When one thinks of the church, a wide range of thoughts and pictures probably flood the mind. Somewhere early in that deluge is probably the image of an actual church building. Perhaps it was the church you or a beloved family member attended when you were growing up. Maybe it was the location where an important, life-shaping event took place. Or, it could be that it was or is just a prominent...
What Song Does Your Life Sing?
You may not be familiar with the term leitmotif, but you are undoubtedly familiar with many of them. If you’ve watched any movies or television shows in the last 30 years, you’ve heard more than a few leitmotifs and probably have some personal favorites. A leitmotif is a short, repeating musical phrase associated with a person, setting, emotion, or theme. We might simply think of them as theme...
Something to Give
Jesus was a bit of a people watcher. There are several examples of Jesus observing the attitudes and actions of the people of His day available to us throughout the gospels. Several immediately come to mind, but one story in particular has always been extremely challenging to me. The story is known as The Widow’s Offering. It can be found in the gospels of Luke and Mark. Here is the telling of...
Rich, Poor, Something More
At what age do we begin to observe and understand the concepts of wealth and poverty? I’m not referring to the deep, philosophical concepts and systems surrounding these two polar twins; I’m talking about the basic observation that one’s own family is either rich or poor. Thinking back over the years of my own life, I had no idea whether my family was rich or poor when I was in preschool and...
Understanding, Application, and the Word of God
When I was 17-years-old, I found myself on the wrong side of the law. As per usual, I was running a smidge late for school and my forward momentum was just north of the posted speed limit. Still, I was utterly shocked that the officer decided to pull me over on that fine morning rather than any number of my fellow commuters that were proceeding with equal or greater velocity. I remembered my...
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