Jesus told us to ask in order to receive, to seek in order to find and to knock in order for the door to be opened. ask -> receiveseek -> findknock -> open God responds. This seems straightforward: ask, seek, and knock. But what is the door that will be opened? Is it a door […]
Some people who follow Jesus give his church 10 percent of their income. The Bible calls this a tithe and it was a requirement from the Old Testament portion of the Bible. Other people say 10 percent is more a guideline than a rule. I don’t see much support for this perspective—other than the fact […]
A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back By Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)Not yet four years old, Colton Burpo’s life was slipping away. His burst appendix was misdiagnosed and left untreated for days. Now it was likely too late to save him. His parents’ prayers became […]
The Lord’s Prayer contains a curious phrase that gives me pause. Frankly, it makes me uncomfortable every time I say it. The passage in question is “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” We mean the first part, but do we really mean the second part? When we ask this of God, are […]
When Jesus’ disciples asked him how to pray, he gave them a short little example. It’s commonly called “The Lord’s Prayer” (though some suggest “The Disciples’ Prayer” would be a more appropriate label.) Others refer to it as “Our Father” after its opening phrase. The Lord’s Prayer is found in Matthew 6:9-13. In the NIV, […]
When it comes to giving to others there are two schools of thought. One is to give to whoever asks and the other is to be good stewards of the resources God has given us. The problem is, both of these are taught in the Bible, so which is it? The answer, as with many […]
In my prior post, “Listen to Understand,” I noted that listening to Jesus results in more understanding; not listening produces confusion. This parallels Jesus’ teaching about the “talents” and the “minas” (both words refer to denominations of money). These parables, though differing in details (likely because they were given to different audiences at different times) […]
Doctor Luke writes that Jesus tells the people to listen carefully to what he says. When they do, they will understand—and then even greater understanding will follow. But there’s a warning, too. Those who don’t really listen will lose whatever understanding they currently have. Listening to Jesus results in more understanding; not listening results in […]
When we ask God for something, is it a “once and done” effort or should we pray repeatedly until our request is granted? I think the answer is yes! If we truly believe God hears our prayers, then we only need to ask once. (And what’s the point of praying if we don’t think he […]
One time Jesus skipped the ceremonial hand washing before he ate. The Pharisees took notice of his omission and were about to criticize him when he took preemptive action, giving them teaching about six woes: When considering these six woes, ceremonial hand washing isn’t a big deal. [Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s […]