Who really killed Jesus? Who caused Jesus to die?  Many times this question has been asked. Many times I’ve heard the answer “It was the Jews” or “It was the Romans.” In a sense that is true, insofar as the Jews and Romans of that time were representative of all human beings lost in sin and out of touch with God. But in…

“We live by feelings, not by faith.” That quote is a distortion of how we are exhorted to live in 2 Cor. 5:7, but for all of us sometimes, and for some of us all too often, this depicts how we navigate life.  Scripture nudges us to live the adventurous and sometimes downright scary life, the life…

Our God is absolutely more astounding than we can fathom! Whether we are now living or have lived our lives with indifference to God or even in active rebellion, God is still fully committed to resolution with all violators. Even if this other party (the human race) is completely guilty and doesn’t even care to be…

Do non-Christians make you angry and upset you? Which kind? Any kind? Atheists? Buddhists? Jews? Wiccans? Muslims? New-Agers? Garden variety pagans? You name it. Are you upset, even angry at or about people who don’t share your faith perspective or “come to Jesus?”? Where do we get that? It doesn’t appear that it was Jesus’ method to provoke…

Will Jesus heal me, deliver me, answer my prayer, and “fix me” if I have faith? We all have probably breezed by this story recorded in 3 of the gospels without pausing to consider the scene as it unfolded and what was behind it. Don’t feel guilty. The gospel writers and disciples at times seemed to be in…

You’ve got the seed, so sling it! You never know what God will do with it, but you can pretty well determine the outcome if there is no seed sown. Let me share with you a very personal story which more than made my day yesterday. It involves a guy who I spent considerable time with but…

Did the disciples take notes? Somehow, they sure were able to remember a lot of details from the accounts of their lives with Jesus, the adventures they experienced with Him and the words He preached. When you think about it, and I don’t want to discount the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in any way, these…

Is God more like a Grandfather than a Father?  I’m not trying to rearrange the nomenclature in which we are blessed to be called children of our Heavenly Father.  I am fondly and greatly aware that throughout scripture God is referred to as “Father” and I am most grateful to have adoption and “sonship” through Christ in that familial arrangement. It’s…

Is grace too good? I’m not asking if grace is too good to be true. I believe it is true. At least what I can comprehend of it. The problems is, the more I meditate on grace and peel some of its layers, it seems to get bigger than it was when I began. I think…

Your opinion matters to us. Really? How often do we hear that these days? Buy a product on-line and the next day they email you wanting your opinion or a review. Make a phone call about a product or service and before you get down to business you are asked (electronically, of course) if you would…

In me, I trust. I know we would never say that during our daily devotionals, but how true is that as we life things out day to day?  It’s pretty obvious our country does not endear itself to the lofty motto on our currency, “In God We Trust,” but how do we do as individual Jesus followers? Are we to judge…

How do you get on God’s “good side?” We live in a world that rewards performance, and because we do, this performance orientation has the potential to shape our assumptions about God. When you ask people what they need to do to get on or stay on God’s “good side,” you get a list of behaviors, don’t you? Religious performance.…