Death by 1,000 Cuts Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the […]
Barnes v Elias So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. ––Galatians […]
Jesus’ Flow As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” ––Matthew 14:15-16 […]
Unanswered? As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. ––Isaiah 55:9 Chrissy and I have friends who found out at five months into the wife’s pregnancy that barring a miracle, the baby would die in the womb. The condition […]
The Peter Pan Complex He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. ––Proverbs 16:32, NKJV At the foot of Mount Hermon in northern Israel lie the headwaters of the Jordan River, which emerge from under the mountain as large springs at […]
Taking God at His Word As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” ––Luke 11:27-28 So you interact with someone—either in person or perhaps […]
You, God, and the Jackass “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!” ––1 Corinthians 4:10, NKJV Consider the jackass. Otherwise known as the donkey, it’s estimated that mankind started domesticating them 5,000-7,000 years ago. Today, there are more than 50 million donkeys in the world—you can […]
Raising Kids Who Fear God, Not You For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. ––1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 In Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica, he […]
Childish v Childlike He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ––Matthew 18:2-4 A rite of passage for West Coast kids is their first time to Disneyland, or […]
Idols and Altars You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. ––Exodus 20: 4-5, NJKV Idolatry isn’t a word you hear often these days. Which is crazy because […]
