Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount are narrowed in their focus. He desires that his followers be changed from the inside out. Inner transformation leads to external obedience. Jesus chooses to focus on your heart. He also chooses to end his sermon with an appeal to wise faith.
The Good Place: Perfect Love
“I love you to the moon and back!” This is what our girls say to Ana and I when we tuck them into bed at night. It’s our way of saying, “I love you a lot.” It’s not accompanied by doubt in need of a promise. Our girls do not respond, “Do you promise that you love me?” To promise that you love someone does not expand the sentiment, it restricts it. Those words fall flat. To think that my girls would require one of me means that I have not given my love freely and unconditionally.
Left to Our Own Distractions
When Vietnamese game developer, Dong Nguyen released the smartphone game Flappy Bird he had no idea how immensely successful the game would become. He also hadn’t predicted that less than a year later, with Flappy Bird still enjoying immense popularity, he would take the game down.
They Were Afraid
I am the father of three brave girls. Well, they are brave most of the time. The other times when they are not so brave is often due to bugs. Bugs are their kryptonite. For you, it may be clowns (thanks “It”). What I have observed is that people can be brave but often they are not. The end of Mark’s gospel is a commentary on humanity today, “…they were afraid.”
Let Love Lead You
Jesus was asked a lot of questions during his earthly ministry. In Marks’s gospel, he is asked a series of them by the Sadducees and teachers of the law. They were leading questions, questions of entrapment. And the questions kept coming until Jesus answered the one about what’s most important. His answer, love. Continue reading “Let Love Lead You”
Welcome Home
What do you think of when you hear,“Merry Christmas”?
The early years of Jesus’ life do not appear to be merry and bright. His family’s story is met with darkness, it was a brutal time. Continue reading “Welcome Home”
Little Sinners Love Little
When Jesus was visiting the home of a Pharisee named Simon a woman washed His feet with her tears, kissed them, and poured perfume on them. Simon was repulsed and referred to her as “[that] kind of woman” and a “sinner.” Who do we most identify with in this story? I think most church people identify with the Pharisee and for this I have a theory.
I Saved a Porsche
It is not common to pull up into a restaurant parking lot for breakfast only to see a car slowly roll past you going backwards. “Wow, nice car! Huh, why is it rolling backwards across the parking lot? Why isn’t there anyone driving it? Oh no, its headed for that bank!” One moment I’m exiting my vehicle thinking about a tasty breakfast and the next I’m sprinting behind an unmanned car. I am the only thing standing in the way of this Porsche Panamera from crashing into a bank. That’s right I “risked my life” to save a luxury car from crashing into a financial institution. ‘Merica!
The Newlywed Game || Guest Post
The newlywed game. Fun. Exciting. Full of adventure. Something new around every turn. These are a few of the ways people describe this time of life—being newlyweds. As a couple, who has been married for a mere 11 days, we’ll give you some incite into what it’s like to merge two lives together including the joys and the challenges we have come across thus far. Continue reading “The Newlywed Game || Guest Post”
The Gift of Pain
A life without pain may mean that we have resigned to helplessness and hopelessness. A pain free life sounds great but it may be that we have grown numb or that we are self-medicating to stay numb. A pain free life may mean that we have also become numb to joy and love. In our efforts to avoid pain to try and spare ourselves from the worst, we may inadvertently choose to miss out on God’s best. Pain is a gift, but it is the gift that no one wants. We don’t want it because the problem with pain is that it cannot be switched off. Continue reading “The Gift of Pain”