Christians must be correctly “centered”. There is only one center. All other approaches are off-center. The center is Christ. All else is eccentric, meaningless, illogical. Christ is the communication of God and the logic of God. Today I begin teaching a new Bible study series, Foundations of Faith. What does one have to know to …
Continue reading “It’s Sunday Again: Christo-centric or Ec-centric”
Today I will preach at the Iglesia de Cristo Kennedy (a church in Colonia Kennedy in Tegucigalpa). This church has a great story to tell–moving from meeting in a school to its own building, now with the building remodeled. The church exhibits enthusiasm and a bright future. The church must never forget its identity. The …
I awoke early this Sunday morning to the sound of the birds singing. They were doing what they do every morning. They depend on God who supplies their needs and sustains them, but they don’t know it’s Sunday. As the dawn brightened, the dogs started barking as they do every morning. They don’t know it’s …
Continue reading “It’s Sunday Again: Reflections from Honduras”
Today I will sit where most churchgoers sit. I will sing and pray, I will listen and contemplate what God wants to communicate to his assembled people on this day–mediated through the study and insights of another member of the faith community. My public involvement is that I have been asked to guide the thoughts …
Today I am preaching from Matthew 6:19-24. This small text from the wisdom of the Sermon on the Mount provides guidance for life–and is about more than our money. This is a text about life. In preaching and in life, few tasks are more difficult than discerning what matters, what is important, and to what …
I am away from my normal pulpit duties this morning–instead I am teaching and preaching at the Northwest church in Oklahoma City for their Missions Emphasis series. In the Spanish class, my theme will be “The Call of God.” God calls us to share his message (Jer. 20:7-9) even when we would rather not. When …
Bonus Sunday was postponed from last week. I will preach once more on the subject of giving–three consecutive Sundays. I wish we had a better word. Stewardship doesn’t help. Some speak of the contribution or the offering. Others speak of the tithe. It ultimately boils down to giving. The Bible uses the verb give (obviously …
Continue reading “It’s Sunday Again: Giving That Which Costs Me Nothing”
Understanding why people give is not always easy. Millions of dollars have been donated to help relieve the hurt and suffering in Haiti. Compassion sometimes motivates giving–especially if the victims seem powerless and could not have averted the problems. Compassion doesn’t always work as a motivator if there is a perception that the receiver could …
Continue reading “It’s Sunday Again: What Happens When I Give?”
We praise grace but are sometimes less than gracious. We are grateful that God is gracious, but miss the opportunity to become like him by developing grace in our own lives. Peter urges us to grow in grace. Paul writes to the Corinthians urging them to develop “this grace also”. Paul’s subject is clearly a …
[Readers who check in regularly at this blog have noted that I have taken a break from regularly blogging during the first half of January. I plan to resume more regular blogging and postings in the next week.] Today will be more restful to me than most Sundays–thus the title of this posting. A guest …
