Jesus Brings Freedom
Freedom is at the heart of Jesus' ministry. This means that his mission is to bring liberty, liberation from all forms of bondage. In Luke, Chapter Four, he lists the job description the Holy Spirit anoints him to fulfill: To Preach good news to the poor To set free the prisoners The recovery of sight to the blind Release of the oppressed To declare the year of the Lord’s favor. -Luke 4:18-19 The heart of the human problem is bondage—bondage to things beyond our control: First of
From the Pastor – Good Advice: Listen to Your Mother!
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.
By Divine Appointment
When we read Acts 27, the question often arises: How did the apostle Paul end up in this unscheduled stop on the island of Malta on his journey to Rome? The easy answer is that his ship sank and he washed up on the beach. In this life “stuff like that just happens.” But the Bible’s view of history is that nothing ever “just happens.” Things happen for a reason and they take place not simply within a nexus of cause and
A Unique Kind of Happiness
As many of you know, our family currently lives in the center of Munich and we often find ourselves thinking, if happiness is measured by the looks on people’s faces, there apparently isn’t very much to go around. Of course, this could be any city, town, or village in any part of the world. Happiness isn’t the norm, nor has it ever been. This fact doesn’t keep our world from imagining that happiness is something that’s owed to them. But
Your Favorite Christmas Memory: Emotional Footprints and Traditions
I asked someone recently, “What’s your favorite memory or tradition of Christmas?” I was shocked by the reply, “None.” None. Not one. He went on to explain that Christmas was one of the worst times at his home. Anger, punctuated by moments of drunkenness on the part of the rest of the family were a living nightmare. He dreaded that time and couldn’t wait for it to be over. For him, there were no special Christmas worship services, no Christ-like behavior, no positive
A Gracious Offer
God offers us his friendship. How amazing is that? I remember hearing a sermon once where the preacher reacted uncomfortably to the idea of “God as friend.” To refer to God as “friend” was inappropriate or presumptuous, even derogatory. To him, God is “Almighty,” not “All-matey.” God in all his majesty, glory, power, purity, and awesomeness was not to be spoken of on the same level as just another person. Just to be clear, there’s nothing low or second-rate about friendship, or
What About the Cross?
The cross of Jesus as the centerpiece of the atonement and our reconciliation with God has never been an easy matter to understand. “If God required all that torture, blood, and pain for his beloved son, how does it square with a loving God? If you’re seeking clarity and meaning of Jesus’ crucifixion, just follow the historical events as they are reported, and then ask some basic questions about human behavior, the circumstances of Jesus’ death, and God’s involvement in it:
Do You Feel Ugly, Undesirable, Unlovable?
Judging from the billions of dollars of beauty products that are sold every year, it appears that we really don’t like what we see in the mirror every morning. Sadly, there is a short step from this to thinking that others see us in the same way, and eventually imagining that God views us in this light. What we need to keep in mind is the fact that God looks upon us with different eyes. While it’s true that he looks
Train Up A Child—Back to School!
Following up on “do not provoke your children,” (Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21), I want to look at Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” The Hebrew word is used three other times in the Bible and is used in the meaning of “dedicating” (Deuteronomy 20:5; 1 Kings 8:63; 2 Chronicles 7:5). So when we read “train,” the Proverb essentially speaks also of “dedicating” our children.
Hopeless Without God
For most of us hope means “I hope so,” or “It would be nice if,” or “I don’t really know, but I’m hoping, maybe
