The Christmas celebration is over, at least with regard to the pre-holiday busy-ness and the family gatherings. We’ve sung the songs, wrapped the presents, feasted on the special foods, given the gifts, and (hopefully) thought some about the “reason for the season.” But now what? Now that most of the celebration is past, what might […]
It happens . . . it seems that it’s a regular, yearly, occurrence. A lot of people who don’t go to church throughout the year or wouldn’t sing about Jesus will acquiesce to doing that one day year–they will go to church for Christmas. They’ll show up, they’ll sing, and they will enter in to […]
In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul talks about the growth that comes in the Christian life. He explains that some ministry is like sowing seed, some is like watering plants, but it is God who brings the growth (1 Corinthians 3:5–9). Thus, in one sense, all ministry is a kind of spiritual horticulture—we participate […]
For those of us who are somewhat familiar with the Gospels’ accounts of Jesus, we can end up feeling slightly underwhelmed by what we see in those accounts as we read. It’s been said that “familiarity breeds contempt”–and there is some truth in that. But the other thing that familiarity (or perceived familiarity!) might breed […]
So many Bible study books, with long chapters and multiplied “principles,” imply you need to master some specific content before you can feel confident that you could actually read the Bible. It’s not that there aren’t principles to be learned, but too often the approach taken is more than a bit intimidating to someone who […]
