We are currently busy with a sermon series at church for Advent called: “What God wants for Christmas?” Each Sunday we open one divinely wrapped Christmas present sent to us from God! In it is one thing God wants for Christmas! Last Sunday’s gift was this message from God: What I want for Christmas: 1. [...]
Isn’t it interesting that when everything is going well in our lives, we don’t think it is happening for some Divine reason, but when tragedy strikes, then God must have a plan with it? I suspect that “blaming” God for our misfortunes helps us to cope with what has happened to us; it helps us [...]
For I know the plans I have for you, says God, plans for your prosperity and not to harm you, plans to give you a future with hope. (Jeremiah 29:11) Last week we looked at the story of Joseph and the concept that God is at work in hidden ways in the world. The writer [...]
Years and years ago I had a friend who experienced one misfortune after another. After sharing her heart with us at our small group gathering someone in our group – in an attempt to console her – said: “God must really love you a lot to let all these trials happen to you.” My friend [...]
Have you been led to believe that God has a highly detailed blueprint for your life that includes a specific job, career, spouse/partner, car – and everything in between? When you have to make a major decision do you pray to try to ascertain what God’s will is for your life? Do you look for [...]
Dan and I are busy reading a book that deals with the “urban myths” of faith. It’s titled: 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe by Larry Osborne. Larry explains that similarly to urban myths, there exist spiritual urban myths – a belief, story, or assumption that gets passed around as fact. small business finance homely.
Is diversity a good or bad thing? Something to be feared or embraced? Some people hold up the story of the “Tower of Babel” as proof that it is a punishment from God. But is it? The book of Genesis is the first book in the Bible and the first eleven chapters of the book [...]
Watch how you live. Your lives may be the only gospel your sisters and brothers will ever read. (Dom Helder Camara, former archbishop and martyr). If you grew up in church, as I did, the chances are big that as a teenager you attended youth group. The youth group I attended as teenager was lead [...]
What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander. – Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate. The last two weeks we have heard one news story after another about GLBT teens committing suicide – not because of some internal state of depression, but because they [...]
What did Jesus mean when he said, “Judge not, and you will not be judged”? It’s one of the most commonly quoted verses from the Bible (Luke 6:37). Many of us, and not merely politicians, invoke the verse as a first defense when accused of wrongdoing. It is also a favorite stone thrown by those [...]