Monthly Archives: August 2019
This is a common theme in the Bible letter written by James, Jesus’ half-brother (excerpts from chapters 3 and 5): My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but…..
John the Baptizer is a reminder that effective leadership requires commitment, sacrifice, truth-filled messaging, and humble selflessness: “John came preaching, ‘Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near’ . . . John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan, confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in…..
Many Christians believe that, as He promised, Jesus is coming back to earth, and that ultimately He will bring the Kingdom of God to earth – that beautiful kingdom filled with love, life, peace, health, prosperity, unity, righteousness, and justice, and, absent of temptation, selfishness, death, sickness, conflict, poverty, injustice, violence, and all that sin brought and brings into the present broken world. It was often the theme of the Old Testament prophets, of Jesus, and of the Apocalypse (the…..
The Smith family (unrelated to any Smiths I have met) knew that their historic family farmhouse faced North. It was a deeply held conviction handed down from one generation to the next as if it were right out of The Good Book. They and most of the people close to them were all certain of it. It was one of those indisputable facts that could not be questioned by any thinking person. As nearly as could be discerned, the certainty…..
Two more mass murders yesterday! That’s 22 in 2019. “How long, O Lord, until you do something?” In many parts of the Bible we read the anguished prayers of God’s people who cannot understand God’s apparent indifference and inactivity against the violence and injustice on the earth. Here are a just a few samples. “We are given no signs from God; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be. How long will the enemy…..