Newsletter

Christ the Stranger

In the Philippines where I grew up, there was a president who used to occasionally dress up in a big hat and workers clothes and ride public transportation around the country. For him, it was the best way to really get a sense of what the country was like. On a few occasions, people would…

Worship

“Worship the LORD, your God.” Luke 4:8 The word “worship” can mean different things to us. The Greek word that Jesus uses in the verse above is “proskeneyo,” a word that has bowing down or even falling on your face at its root. If you asked most people today what worship means in a religious…

Don’t Let Them Walk Away

The disciples were right. The people could, and therefore should be expected to be able to feed themselves. Sure, it was quite a walk to town, but it was something that they could do. And after all, what were the disciples supposed to do? Steal a little boy’s lunch and feed just a few people?…

The Benefits of Being Last

Jesus said, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35) Those words of Jesus form our red letter challenge for this week. This is actually one that I have worked on for a little bit of time myself. It all started because I really don’t like…

Drop Your Rocks

They were disgusted with her. They had known about the affair for months now, but the two fornicators had eluded being seen together. That is, until today. Today they caught her in the act. They hauled her out, in a state of some undress. They looked at Jesus and said, “Teacher, this woman has been…

Beg

This week’s Red Letter Challenge comes from Matthew 9, verse 38. Most English translations translate this as “Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest.” Some use the more archaic, “Beseech the Lord…” But the Greek word “deomai” is probably just as well translated “beg”. “Beg” is a challenging…

Return Home

What do you do when you return home? I think a number of us have little routines when we get home. Maybe it’s a place where you immediately go when you get home, or a pet that gets some attention, or a person that you talk to right away. I remember my parents calling me…

Nothing in Return

Pens. Books. That 20 dollar bill. Even that favorite college sweatshirt that I lent to that girl I was dating. It’s hard not to let the resentment settle in. I lent this to you. I didn’t give it as a gift. I feel like I was pretty clear. But it’s still gone. Not to be…

Abide in my word

It’s here! It’s here! It’s finally here! This week we start off reading two chapters of the Gospels every week! The Gospels are a combined 89 chapters, and so we’re looking at about 45 weeks of reading the Gospels together. This should bring us right up to the end of this annual focus year on…

10:02

Whenever I go to a Florida Georgia District event, there’s a good chance that whatever meeting or speaking event I’m a part of, that there will be a morning interruption at 10:02am. At 10:02am, it is very likely that an alarm that plays the NFL Monday Night fanfare will go off. The offending phone belongs…