A FRESH LOOK My good friend Phil suggested I use The Message to better relate to the inmates I’m presenting to in my visits to county jails. If you don’t know, The Message is a contemporary rendering of the New Testament by Eugene Peterson. But he didn’t do it on his own. He had five […]
THE STRUGGLE Oh, what a struggle it is for me to live out the Christian life! Stop. Rewind. Oh, how easy it is for Jesus to live out His life through me. Question. But certainly there’s something I need to do to live out the Christian life? Yes. Be receptive. Listen. Submit. “Not my will […]
LITTLE ALICE “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14 Grandchildren are one of God’s greatest blessings. They are among the little children Jesus was talking about in Matthew 19:14. Little Alice graduated from kindergarten this past Monday. My wife and I were there to witness her […]
HOW TO BE A CHRIST-FOLLOWER “He must become greater; I must become less.” – John 3:30 It’s a matter of logistics. You can’t be a Christ-follower if you’re the main actor at the front of the stage and He’s standing behind you in a supporting role. You must step back and let Him take the […]
PRAYING SCRIPTURE I learned how to pray Scripture from Jeanne Guyon, a 17th Century Christian mystic. For example, read the Parable of the Tenants in Luke 20:9-18. It’s a rather straightforward story of a king who planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers, and then went away. He sent three different servants at three […]
THE HEART OF CHRISTIANITY Apart from Me you can do nothing. – John 15:5 This verse has haunted me for years. I came to an understanding of it in 2006 and wrote the following in my journal. “If Jesus is not right there with me, and if the Holy Spirit is not speaking to me, […]
IT IS FINISHED – John 19:30 If it was finished, it have to have started. And it did – with Adam and Eve. The Father started the history of mankind with those two and finished the reign of sin with the death of Christ Jesus. The debt is paid. All that needed to be done […]
GOD LOVES BEGGARS “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. Luke 16: 19-21 I am both […]
SHORTENED VERSION OF THE LORD’S PRAYER Father, May Your name be honored in all the world. May Your kingdom come. May Your will be done. Give us what we need each day. Forgive us our sins. Keep us from temptation. Amen.
CHILDREN OF GOD The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. – Romans 8:16 Romans 7 is a real bummer. We all struggle with sin, even as Christians, because we have a sinful nature inherited from our natural parents, Adam and Eve. But we also have a spiritual nature by the death […]