Monthly Archives: August 2011

Letting go of the past

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Are you so entangled in the past that you miss present opportunities? Usually the advice to let go of the past refers to emotional recovery from a divorce or job loss or other big disappointment. Hanging on to grief or bitterness or resentment over an unpleasant experience certainly holds people back from recovering and getting on with life. Actually, though, holding on to past victories and joys can just as easily prevent us from moving on.


The prophet Isaiah wrote of the exodus, a pivotal time in Israel’s history. Israelites had deliberately and rightly kept that memory alive. It was a key element in their ethnic identity.… Read the rest

Christian warfare: where pacifism is not an option

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Did you know that all of us are at war, and there’s nothing we can do but fight or surrender? I’m not talking about Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere the U.S. military is active, ever has been or ever will be. Jesus Christ, the rightful Lord of the universe, has a rebellion on his hands. The rebel, named Satan, captured the human race by deceit at the beginning of time and rules as the god of this world. He can’t win, but his final defeat hasn’t yet occurred. Whatever else it means, this spiritual warfare happens within each of our minds.

“Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all of your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed.”–1 Peter 1:13, NRSV.… Read the rest

Why Christians should not be critical

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There is no excuse for Christians to be critical of one another. Jesus’ only prayer for the entire church is that we would be unified. Perhaps that’s why the church is divided into so many denomination and so many congregations are divided into cliques. As soon as we recognize that we have gotten into habits inspired by the devil, why, we just have to break them and develop new ones in their place.

In Romans 12:1-2, Paul instructs not to be conformed to the world but to become a living sacrifice. In one way or another, every word from their to the end of the book describes or defines what a living sacrifice acts and looks like.… Read the rest

Stubbornness and faith: the man with the withered hand

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At the height of his popularity, but when the Pharisees were beginning to view him with suspicion, one Sabbath Jesus entered a synagogue, by definition a Pharisee stronghold. Not that it was unusual for him to attend synagogue services; he probably attended somewhere every Sabbath of his life. But on the occasion Mark describes, a man with a withered hand was there.

All the Pharisees looked Jesus and the man with the withered hand, and what they saw was not so much a man in need as a reputed law breaker in their synagogue. Would Jesus have the audacity to heal the man on the Sabbath?… Read the rest