40 Reflections on Jesus’s Life and Love from the Gospel of John Do you have a spiritual thirst? Do you want to drink Living Water that only Jesus offers? Whether you are yet to take your first sip of Living Water or have been quenching your spiritual thirst for a long time, dig deeper into […]
Jesus does three things to complete what the Old Testament started Jesus draws people to him. The words he speaks and the hope he communicates attract them. Some people assume he had come to replace the Old Testament Law and the work of the prophets. Instead, Jesus fulfills it. Jesus doesn’t come to do away […]
Balance Old Testament Commands with New Testament Freedom Psalm 15 opens with one essential question, phrased in two ways, that most everyone asks, either out loud or to themselves. In this Psalm, David asks God, “What must I do to live with you?” The next four verses give us the answer. Actually, it’s a series […]
Through Jesus We Become His Priests and His Temple, Which Should Change Everything In the Old Testament the people go to the temple to encounter God. The priests help them in this. They act as a liaison between them and God. In many ways we still do this today. We go to church to encounter […]
Don’t Do Church Wrong I think we’re doing church wrong. At first I assumed it was just me, but today’s church is stuck in a rut, an Old Testament rut. We follow an Old Testament model for church. Moses’s Method: The Old Testament Model When God gave Moses the Law, he established some key expectations […]
Reclaim Our Practice of Communion from a Biblical Context In their practice of Communion some churches allow children to take Communion (the Eucharist) and others don’t. I’ve seen both occur at various worship services, but I don’t know which practice is more common. A similar consideration is the issue of closed Communion versus open. For […]
Praying to the Godhead Last week we looked at God as Trinity and used the image of a tripod to illustrate how one God can exist in three parts: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now we’ll build upon that understanding and use it to inform us so that we can better pray to the Trinity. […]
A Parable about Lazarus In the parable about the rich man and the beggar, Lazarus, Jesus shares an intriguing story. In it, both men die. Lazarus goes to heaven, but the rich man ends up in hell. Desperate to spare his family from the torment he is suffering, the rich man makes a request of […]
The Bible Is Chocked Full of Perplexing Stories That Are Hard to Understand One puzzling story in the Bible is when God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. What loving father would kill his son? It might be asking someone to make the ultimate sacrifice. However, Abraham is intent on obeying God regardless […]
Discover How to Hear God’s Voice and Discern Spiritual Direction I’ve shared with you the arc of my faith journey, the spiritual transformations I’ve experienced so far in my life. I built upon that by relating my experiences in reading the Bible and praying for my children and future generations. Next, I decided to share […]