The first thing the Bible tells us is that God is a creator. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the...
God lays the foundations for human work: dominion, relationships, fruitfulness, provision, and limits.
Power is essential to most work, and it must be exercised rightly. Psalm 136 lays out the proper use of power by...
At first glance, Psalm 136 is a psalm of thanksgiving.
Some situations may be redeemable. Others may be beyond redemption. In Genesis 6:6-8 , we hear God's lament about the state of...
Once again on dry land with this new beginning, Noah's first act is to build an altar to the Lord (Gen. 8:20)...
No matter how great the disaster, God is greater still.
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Psalm 16 begins with a cry for divine help: "Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge"...
The foundational expression of God’s work came to dramatic fruition when God decisively led his people through the Red Sea, releasing them...
Isaiah paints a picture of the values that must characterize the people of God.
Text Suggestions Isaiah 55:6-9 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my...
In contrast to the arrogant pride and self-sufficiency that will bring us down or the exploitation of the poor in order to...
Faith is not just a matter of belief but a life of wholehearted and full-bodied worship. Every part of me and every part of you is required for discipleship.
Ezekiel's theology of work would be incomplete if not placed in the full context of future restoration alluded to throughout the book...
Do you ever wish you had a new heart? I'm not asking about a physical heart, but a new way of being...
Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God! Psalm 43:5 If Psalm 43 seems strangely...
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones. ...
In Psalm 143, David cries out to the Lord for help.
God rejoices when his people are made whole. Our joys become his joys.
Shout to the LORD, all the earth; break out in praise and sing for joy! Sing your praise to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and melodious song, with trumpets and...
He turned the rock into a pool of water; yes, a spring of water flowed from solid rock. Psalm 114:8 Do you...
Although God’s grace has come into the world to bring reconciliation and justice, there are still evil spiritual powers at work opposing...
The topics of status and grace return to the fore as Jesus faces his trial and crucifixion. “The Son of Man came...
The next section of Acts moves the Christian community, by the power of the Spirit, across cultural barriers as the gospel of...
Throughout the book, Isaiah encourages Israel with the hope that God will eventually put to right the wrongs the people are suffering...
Donna got up on the wrong side of the bed—and she let people know it.
The episode on the road to Emmaus is a fitting example of generosity for all Jesus’ followers. At first it seems to...
Though his resurrected body had unusual capabilities, Jesus was present in flesh and blood.
Often schools and churches sponsor international banquets, festive meals in which people bring foods representing diverse cultures. At such a feast you...
Acts takes place in the earthy reality of a genuine community, and it does not gloss over the threat that the effects...
The final psalm returns to music as our response to God’s “mighty deeds”, upon which all our activity and work are founded. Praise God with trumpets, lutes, harps, tambourines, strings, pipe, cymbals—both clanging...
Each week, millions of Christians throughout the world gather together in order to offer praise to God.
Worship crankiness. As a pastor, I've dealt with it for years. As a worshiper, I struggle with it.What is worship crankiness? It's...
Before the book of Revelation is even a few verses old, John says something that might seem to undercut a robust theology...
When I was prosperous, I said, “Nothing can stop me now!” Your favor, O LORD, made me as secure as a mountain...
John’s vision in chapters 4 and 5 is at the heart of Revelation. It is in essence a visualization of the Lord’s...
One day, sitting in my office writing something—probably a student's letter of recommendation—words came to my imagination: "I only want to sew, to have my hands in the threads." I jotted them...
While we seek to honor God in our work, this does not mean the road will be easy.
The Lord is my pace-setter, I shall not rush.
Psalm 23 is one of the most beloved Scriptures in the world, but early Hebrews probably found it hard to swallow. God a shepherd? Definitely not kosher.
God’s plan to advance his kingdom, however, takes a surprising turn: before deliverance comes disaster. Yet it is perhaps not so surprising...
Learning to Save My Students Instead of Judging Them (Click Here to Read) An encounter with the words of Jesus in John 12 encourages a teacher to change his approach to his relationship...
Unlike Psalms 146, 147, and 149, Psalms 148 and 150 do not depict God at work, but skip directly to our response of praise for the work he has already done. Psalm 14...
As a pastor for more than twenty years, I have "called people to worship" dozens, if not hundreds, of times. As the first action in a worship service, I would stand up before...
A city that renounces God is condemned, but paradise bustles with meaningful work.
John 13:31-35 When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified...
May God be merciful and bless us. May his face smile with favor on us. Psalms 67:1 The New Living Translation of Psalm 67:1 speaks of God’s face smiling with favor on us...
To be honest, we begin our relationship with God because of what's in it for us personally. We recognize that we need...
Chapters 13 through 17, often called the Upper Room Discourse, contain so much profound theology that we can only touch on a...
The healing of the man at the pool of Bethsaida brings to the surface a controversy familiar from Matthew, Mark, and Luke...
Come, everyone! Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise! Psalm 47:1 In the past three decades, Christians throughout the world have learned to worship more expressively. Even in formerly staid mainline...
When I lived in Southern California, I occasionally enjoyed body surfing at the beach. It was a thrill to get out in the surf, to swim as fast as I could just as...
In the book of Acts, Jesus’ mission to restore the world as God intended it to be is transformed into the mission of the community of Jesus’ followers. Acts traces the life of...
The book of Acts begins with a post-resurrection interaction between Jesus and his disciples. Jesus teaches his disciples about “the kingdom of...
God's restoring work involves human beings both as recipients of grace and as participants in the work.
Full Christianity: Doing, Thinking, and Being (Click here to read) In this daily reflection from The High Calling Mark Roberts considers how...
The phrase "in a nutshell" means something like "in a very brief summary" or "in very few words." Some scholars trace the English use of this phrase to William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. In Act 2,...
The first of the two confrontations occurs in Philippi, where Paul and Silas encounter a girl with...
Paul and Silas waited in an inner cell shut off from light, too dark even to see. Unfairly accused, stripped, beaten, publicly humiliated, and thrown into jail, everything about the day was...
In 1977, as the praise and worship wave was just beginning to crash on the beaches of the American church, Pete Sanchez, Jr., took Psalm 97:9 in the King James version and wrote...
When I was young, my parents taught me that it is wrong to hate. In fact, I was prohibited from using the word "hate." If I said, "I hate peas" or "I hate...
There is no question that the story of Pentecost is central to the life of the early...
In what is called the Table of Nations, Genesis 10 traces first the descendants of Japheth (Gen. 10:2-5), then the descendants of...
From the beginning, God intended human work as a form of creativity under or alongside God’s own creativity.
When trouble overcomes you, take a walk outside. The light that greets you is really God's wardrobe. The clouds that drift overhead...
Being “glorified” with Christ (Rom. 8:17) is our hope for the future. But according to Paul that...
An emphasis on personal relationships suffuses the theology of these chapters. Jesus calls the disciples “no longer servants…but friends” (John 15:15, NASB)...
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