He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things […]
Gideon Finished as Weak as He Started Unfortunately
[22] Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” [23] Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.”[24] […]
Shine the Light, Blow the Trumpet
19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. 20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and […]
Practicing What We Preach As the Best Witness
You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God’s law, and you boast about your special relationship with him. You know what he wants; you know what is right because you have been taught his law. You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost […]
On God Giving People Over to What They Want, Even if It’s Sin
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to […]
Seeking, Finding, then Seeking Again, The Great Faith of the Seeker
1Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken […]
What Are We Fighting For?
So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
Speaking the Truth in Love
What would happen if we held on to truth (which is Christ) and increased our love? What if we increased our love even more for those that we disagree with, or are even our enemies? That is one of Christ’s most compelling teachings and that fits right in line with these things from Paul and Christ’s words of forgiveness from the cross.
Copper is Green
We have a lot of brown doorknobs around our house. Our house was built in 1904, so to say that they are the original doorknobs could be true or could be an innocent but incorrect guess. They could be original from when they did renovations in 1919, or after the great flood of 1937. Either […]
The Truth as Plain as a Fedex Truck
John 8.31-32 ‚ÄúSo Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‚ÄúIf you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.‚Äù‚Äù Today we read that and we only have a figurative understanding of the word free, but to […]