How can I find a sense of loving community with other Christians in a safe atmosphere of honesty? I realized that if Christianity is a living relationship with God, I had to find...
In Jesus' day, as in our own, people often did good works in order to receive public recognition. Charitable giving, when joined with the right fanfare, could increase one's honor. So could public...
My second job, like my lawn-mowing gig, was arranged by my father. A local daycare center needed a janitor to come in every evening and do some cleaning. There was a tile hallway...
This is one of the most famous of Jesus' commands . . . and one of the hardest to obey.
"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. If you speak, you should do so as one who...
I sat across from my mentor, eagerly awaiting her answer. ...
Competition is a great teacher—a type of spiritual crucible...All through high school, my friend, Ellery, and I kept up a running competition in our math classes. We tallied numerical scores on...
Jared's supervisor Dan asked him for a detailed job description within the week. At first, Jared said, "Sure, that'll be no problem." But months went by and Jared, who shared his faith freely,...
At home, after a day at my first real job, I placed the package on our kitchen table. It had come in the mail. A gift from mom. Slowly, I peeled back the...
Something in me recoils when I read this passage. How can Jesus expect me not to fight back when I am attacked? Not to defend myself if I am sued? Can he be...
When Jesus taught in his hometown, people said, "What's this wisdom that’s been given to him? Isn't this the carpenter?"
In the time of Jesus, people made vows to offer assurance that they would do as they had said. But they didn't "swear to God" for fear that if they failed to perform...
In Jesus' day, the right of a Jewish man to divorce his wife was assumed. Some rabbis argued, like Jesus, that divorce was permitted only in the case of a wife's unfaithfulness. Others...
...
A few years ago a number of us at church sat around, trying to figure out the nature of our little community...
No doubt about it. Listening is one of the hardest things you will ever do. ...
Christians often fall into two different extremes when it comes to matters of right and wrong. On the one hand, some lean toward legalism, implying or even teaching that we need to keep...
I found this post by "Julie, a college Junior who loves a cup of tea and a good book" over at Bloom...
Jesus follows the "salt of the earth" metaphor with a similar one: "You are the light of the world." Here the emphasis is upon the visibility of the disciples. We who follow Jesus...
Salt had a wide variety of uses in the ancient world. It was a preservative, a purifier, and even an ingredient in fertilizer. But in this passage, Jesus emphasizes the usage of salt...
