“Heart” is a huge word in Proverbs—it is used 75 times in 31 chapters! The heart is at the center of who and what we are. It is where we process life—where attitudes are formed and actions are determined. It is the command post of our being. According to Proverbs, our life is a reflectionContinue reading “Guarding Our Hearts”
Category Archives: Opening the Bible
Pride and Humility
You don’t have to read much of Proverbs before you understand the writer likes to use contrast to make his point. He tells us in 1:7 that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” He does the same kind of thing in v. 32-33. Then thereContinue reading “Pride and Humility”
For Freedom (2)
Our freedom in Christ isn’t always used by us in liberating ways. Part of that is because living free isn’t anywhere near as easy as it sounds. Many people equate living a liberated life with essentially doing whatever they want to do. That’s nonsense and Paul says so in Galatians 5:17 when he writes “youContinue reading “For Freedom (2)”
For Freedom (1)
Freedom is a word that has been appropriated over the years to every imaginable cause and issue—from noble pursuits such as the deliverance of people from injustice and oppression, to not-so-noble causes like recreational drug use, abuse of natural resources, aborting the unborn and selling the body parts . . . well, you get theContinue reading “For Freedom (1)”
Life Wins!
That’s what happened today when the Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade (and Casey) and ended almost 50 years of federal support of abortion. The essence of the majority ruling penned by Justice Alito is that there is not and has never been a constitutional basis (right) for abortion. There has been no issue thatContinue reading “Life Wins!”
The Disciple And Freed Speech (2)
The book of Proverbs is full of powerful passages about our speech. A good place to begin is in 18:21 where the writer tells us, “The tongue has the power of life and death.” Framing it in such absolute terms gets our attention—but it’s more than that the writer is after. Words can bring deathContinue reading “The Disciple And Freed Speech (2)”
The Disciple And Freed Speech (1)
I remember a man, a WW II veteran, who liked to say that free speech wasn’t free—it came at the cost of the lives of the people who fought to preserve it. It was a needed reminder of the difference between an entitlement and a legacy. It is not helpful or healthy to think ofContinue reading “The Disciple And Freed Speech (1)”
Overcoming Bad Choices
1. All choices have consequences. I throw a rock into a pond and the water ripples. The ripples are the result of me choosing to throw the rock. 2. You cannot have choices without consequences—life doesn’t work that way. If I choose to throw a rock into the pond (unless it is winter and the pond isContinue reading “Overcoming Bad Choices”
Learning The Hard Way
FINA, the organization that oversees watersports competition, recently came up with a third category for sanctioned contests. In addition to the classifications of men and women, there will now be an open division where those who with gender dysphoria* will compete. The creation of this category is in direct response to the obvious competitive disadvantagesContinue reading “Learning The Hard Way”
Proverbs And Corporal Punishment
Five times in the book of Proverbs the writer encourages his readers to employ the rod in disciplining children (13:24, 22:15, 23:13, 23:14, 29:15). Though some contend that “rod” is used in a figurative rather than a literal sense, there’s no real evidence for that. Since a word is to be understood literally unless weContinue reading “Proverbs And Corporal Punishment”
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 