just a broken world getting in the way of people with otherwise good intentions. God offers grace in these situations of simple error. What types of situations, you ask? Ones such as a person having a heart attack while […]
Resurrection makes all the difference. It’s what can keep us hoping when everything seems dismal. It’s what keeps us persevering when persecution seems unbearable. It’s what keeps the flame of faith alive in the storms of life. It’s what makes this life worth living. No wonder the world’s faithless are among the least happy of […]
This year’s Lent Devotional Series “But God…” resumes tomorrow after today’s Sabbath rest to meditate and worship. “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior […]
There are times when competition—which can be a fantastic growing, stretching, and motivational activity—takes a troubling turn. Comparing and contrasting, striving and stirring can get to the point bringing the self into such myopic focus that it loses all sense or feeling, leaving compassion in the dust. It ceases being a matter of winning and […]
I’m not a fan of coerced unity. We hear it all the time from politicians…unity, unity, unity…but on political terms. You give up your principles and agree with me and then we will have unity. Heads, I win. Tails, you lose. Anything to confuse you or distract you, so you won’t think about what it […]
