“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (1:21). When’s the last time you said that? What does he mean? In his letter to the faithful…
“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others…
Debt is one of those things you get into that you can’t wait to get out of, like a bad job, unprofitable work. Oh, how happy Devon and I were…
When Jesus takes time to explain things, it’s time to listen and reflect, not listen and reject. Jesus begins to explain what will happen (16:21). Peter doesn’t like it. Well,…
Jesus gives Simon a new name: Peter. In Revelation, Jesus tells us all the victorious will receive a new name (Rev. 2:17). We haven’t received that name yet. That name…
Thirteen years is a long time. Two or more of those years in prison: that’s a long time, too. A long time to let resentment grow, to be reshaped…
At a point of special relief and joy, Blanche DuBois, a character in Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire, exclaims, “Sometimes there’s God, so quickly.” Maybe we’ve each had…
Strange, how something so good begins with something so bad. Jesus is told his cousin has been executed, murdered. John the Baptist is dead: he didn’t compromise the message. Can…
A little while back, LaFonda Chenault shared a Facebook post about piñatas; the humor in it was that, yeah, just about now we all feel like beating something and then…
This life is a mess! It’s a messy, messed-up mixture. The news is always mixed, and our joys seem always tinged with the shadow of sadness. This is not a…