Tag: change

  • Wisdom Somewhere

    Proverbs 1:20–33, Proverbs 9:10, Matthew 7:7–12, James 1:5–8 (read online ⧉) Choose a side is the overwhelming discourse in politics and social issues these days. Without question, social media and the internet, in general, have made the ability to blare one’s opinion throughout the world. Regardless of one’s politics, newspapers (or news companies) seem to…

  • The 3 Rs: Regret, Remorse, Repent

    Matthew 27:3–4, Luke 17:1–4, Acts 8:9–25, Acts 16:22–34 (read online ⧉) According to Merriam-Webster… regret means (1)(a) to mourn the loss or death of, (b) to miss very much; (2) to be very sorry for remorse means (1) a gnawing distress arising from a sense of guilt for past wrongs, self-reproach repent means (1) to…

  • To Flourish

    Psalm 52, Colossians 1:3–14, 2 Peter 1:3–15 (read online ⧉) “But I am like a flourishing olive tree in the house of God…” Psalm 52:8 (CSB) Being and becoming a flourishing olive tree should be our goal. We, of course, are not trees. We are, however, treasured creations of God that God helps to nurture…

  • Servant and Service

    Isaiah 44:21-23, Matthew 20:22–28, John 12:26 (read online ⧉) What is a servant? That isn’t a small question. In fact, in our culture, it is a huge thing. The cultural implications are generally demeaning (Alfred notwithstanding). That probably has a lot to do with the cultural wound of slavery, when humans claimed ownership of others.…

  • Back To The Dark

    2 Chronicles 24:17–22, Matthew 10:17–22, Acts 6:8–15, Acts 7:51–59 (read online ⧉) Yesterday was only Christmas and here we are back into the darkness of the world. How true to life that is. A baby is born and a family feels joy. In the midst of that joy, there are concerns about food, shelter, relationships.…

  • Strength and Joy

    Deuteronomy 28:45–48, Isaiah 29:17–21, John 15:11 (read online ⧉) “The joy of the Lord is my strength” Nehemiah 8:10Why is it God’s joy, and not our own this our strength? First, we are finite. Even the physically strongest person alive is not stronger than God. Second, our joy as much as it can be Godly…

  • Full Joy

    Psalm 126, Isaiah 12:1–6 Around Christmas, joy is used a lot. Many Christmas songs use the word, a lot. What is joy? Without defining it, we leave it to the world to define it for us, which is dangerous, for the world misses so much without God. For us, we need to look at joy…

  • The First Sunday of Advent

    Psalm 122, Isaiah 32:1–20, Ezekiel 37:26–28 (read online ⧉) There was a (awful) Superman movie in the ’80s called the Quest for Peace. In it, Superman takes care of the bad guy (of course) and takes care of (i.e., eliminates) all the nuclear weapons (which the US and USSR were rapidly building up at the…