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Connecting Scripture with Real Life
What You Should Know about Easter
The resurrection validated Jesus’ claim to be God and his claims about how to live for God.
Why Not to Read the Bible in a Year
What does matter, and the passages above show, is that reading and understanding Scripture is vital. It’s not just for intellectual purposes. It’s for how you live. You’ll see that I have used the word “disciple” more than “believer.” That’s because Jesus calls for people to follow him (Matt 16:24). Jesus calls us to be disciples, to follow him. One thing that disciples must do is learn. The passages above speak of learning what God wants from us.
How to Worship Like the Angels
What do we learn from these moments of praise? It’s about God, his holiness and honor and glory. These are not “gospel songs” about us, like Amazing Grace is.
Why Jesus Came, in One Sentence
Paul calls upon his audience to have the same attitude at Jesus. He humbled himself. He served others. He gave himself for others, including billions who had not yet been born. Jesus called upon people to follow him. Paul called his churches to become like Jesus. That is part of what Christmas means: serve others humbly.
Adventures in Misreading the Bible I: Context, Context, Context
The idea that God wants us to be happy all the time is a myth. Instead, he offers us joy that has its basis in what God has done in and through Jesus for believers. Whether my circumstances are great or hard, God offers to us peace and joy. Joy is not happiness from happenings. It is a gift from God, one of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5.
Where Did You Get That god?
“Away with the false god who requires that we make ourselves good enough to be acceptable to God. If that was possible, Jesus didn’t need to die. Instead, run to God. Enter his presence and experience the love that would lead God incarnate, Jesus, to die for you on the cross. Learn to abide in the great love he has for us. That’s my current project. May it be yours too.
Facing Crisis and Catastrophe
Have you faced a crisis in your life? Are you currently facing a crisis? Have you experienced a catastrophe? I have. I got an eye infection in 1989 and the AWFULmologists who “treated” me caused me to get a cataract in my mid-thirties and destroyed many of the limbal stem cells on my corneas.
How to Know God’s Will, Part 4b
The idea of finding God’s “perfect” will would have been meaningless in the social and historical context of most Christians for most of history. So, unless God redirected them, they didn’t fulfill some “dream” God had for them. They did as they were raised to do and lived for Jesus in their contexts.
Knowing God’s Will for Your Life Part 4a: The Struggle
However, often when we talk about knowing God’s will, Christians are thinking about whom to marry, what career to follow, or where to live. Sometimes, it can feel like being a detective, trying to solve a hard case. Before I talk about that process, I have a cautionary tale about myself.
How to Know God’s Will Part 3
Paul instructs the Christians at Rome to prove or approve what the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God is.” This means that we need to test.
