We Must Do Better at Our Religious Meetings “Why do you so hate the church?” Shocked, I furrow my eyes and scowl at my friend. “I don’t hate church.” “But you’re always criticizing it in your blog.” This gives me pause. True, much of my writing about church doesn’t celebrate what she does well but […]
The Bible Gives Us a Framework for Why We Should Be Holy Reading through the book of Leviticus challenges most people. Its words fail to engage our imagination as they drone on with seemingly repetitious commands. But there are gems buried within its verses—if our minds aren’t too glossed over to see them. In today’s […]
Today’s passage: John 3:22–36 Focus verse: “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30) We live in a world that wants more. We desire more money. We seek more possessions. The newest of this and the best of that. And regardless of where we fit into society, we want more power and wish […]
We Can’t Force the Beauty and Mystery of God into a Neat Little Box Just as I bristle over the word theology, I also don’t like the word doctrine. Though the two words mean different things, in my mind they have the same effect: They both turn the beauty of God into an intellectual construct, […]
New Format Now Available The audiobook for Love One Another is now available. In addition to audiobook, it is also available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover formats. The audiobook is auto-narrated by Maxwell. Love One Another is a devotional Bible study for Christians who want to foster a deeper appreciation for the two greatest commandments […]
I met one of this church’s staff at a speaker’s conference. As we talked about the church’s belief in the present-day power of the Holy Spirit, that same Holy Spirit nudged me to visit. At last, we will. Consider these seven discussion questions about Church 65. 1. Inside is a bustle of activity, which beckons […]
The movie Secretariat evokes this fitting quote: Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane? Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting? It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength, and charges into the fray. It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; […]
God Intended for Us to Take a Day of Rest Each Week The Old Testament talks a lot about the Sabbath. God wants his children to work six days and then rest on the seventh. In fact, he commands that they observe the Sabbath. But lest we think this is an Old Testament thing, God […]
Today’s passage: John 3:1–21 Focus verse: “I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” (John 3:3) Nicodemus—who only shows up in the book of John, albeit three times—comes to Jesus. He arrives in secret, in stealth at night, under the shroud of darkness. He’s a member of […]
Discover These Significant Epistles of the Bible The New Testament of the Bible opens with the historic books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts. It ends with the prophetic book of Revelation. Between them are twenty-one letters, also called epistles. Five of them, which seem tacked onto the end of the section, are the […]