If you drive down the strip in any major city, you'll pass all kinds of businesses that perform and provide the same goods and services, but with different expressions. Restaurants, grocery store chains, different kinds of car dealerships, doctors, dentists, electronic's stores, and yes, even churches.
Where some see division, God sees unity. Where some see competition, God sees cooperation.
Read MoreOur lives are a series of choices.
The culture around us seems to be all too aware that we are wired to pick from extremes. We see it in politics. We see it in business. And yes, we see it in faith.
So how should we choose?
Read MoreIf we don’t obey God's commandments, will we be punished? And is that what ought to motivate us to obey?
The true meaning of the word, “mitzvah” helps bring clarity to all of this confusion.
Read MoreWhy do we struggle? Why do we suffer? Did we miss something? Have we done something wrong? Is there any meaning to it all, or are we just cursed?
Read MoreWhat is sin? When is something wrong? What is displeasing to God? The answer to this question might seem like an easy one, but the more we think about it, the more complex it gets.
Read MoreWe all have different opinions about prayer. Some of us do it to calm ourselves. Some of us do it in moments of panic when the only thing that can fix our problems is a miracle. Some of us do it simply out of duty. Some of us do it because it makes us feel closer to God. For most of us, it’s a combination of all of the above. But what is the purpose of prayer, really?
Read MoreDoes God heal? If so, how? And of what? Some things? All things?
Read MoreThere are all kinds of things in our lives that we see or hear that inspire us. It might be a lecture, a film, a piece of music, a work of art, or even a passage of scripture. But does inspiration stay just that? In the realm of thoughts, dreams, or “maybe-somedays?”
Read MoreI like old things. But they are slower. They are less advanced. They’re often a bit dirty or damaged. But when they go away, I sure do miss them because they always taught me a lesson.
Read MoreIf we are intellectually honest beings, with all that we know about the speed of light, and if the spiritual life is compared to embracing the Light of God when it reaches us, then this means something for us as people of faith that flies in the face of a culture where we strive for things to arrive more and more quickly so that we can consume them, discard them, and then move onto something else.
Read MoreWe may think that Christ is coming into the world to invite us into a more thorough form of behavior modification so that we can finally be loved by God, when in reality, Christ arrives to change our thinking about God altogether, helping us to see that we were already loved in the first place.
Read MoreChurches are fond of telling people what the meaning of life is.
“Put God at the center of your life and everything else will fall into place.” They say.
But guess what? It’s not true.
Read MoreAs odd as it may sound, there’s probably no more controversial topic to discuss in the Christian Faith than the person of Jesus. It seems antithetical to say so, being a religion founded on his teachings, but it’s true. We change, so our faith also changes. And this doesn’t always sit well with everyone in our lives.
Read MoreWe (often) live frantic, frazzled lives, racing from one fire to another. Sure, we'd like to hear the voice of God guiding us, leading us, and inspiring us, but it seems nearly impossible to hear. What can we do to make the voice of God more easy to hear?
Read MoreWe're fond of saying that God loves us, but does God like us? After all, love may seem too lofty and abstract a concept to grasp.
Read MoreFaith is strange because we often put it in a category all by itself as if it has different rules than everything else in life. For many of us, our faith is like the great exception for all the rules that butt up against our tradition or dogma. Maybe we even think of faith as more superior to other things like work, relationships, learning, or going to grocery store.
But as shocking as it may sound to hear a pastor say it, it’s not. Faith is just “one of the things.” It doesn’t stand alone by itself, nor is it intended to.
Read MoreJust because it’s always been done a certain way, doesn’t ever mean that the way can’t change. It just take courage. It takes standing up, and speaking up to power, demanding something better.
Read MoreIt's commonplace for churches to say, "Everyone is welcome here." What does that mean, practically, though? Sure, everyone is welcome to enter the building, right? But once they get inside and decide they'd like to call that particular church community their home, just how welcome are they?
Read MoreThe Kingdom of God is in our midst. Not over here. Not over there, but now. Like lightning that flashes in an instant and then is gone. That’s all we have. Flashes. And the key to Christian life is to live in the flashes.
Read MoreGod just wants to be with his children. All else is commentary. We don’t want anything from our kids. We want things for them. They don’t have to perform for us. We just want to be with them, to walk with them, to sit with them, to laugh with them, and to put the band-aids on and hold them when they get hurt.
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