A Good and Beautiful Life
Read: Colossians 3:1-17 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. (vv. 9-10 NRSV) What is the key to living a good life? Marketers spend […]
Making All Things New
Read: John 16:5-16 A new spirit I will put within you. (Ezek. 36:26) If you were ever a candidate for cataract surgery, your doctor probably promised that your dull and drab world would be bright and colorful after your surgery. Of course, you couldn’t know that your world was dull and drab until you had […]
Intimacy with God
Read: Genesis 3:1-12 But the Lord God called to the man . . . “Where are you?” (v. 9) Many years ago, I was a fan of Guideposts, a magazine full of heartwarming, personal stories of relationships with God. One day I decided to try to write for this magazine, so I read back issues and the editor’s guidelines […]
In the Likeness of God
Read: 2 Corinthians 4:1-12 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord. (v. 5) When a child is born, someone inevitably will say, “He’s the spitting image of his dad.” In terms of physical appearance the boy is a lookalike. But as a child grows, someone might remark: “He’s a hard worker […]
Who Shapes Me?
Read: Romans 12:1-8 Do not be conformed to this world. (v. 2) How hard do you fight against being conformed to the culture around you? Do you dream of owning the latest electronic device? Do you excuse your bad language by saying, “I hear it all the time”? Do you judge, not love? We adapt pretty […]
Train Yourself to be Godly
Read: 1 Timothy 3:14-4:16 Godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (v. 8 NRSV) In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell reports that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field. Baseball players, violinists, computer programmers, and inventors all need to spend […]
Opening the Door
Read: Revelation 3:19-22 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. (v. 20) When I was six, our minister (who looked like God to me) bent down and warmly spoke to me. I felt loved and welcomed at church. At thirteen, the time had come to profess my faith and join my church as a full […]
New Life in Us
Read: John 12:16-26 Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (v. 24) My granddaughter helped me plant snow peas, poking the earth with her finger, placing a seed into each hole. For that seed to sprout, it must lose its protective […]
Suffering with Us
Read: 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 As you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. (v. 7) Everything was ready for Kathy’s leadership team dinner; her famous lasagna had just come out of the oven. That’s when the call came. Four of the student leaders, on their way to dinner, were in a serious […]