Stop It Micah! The prophet Micah gives some strong words from God to his chosen people. Although Micah’s proclamation—his prophecy—should convict them, instead they take offense. At one point the people even tell him to stop talking—they say, “Stop it Micah”—as if his silence would keep God’s plans from happening. Micah’s sarcastic retort is that […]
Discussing Church 7 I suspect this church is only a couple years old. I later learn they’re an outgrowth of a small group. Consider these four discussion questions about Church #7: 1. Their meeting space looks abandoned. We approach with uncertainty. I hesitate to walk inside. It wouldn’t take much to make the entrance more […]
Visiting Church One Time Isn’t Enough With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #51. This mega church does so many things right. Though I don’t want to go to a large church, this one really draws me. Of […]
Learn More about Aristarchus Another of Paul’s friends, mentioned in his letter to Philemon, is Aristarchus. We first hear of him in Acts. We learn that he is a Macedonian from Thessalonica who is traveling with Paul on one of his missionary journeys. Later, when Paul is sent to Rome as a prisoner, faithful Aristarchus […]
Fresh Perspective of the Bible and God Earlier this month I took part in the Victorious Christian Conference, hosted by Emily Louis. My session was a “Fresh Perspective of the Bible and God.” We covered that and a lot more. Though I don’t like seeing myself on video or listening to a recording of my […]
A Poor Church With our journey of visiting fifty-two churches over, I can reflect more on the complete experience. Today, I’ll add to my thoughts about Church #33. It seems the congregation of this rural church has little to be thankful for, at least from my perspective. Yet their service taught me the opposite. I’m […]
A Personal Story of Growing in Faith and Action [This personal essay first appeared in The Transformation Project: A West Michigan Word Weavers Anthology.] A caterpillar turns into a butterfly; a tadpole becomes a frog. People can change too. We call it transformation. Here’s my story. 1. The Bible Matters We moved between fourth and […]
The People of Israel Ask Samuel To Intercede for Them Throughout the Old Testament, the Philistines show up as a recurring nemesis for God’s chosen people, the nation of Israel. The Bible mentions the Philistines 191 times in seventeen of the Old Testament’s books. In most of these cases the Philistines are doing something to […]
There’s a story about a military leader, a centurion, who desires Jesus to heal his dying servant. The centurion doesn’t approach Jesus himself, but instead he calls in a favor, asking some Jewish leaders to go on his behalf. If these men are like most of the religious leaders we read about in the Bible, […]
Be Careful Not to Judge Others Based on Who We Are or What We Do Over the years I’ve heard many people wonder out loud about the validity of another Christian’s faith based on what they do or some aspect of their life. Often this takes the form of, “Can you be a ______ and […]