We rightfully pay significant attention to what the biblical text says, but I wonder if there aren’t times when what is not said isn’t equally compelling (and perhaps intended by the writer to be that way). After all, there are times when what someone doesn’t say can be as important as what they do say.Continue reading “Loaves and Fishes”
Category Archives: Coming to God
Listening to God
How do you think God would do in a political debate? One take is that He would be awesome and dominating. Every time He would speak there would be thunder and lightning and no one would care what anyone else had to say. I have to admit, I can see that scenario playing out. ButContinue reading “Listening to God”
Jesus and Dead End Streets
So what do we gain from studying Ecclesiastes (a wisdom book which like Job, contains the good, bad and the ugly before things are reconciled at the end)? Maybe the place to start is to say that Ecclesiastes makes us think. Qoheleth (koh hel’ ith in the Hebrew and translated as “Teacher” or “Preacher”) doesContinue reading “Jesus and Dead End Streets”
It Always Works That Way
I have an article in front of me from Merriam-Webster.com on “How ‘Wonderful’ Lost Its Sense of Wonder.” It discusses semantic bleaching—the process by which a word’s meaning can fade over time so that what we end up with in its popular usage is a greatly reduced version of what it originally conveyed. Words likeContinue reading “It Always Works That Way”
God’s Holiness and Our Hope
Isaiah felt undone in God’s presence (Isaiah 6) and that’s not a terrible thing. If the biblical witness teaches us anything, it is that though God is wholly approachable through Jesus, He is nonetheless holy, and we neglect this truth to our spiritual detriment. God’s holiness is often misunderstood. It is equated with purity andContinue reading “God’s Holiness and Our Hope”
Four of God’s Favorite Words
“Do not be afraid,” the angel told the women who had come to Jesus’ tomb. But they were. They were plenty of reasons to be afraid: * the stone was rolled away and (they thought) it wasn’t supposed to be, * it was early morning in a garden by aContinue reading “Four of God’s Favorite Words”
Faith and Coming to God (2)
3. Faith obeys and works, but never earns. The Scripture speaks of faith working (James 2:22), the “obedience that comes from faith” (Romans 1:5), and even uses “believe” and “obey” interchangeably (see Hebrews 3:19,4:6). But faith cannot earn any more than someone who is given money could boast of their economic standing. It is a grace-based ventureContinue reading “Faith and Coming to God (2)”
Faith and Coming to God (1)
We cannot save ourselves! If we could be good enough to be good enough, there would be no need for a savior. But we can’t—we’ve all sinned and “fallen short” (Romans 3:23). We need someone to do for us what we are unable to do for ourselves. Having said that, it’s just as wrong toContinue reading “Faith and Coming to God (1)”
Exploring Spirituality
Everyone, it seems, is interested in being spiritual (even many who don’t believe in God). Understanding what is meant by this isn’t always easy. Spirituality can be quite a fuzzy term. It’s not so fuzzy when it is used to indicate a deeper dimension that what is commonly associated with formal religious practice. Much ofContinue reading “Exploring Spirituality”
Broken Bread and Crushed Grapes
One of the more interesting historical possibilities concerns how the Nobel Prize came into existence. Many people know that the prize is named after Alfred Nobel, a Swedish man who lived in the last half of the nineteenth century. He was a prolific inventor who earned over 350 patents. He had an element (Nobelium) named after him. And, thereContinue reading “Broken Bread and Crushed Grapes”
