Honor your parents

Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 5:16 (NLT) Notice that this is the only commandment in the Bible with a promise about the way life operates. Jesus always subordinated his life and… Read More

When you pray, say … (3)

Forgiveness is not optional. It is a command. Jesus taught his followers (and us) how to pray. Part of the prayer is: “forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors.” And just in case the disciples didn’t catch the forgiveness part, he reiterated and explained in more fully. “For if you forgive men… Read More

Old and New Testament Thinking

Remember the Sunday School song: “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see…” What’s the significance of the sycamore tree? A sycamore tree produces figs, but they are such poor quality that they aren’t eaten by people… Read More

When you pray, say … (2)

This part is all about trusting God. Do I really believe that He cares for me–in good times and bad. Or do I step in with my plans, my agenda, my wants. God has given me a promise. And He has a plan and a purpose for me. How does this play out in my… Read More

No one is an island

Most Americans think individually, not corporately. Because we don’t think corporately, we aren’t really aware of what our sin does to other people. Our repentance is therefore incomplete. There is no sin that you can do that is private, no matter how secretly it was committed. Every sin you do afflicts the body of Christ… Read More

When you pray, say …

I pray (quietly in my head, out loud, singing, whispering, drawing …) the Lord’s prayer daily. It helps me to focus on putting God in the center of my life. It also reminds me of what prayer is–not just a list of my wants, but that it includes thanks, praise, and worship.      The… Read More

The jig’s up

David was tired of going to war as the Lord commanded, so he took a little vacation. Then he saw this woman—WOWSERS! What a woman! They were two consenting adults—where was the harm? Secret lust. Secret sex. But it’s hard to keep pregnancy secret for too long—and this secret was out before they ever got… Read More