What Do You Focus on When You Should Be Focusing on God? This is a post I’m hesitant to share. Yet I’ve always been forthright when I talk about my spiritual journey. So there’s no point in holding back now. The disconcerting truth is I often struggle with church distractions during the service. I wrestle […]
I once stumbled upon a group of Young Quakers online. Their faith, passion for community, and desire to make a difference in their world drew me in. I was intrigued and curious, but they had no gathering close by, so I searched for similar meetings in my area. Consider these three discussion questions about Church […]
We Must Rethink What Happens at Our Church Services A friend once said in his Sunday morning message that some people go to church for the music and put up with the sermon. Others go for the sermon and put up with the music. The minister’s statement suggests that people feel a church service has […]
Keeping Our Heart Pure Is Hard, Especially When God Offers Us Grace and Mercy There are at least twelve psalms in the Bible written by Asaph. Psalm 73 is one of them. Asaph’s having a bad day. He’s going through a difficult time. It’s a rough season for him. He’s discouraged and pours out his […]
Today’s passage: John 9:35–10:21 Focus verse: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11) I suspect you’re familiar with the phrase the Good Shepherd. Yet the term only occurs three times in the Bible, all in today’s passage in the book of John. Jesus, as the […]
Not Everyone Can Be a Missionary, but Everyone Can Support Missionaries We’ve talked about four places—or ways—to be a missionary for Jesus. How does the idea of a short-term mission trip fit into Jesus’s command to be his witness (Acts 1:4-8)? Or his instruction to go make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20)? It doesn’t. At best a […]
A few years ago, I stumbled upon a group of Young Quakers online. Their faith, their passion for community, and their desire to make a difference in their world drew me in. They even invited me to their annual gathering, halfway across the country. Though I had never met one of them in person, for […]
We Must Correct Some Wrong Perspectives about Our Religious Practices We’ve looked at how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament to provide a new way for us and our churches to function, replacing the temple, paid clergy, and tithes. Then we explored ten New Testament practices and five New Testament examples to inform our church behavior. […]
The Tongue Is a Dangerous Tool that We Must Tame In one of his Psalms, David writes that he will be careful in what he says so that he doesn’t sin. He talks about putting a muzzle on his mouth (Psalms 39:1). He says nothing about having freedom of speech. James is clear about the […]
Today’s passage: John 9:13–34 Focus verse: “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” (John 9:16) The Pharisees come up often in the four biographies of Jesus, over eighty times altogether. From our present day, we look back two millennia, dismayed at the hypocrisy and closed-mindedness of the Pharisees. While […]