Month: July 2017

A friend once stopped by my office and handed me a bumper sticker that promoted a local Christian organization with which he was affiliated. “Here,” he said, “put one of these on your car.” I’m not a big bumper sticker kind of guy. Never have been. If you want to wallpaper the rear end of your car with a bunch of plucky witticisms that over simplify complex issues, who am I to judge? But it is a profoundly bad idea to plaster the name of your Christian organization on the bumpers of cars that are going to be piloted by … Read more…

Jesus said, “For where your treasure is there your heart will be also,” (Mt. 6:21). In the Bible, the heart is the control center for the emotions, the will, the intellect of a human being. Your heart is the place where you feel joy, sorrow, fear, courage and every other emotion. It is the place where we decide, where our choices are made. The Bible talks about laying things to heart – that is, considering them carefully. The heart can devise plans and carry them out. Heart is the Bible word for your interior life – thoughts, emotions, intellect and … Read more…

Everybody knows that Jesus has something to say about how we treat other people. Same with forgiveness, honesty and authenticity. Everybody knows that how we live morally is a part of our commitment as disciples. We don’t always succeed in submitting to his authority in those areas, but we know we should. When someone tells us that Jesus wants to talk about how we handle our money, though, we’re like, “Hold on there, Jesus. Stay in your lane.” But that IS his lane. Jesus warned about greed ten times more than he warned about sexual sin. Thinking back on all … Read more…

When we lived in Atlanta, a part of our church was made up of folks from Korea. They had their own worship service, their own culturally appropriate ways of being the Church, even their own minister. The parents of our Korean minister were quite old and spoke zero English. Yet, they maintained as many of their cultural routines as possible and one of those was coming to the church building early every morning to pray. The father, who had a heart condition, would sit in one section and the mother in another. One Monday morning I arrived to the office … Read more…