Posts with the tag “know-god”

Have you ever found yourself wondering about how we know for sure that Heaven is real? Have you ever found yourself wishing you could get a peek behind the curtain to see what’s really going on back t...  Read More

Yesterday, we looked at the passage where Jesus pointed out that the crowd of religious leaders aren’t really children of Abraham. Instead, they have a different father altogether, and they won’t like...  Read More

Have you ever heard of the etymological fallacy? A fallacy is a mistake in our logic or thinking. Specifically, the etymological fallacy is the mistake that a word’s meaning comes from its origin inst...  Read More

In this passage, we have a continued interaction between Jesus and the religious leaders. They keep thinking that they know who he is, and Jesus keeps assuring them that they don’t know who he is. Jes...  Read More

Just as there had been a water pouring ceremony at the Feast of Tabernacles, there was also a candle lighting ceremony. The Jewish texts that describe the ceremony don’t reveal the meaning of the cere...  Read More

esterday, we read about a woman who was caught in the act of sin (specifically adultery), and instead of a death sentence, she receives grace from Jesus. I left the very last sentence out yesterday be...  Read More

There are times in Scripture where someone in one of the stories very clearly stands as a representative of all of us. In this passage, the woman caught in adultery is this person. Her accusers bring ...  Read More

Questions are incredibly useful in helping people communicate. They invite clarification. They allow for elaboration. Sometimes, they even expose and reveal motivation. In this passage today, a charac...  Read More

There is a scene in the movie Saving Private Ryan where the character Captain Miller, played by Tom Hanks, reveals where he is from and what his former profession was before leaving to fight in World ...  Read More

I remember a couple of years ago when we told our kids that we were going on a Disney vacation with a family that are our dear friends. In this particular case, we told them several months we were goi...  Read More

Have you ever had a moment in life where you realized pretty quickly you had judged a book by its cover and had judged incorrectly? I remember that happening here one time. Back when Brother Phil was ...  Read More

People misunderstand Jesus all the time. Lots of people say that they think Jesus was a great moral teacher, but that’s really all he was. In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes about it thi...  Read More

Have you ever showed up to a meeting thinking that the agenda was going to be focused on one particular issue and the meeting turns out to be about something completely unrelated? If you’ve ever been ...  Read More

Have you ever had that moment in your life when everything seems to completely out of control and where everything is falling apart? If you haven’t yet, I want you to know that you will. I don’t say t...  Read More

Today, I want to address a passage that has been the source of debate for centuries. In fact, it was this passage that was the source of one of the great debates of the Reformation, which was the hist...  Read More

Where are you from? This is a pretty important question. The answer to this question tends to lead people to assume lots of things about you. Depending on how you answer this question, people may assu...  Read More

After coaching for a number of years, I have learned how important it is to have a plan. The team needs a plan when it comes to how to approach a season and how to approach an individual game. On the ...  Read More

When I was a kid, I was a terribly picky eater. I probably ate four things: Poptarts, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, chicken nuggets, and bread. Now, I would eat just about any kind of bread. I l...  Read More

Enough is a funny word. When is enough actually enough? If we are talking about money, well, you probably always use a little more money (although statistically speaking, the person making $75,000/yea...  Read More

Fear is a fascinating thing. It is our response to perceived danger. The danger may be real or not, but our response to whatever may be happening is certainly real. When fear happens, the amygdala of...  Read More

Have you ever heard of doing the right thing for the wrong reason? The way T.S. Eliot put it in his play Murder in the Cathedral is, “The last temptation is the greatest treason/To do the right thing ...  Read More

Today, we are continuing to look at the sign of the feeding of the five thousand from John’s Gospel. Last time, we talked about Jesus’ question to Philip. This time, we will look at the response of Ph...  Read More

In this passage, we see a miracle that’s recorded and every single one of the gospel accounts. This means it was really important to the ministry of Jesus and made a huge impression on the disciples a...  Read More

Jesus finishes his thoughts on his position as the Son of God gives him authority to do and say the things that he does and says. In this passage, he focuses in on what he calls witnesses. I like to t...  Read More

What we are going to look at for the next couple of days in John’s Gospel is a turning point in some ways. Moving forward the Jewish leadership no longer just see Jesus as someone who makes them uncom...  Read More

Yesterday, I talked about sifting mechanisms. It is this thing that Jesus does to help people come to a point of decision about whether or not they really want what He’s offering. As I’ve walked with ...  Read More

We live in a culture that is all about growing our brand, getting more followers. How can I create content that will trend on social media? How can I get people to jump on the bandwagon and start to p...  Read More

This past summer my family and I had the opportunity to travel to Upstate New York and visit Niagara Falls. I had heard a lot about the falls before I had the opportunity to go myself. People had alwa...  Read More

Food is pretty important. Just having it is necessary to continue living. Food is what gives us energy for the day. It provides what our bodies need to function, to repair and heal itself, and to acco...  Read More

Ever had that moment when you were in the middle of doing something and something way more interesting interrupted you and you completely forgot what you were doing in the first place? That’s where w...  Read More

Jesus knew that he had to deal with as issue that had obviously plagued this woman over the course of her life. Her personal relationship history had been an absolute disaster. The response of Jesus t...  Read More

In this passage, we have the privilege of looking on as a divine conversation begins to unfold. Jesus has offered this Samaritan woman “living water,” and now we begin to see her response. Her respons...  Read More

Have you ever heard the term “divine appointment”? You probably have, but if not, I’ll give you a brief definition. A divine appointment is a time when God puts you (and someone else) in just the righ...  Read More

Last time, we talked about the fact that we have to approach Jesus with our minds set on the right things. One of the ways we can get our minds right is to understand who Jesus really is. This passage...  Read More

Back when I was a teacher, I noticed a trend in my students with each passing year. This trend was especially noticeable at certain times of the year. In particular, I noticed it around 9/11. The tren...  Read More

I saw a guy I went to high school with a couple of days ago. We talked for a little bit and caught up. We talked about our families. It was good to catch up. Seeing him reminded me what a good basketb...  Read More

Have you ever thought about what the very first sinners did after they committed the very first sin? They hid. They hid themselves from one another, and they hid themselves from God. They hid themselv...  Read More

At times in my life, especially when I was younger, I suffered from a faulty theology. Do you remember reading “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God?” I had to read it when I was in 11th grade. That’s...  Read More

here is a term that is used in the music industry called sampling. Sampling is when someone uses a section of audio from another already existing song and reworks it to create a new song. Sometimes a ...  Read More

Recently, Lorelei took the time to put together a 1000-piece puzzle. After she completed it, she glued it and framed it for her room. I can’t imagine her level of frustration if, at the end of her wor...  Read More