Ever driven a manual transmission? Ever sat as a passenger in a race car? (Ever wanted to?) The driver shifts gears, and you know, you just know, things are serious. You feel the power of car. In the section of Scripture we read today, Jesus shifts gears. He's talking to the religious of his day -- the people who presume to speak for God -- and he is calling them out.
Read MoreDistractions -- external and internal -- can stall, paralyze, or even misdirect our efforts. When we read scripture, there are so many things we could notice. I just don’t want us to get distracted. So today, I ask: what do you “see” in John 5:1-18? And what's is the point?
Read MoreReputations are powerful. We certainly need to earn ours. But our reputation precedes us. If you do not know Jesus, if you only know a little about him... if his “reputation is preceding him," can you pause for a moment and consider a couple things?
Read MoreIn our world, we seem to naturally divide. By race, by where we live... even in the same city, we divide by sports teams. Add geography, throw in a railroad track, and well, you know what happens. Today, Jesus goes to what some Jews would say is the wrong side of the tracks.
Read MoreStaying grounded can be hard. Grounded in all that God has blessed me with, my marriage, my family, my career – you name it. The world always seems to want to draw my attention away. And let’s be real, here: it’s easy to give into the distractions. Today, John the Baptist (JB) shows us a life that is grounded in Jesus.
Read MoreReal love chooses. Real love gives. Real love risks. Real love costs. Have you thought about how God loves you? Right now?
Read MoreFirst impressions can last a lifetime. Remember your first date? Your first job interview? Remember sweating over what to wear? How about this: what is your first impression of meeting Jesus?
Read MoreDropping everything... this does require some discernment. People drop everything when an emergency arises, or a threatening situation appears, or when the vision of the future is big enough. Without prayer and godly counsel, I could spend my life running from one ill-advised big dream to another.
Read MoreWe are all living our lives based on some bigger story we believe to be true. What is the biggest story *you* are a part of?
Read MoreThis isn’t some battle between two opposite but equal opponents: good/evil, light/darkness. No, all that darkness? He has overcome it. Pause and ponder all that this means!
Read MoreRemember how Greek philosophers had a word that described this “ordering principle” that brought us into existence? That word in Greek is “Logos,” which in English is translates to “Word.” That word connects.
Read More“In the beginning.” Stop right there. Let’s not go any further. Remember how I said John gets philosophical and theological? It starts right now.
Read MoreDo you, or did you, have a best friend? Someone you “ran with” in your youth? Maybe someone more recent? A brother or sister in the military, a co-worker, a buddy from the gym who always cheers you on… you get the idea. You know, that person with whom you faced giants.
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