There’s a never-ending debate many folks have on who the greatest NBA player of all time is. Is it Jordan? Is it Lebron? Is it Kobe? There’s no doubt that if you’re an NBA fan, you land on a particular side of this debate, and you have your reasons. A lot of it boils down […]
Muting The Noise of the World
Some people like to do what they call a Prayer Hike. That is where one or more people go on a hike, or walk, and pray as they go. Now, many people, like myself, wind up on a prayer hike inadvertently when they find the trail much longer and steeper than anticipated. But here we […]
In Someone Else’s Shoes
When encountering people from other ethnic, national, or religious cultures it is easy to see how their culture influences their values and ways of thinking about the world. Yet, in Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Gilead, the fictional narrator Reverend John Ames reminds me that I am no different. As Ames tries to make sense […]
Welcome, You.
One day when Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent near the great trees of Mamre, he looked up and saw three men standing nearby. He hurried to meet them and then bowed low to the ground, asking them if he could wash their feet and begging them to stay. Afterward, he went […]
What is the Sabbath?
I once participated in a heated discussion with my friend of another denomination about the Christian Sabbath. She insisted that the seventh day, meaning Saturday, is the Sabbath. She even had me count out the days, and I could not disagree with her. Thinking her point proved correct, I felt ashamed that I couldn’t put […]
Calling Him “Father”
Scripture reminds us time and time again that we are God’s children and he is our Father. Psalm 103:13 tells us, “Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.” In 2 Corinthians 6:18, God promises, “I will be a Father to you, and you […]
WHY JOIN A CHURCH?
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Christians have to be church members. Hebrews 10:24-25, verses that are often quoted in discussions of church attendance, does specifically tell us not to “[give] up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing” (NIV). That is a clear direction to gather regularly with other […]
FROM THE CHURCH OF THE PAINFULLY IMPERFECT
The word community was never disputed. When the church I was a part of was undergoing the process of changing their name, nearly every potential word or phrase was scrutinized and debated. There was even disagreement over whether the word church should be included in the new title. Yet, nobody ever questioned the inclusion of […]
THE IMPERFECT PASTOR
A few years ago, I was apart of a large multi-campus church that was very well connected and whose pastor was often in the public spotlight. When rumors began surfacing about potential scandals, almost every Christian news outlet and magazine went hunting for skeletons. They unearthed a number of things that were seen as unethical, […]
ON CHRISTIAN “HYPOCRISY”
I once paid for gas with a counterfeit bill. At the time, I had no idea it was counterfeit. I thought the $20 I pulled from my purse was valid, perfectly real. Paying for gas with it was supposed to be a routine transaction. Only when the cashier used a bill detector and told me […]
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