Today’s passage: 2 John 1:1–3 Focus verse: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love. (2 John 1:3) John opens his letter calling himself simply “the elder.” Though he could have used more prestigious labels, such as “one of Jesus’s twelve disciples” […]
We Must Protect Ourselves from Greed and Materialism, Worshipping God Instead The Bible talks a lot about idolatry, of idols and worshipping them. Both the Old and New Testaments address this, warning against wrong worship and telling us we must put God first. As followers of Jesus, we would never worship idols today. Or do […]
Where Two or Three are Gathered A church that popped up during our initial online search for nearby houses of worship was Church #21. We’d never heard of them, and no one we talked to knew anything about them. We vacillated whether we should visit, and when we had trouble finding their location on Sunday […]
Psalm 171 from Beyond Psalm 150 After bringing the ark to the temple, Solomon stands before the altar, lifts his hands to heaven, and offers these words to God: Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keeps covenant and loving kindness with your […]
Reform Sunday School as an Education Service to Your Community It may be strange to see Sunday school on this list of things we must change for our churches, but we should carefully reexamine it. Do you know the original mission of this Sunday program? It was to teach poor children how to read. And […]
John writes a letter to the elect, the chosen lady, along with her kids. Some people assume John uses this intimate metaphor to refer to the church (the chosen lady) and its members (her children). But this interpretation falls apart because the New Testament considers the people as the church, not as two separate parts. […]
The Dangers of Surrounding Ourselves with People Just Like Us It’s understandable that we want to spend time with others who are like us, with folks who all think, act, and believe the same. Yet when followers of Jesus do this it’s too easy to fall into a Christian echo chamber. A Christian echo chamber […]
Expecting the Unexpected and Still Being Surprised When we visited Church #14, I expected more. I anticipated experiencing the movement of the Holy Spirit, prophetic words, and the possibility of people being slain in the spirit. I expected the full Pentecostal experience. I braced to hear holy laughter and the tumult of the masses simultaneously […]
Psalm 170 from Beyond Psalm 150 As successor to King David, Solomon constructs the temple that his father wanted to build. With much fanfare Solomon brings the ark—which contains the two stone tablets God gave to Moses—to reside in the temple. Before the people gather for this momentous event, Solomon blesses God and honors David. […]
A Subtle Source of Distraction King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wasn’t so wise with his love life. In all he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Even worse, many of King Solomon’s wives were foreigners, something God prohibited because he feared they would distract his people from fully worshiping him (Deuteronomy 7:3). […]