Wednesday's Word

To transgressing of your boundaries You will put an end. To human thoughts of autonomy You will put an end. To delusions of self-sufficiency You will put an end. Grace forbids these going on forever. To acts of violence and deeds of greed You will put an end. To the burn of lust You will put an end. To injustice and inhumanity You will put an end. Grace prohibits these going on forever. To the silent writing of my own law You will put an end. To using others for personal... Read More

What in the world is a hermeneutic? You might be familiar with the term if you took any classes at a seminary or if you study the Scriptures with commentaries. But hermeneutics isn’t a discipline that should be reserved just for academic Christianity. No, hermeneutics is something we all use in our everyday, street-level walk with God. So, what in the world is a hermeneutic? In a word - interpretation. Hermeneutics is the science of interpretation. We each carry around our personal... Read More

Have you ever opened your closet bulging with clothes and thought, “I have nothing to wear...” Have you ever looked into your refrigerator brimming with food and said, “There's nothing to eat...” As sinners, we have this amazing propensity to stand in the middle of lavish blessing and feel as if we are poor and needy. How does this happen? In a word: envy. But it starts with forgetfulness. Envy forgets blessing, and in forgetting blessing assumes... Read More

The word rolls off our tongue so easily. Good. “Wow, this cereal is so good!” “We had a good time at the park.” “Let me tell you where to get a good cup of coffee.” “Sam is a really good husband.” It’s become such a familiar and mundane word in our vocabulary that our mind doesn’t take the time to consider the content. So when we read that God is good, what’s meant to happen inside our soul doesn’t always... Read More

I think about it all the time. It doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem right. I try to make the equation work but it doesn't. They don't give you the time of day. They couldn't care less about your law. They are proud of their pride. They are so arrogant their tongues strut. They mock your existence. They scoff at your boundaries. They not only make threats, they resort to violence. Their boasting is their bling. I usually swallow my questions, but... Read More

Did you make a New Year’s Resolution for 2019? Change is important, but the reality is that few of us have made immediate and significant life changes because of a single New Year’s resolution. The Christian life doesn’t rest its hope in big moments of change. Instead, the transforming work of grace is more of a mundane process. A mundane process that takes small and daily commitment. You’ve probably heard me say this before: Change typically takes place in... Read More

It’s so easy to forget. With all the bright lights, the cheery music, the shiny decorations, the tasty treats, and the family gatherings, we forget what the scene was really like on that first Christmas. Glory collided with tragedy. Unimaginable glory, in the form of a babe, came to earth. Angels literally announced this birth; don’t gloss over the mind-boggling nature of that heavenly incident! God became flesh, and the hope of the universe was born. But at the same... Read More

It’s not too hard to find things to complain about. Listen to the conversations around you - there’s a lot of grumbling going on! At the same time, we can find a multitude of reasons for which to be thankful. Tomorrow (in America), our society sets aside a day to count our blessings and give thanks. I’m deeply persuaded that our decision to complain or to give thanks is rooted in the way we view ourselves. Follow the logic here: If I assume that I’m a good... Read More

I don’t think you could pray more dangerous words than these three: “Thy Kingdom Come.” If we truly understood what we were saying, we would probably pause before inviting such upheaval through our door. This often overused and underestimated petition can only be answered by turning our lives upside down and inside out. Let’s be honest. We don’t always greet God’s kingdom with delight. We want certain things in life, and we not only want them, but we... Read More

We live in a broken world. Have you noticed? Food decays Gossip destroys reputations Bitterness grows like a cancer Governments are corrupt Lust and greed control hearts People take what isn’t theirs and inflict violence Spouses act hatefully toward the one they vowed to love Children are abused instead of protected Drugs addict and destroy People slowly die of starvation or suddenly from disease The list could go on and on. Does this make you... Read More