Picture the scene. Abraham and Isaac have walked up the mountain. Abraham, his eyes overflowing with tears, has bound up his son on the altar. He raises the knife, hands shaking, and begins to lower it. Then, suddenly, “Abraham, Abraham!” a voice cries from heaven. The voice tells Abraham, “Now I know that you fear…
A Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace
Posts from 2015 (Page 12)
Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, which means that we’re in the beginning of the season of Lent. Lent is perhaps one of the oldest liturgical seasons that we have in the Church (with the exception of the celebrations of Epiphany). Lent began as a time of contemplation for a group called the “catechumenate”. These “catechumens”…
“Our purpose is to return to the Father.” This is the sentiment of one of my Mormon friends. To her, this is the ultimate prize that she is always striving towards. She desires nothing more than to return to the Father, and she puts forth every effort to achieve this. Is there anything wrong with…
Based on 2nd Kings 2:1-12 “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.” This becomes Elisha’s mantra in 2nd Kings chapter 2. He knows that today is the day that Elijah will leave him and go up into heaven, but he doesn’t…
It’s easy to pretend to be someone you’re not. For example, in the first season of the television show “Castle,” the main character becomes a consultant for the police. He’s not really a consultant, but he justifies this move by saying that he’s helping the police protect people from harm. In reality, he’s a novelist…
I remember the first time my old campus minister told me something personal about her life. She was describing a significant event while treating me as an equal instead of a student. I felt like I had been elevated to a higher status, that I was her friend instead of someone she was ministering to…
We have a new identity in Christ. We are powerful, strong, supported by God, living our lives based on him. We are like our Savior in so many ways. So the question is, what now? It would be easy for us to take our new identity and keep it to ourselves. It would be easy…
In Psalm 147, God is doing many things. He builds cities, gathers outcasts, heals the brokenhearted, binds up wounds, and lifts up the humble, just to name a few (verses 2-3, 6). But when you think about it, there’s little mention of God physically doing things in the Bible. He doesn’t create Jerusalem out of…
Yesterday I wrote about how God changes us to be more like him. Today I ask you, who would want to be more like us? It sounds ridiculous. We have problems. We’re weak, weary, and confused. We forget about God and try to do our own thing, which always fails. Who in their right mind…
The Bible has a habit of describing God. For example, in Isaiah 40, we learn that God “sits above the circle of the earth” (verse 22). He is the “everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable” (verse 28). This tells us…