Posts tagged “Faith”
Be careful, not forgetful
“Pastor Mike,” the young woman said, “do you remember me?” I stared at her sort-of-familiar face, and my brain immediately cried, “Mayday! Mayday! This…
Grace for real sinners
“At least I ain’t killed nobody.” We sure like to set the bar high for ourselves, don’t we? Not. How often isn’t this our…
Ready?
Are you ready? My boys and I weren’t. We were sitting on our beds at a hotel, watching sports highlights, when suddenly the fire…
No exclusions on grace
There are always exclusions, right? Everything comes with fine print. You go to the doctor and have to sign forms—lots of forms! You rent…
Your baptism is a big deal
Do you think your baptism is a big deal? Big enough to stand up and clap for, to shed a tear over, to annually…
Government according to Jesus
Caesar, a pagan politician who claimed divine powers for himself that belong only to God, deserved obedience from Christians according to Jesus: “Give back…
The most useful book ever
Americans, for the most part, are practical people. I’ve noticed that when I preach a message at church, my listeners (mostly, but not all,…
Doubt or belief
When it was almost time for Jesus to be born, the central figures in his birth story got some news. Here’s how it went…
Impractical preaching
I try to be a practical preacher. After I unpack a section of Scripture, I like to suggest a simple next step to help…
Red for redemption
I admit it: I don’t always love reading through the Bible’s Old Testament. Some books are just so … Leviticusy (read: full of boils…
Choices
The mind of Christ was in Old Testament believers who trusted that God had a plan of salvation. Leaders like Joshua reflected that hope….
Made for eternity
“You only live once!” How often do you hear that? We’re bombarded with encouragements to seize the day because our end could come at…