Focal Passage: Numbers 11:4-17 Recently, I traveled on a mission trip to Ecuador. In one village, the people graciously prepared lunch for our team—a local delicacy I hadn’t encountered before: guinea pig. To me, guinea pig is a pet, not a meal, but we felt compelled to partake. I managed to get it down (barely) while longing for the familiar food back at the hotel. It wasn’t what I wanted,
Focal Passage: Luke 5:17-26 What is our greatest need of all time? Some believe our greatest need is financial. To have the resources to live a comfortable life is the zenith of this idea. Others believe our greatest need is emotional. To have our emotional self affirmed is seen as most important from this standpoint. Still others believe our greatest need is relational. That is to have family and friends
Focal Passage: Numbers 9:15-23 When I was a little boy in sunny Orlando, my dad often took my older brother and me on bike rides around our neighborhood. We rarely took the same route twice. At the start of each ride, Dad gave us our “jobs.” My brother’s task was to ride in the back and “watch out for alligators or bad guys coming from behind” — a role that
Focal Passage: Isaiah 42:1-12 The word G.O.A.T. is often used as an acronym for Greatest Of All Time. The next several weeks we will be looking at Scriptural G.O.A.T.s.: the Greatest Name, Need, Sin, Gift, Command, and Return. We begin this week with the Greatest Name – the name of the One, true, triune, and living God, at Father, Son, and Spirit. To be a G.O.A.T. means that no one
Focal Passage: Psalm 42:1-11 When was the last time you were really thirsty? Many of us have experienced great physical thirst from hard work or recreation, but are we that thirsty spiritually? Much of our liquid intake is not about thirst, but simply part of our daily routine or social interaction. That highly-caffeinated soft drink may be quick medicine for a headache. Could the same thing be said of our
Focal Passage: I Peter 3:8-17 Remember Bernie Madoff? He was the financier who stole millions from hundreds through a Ponzi scheme that was sinister and shocking. Madoff’s sinister deeds were kept secret from everyone save a few co-conspirators, even family members, by hiding his shenanigans on the 13th floor of a nondescript building. No one was allowed on that floor except for Madoff’s fellow criminals. That floor housed a small
Focal Passage: Psalm 5:1-12 My mother awoke to the sound of my cries in the wee hours of Jan. 1. I don’t remember the exact year, but I remember the reason. I had planned on ringing in the New Year, but I did not last. I later awoke and burst into tears over my failure to enjoy the opening minutes of the New Year. I was old enough to get
Focal Passage: II Corinthians 8:1-9 Mention money and Jesus in the same sentence and you can get yourself in trouble. Too many salacious controversies with religion and money have caused many people to avoid being regular, faithful, consistent financial givers to God’s Kingdom causes. We have become freelance givers, doling out cash where and when we want. But is this right? Yes, we are called to give according to our
Focal Passage: Psalm 139:1-4, 7-16 Some Christians seem to have an aversion to “big” theological terms. Some of those terms, like justification and sanctification, come directly from the Bible. Other terms help us understand theological concepts in a single word instead of requiring a phrase. Psalm 139 reminds us of two such terms, omniscience and omnipresence. They refer respectively to the truths that God knows everything and that He is
Focal Passage: Philippians 4:10-20 Contentment is an enigma surrounded by a mystery folded within a conundrum. Paul says it is a “secret” (vs. 12). We all want it, but it proves elusive. What is contentment? Does it mean passiveness? Lack of ambition? Is it accompanied by an, “I don’t care what’s going on around me, I’m cool,” all the while the house is burning down? Added to the difficulty of
Focal Passage: Numbers 11:4-17 Recently, I traveled on a mission trip to Ecuador. In one village, the people graciously prepared lunch for our team—a local
Focal Passage: Luke 5:17-26 What is our greatest need of all time? Some believe our greatest need is financial. To have the resources to live
Focal Passage: Numbers 9:15-23 When I was a little boy in sunny Orlando, my dad often took my older brother and me on bike rides
Focal Passage: Isaiah 42:1-12 The word G.O.A.T. is often used as an acronym for Greatest Of All Time. The next several weeks we will be
Focal Passage: Psalm 42:1-11 When was the last time you were really thirsty? Many of us have experienced great physical thirst from hard work or
Focal Passage: I Peter 3:8-17 Remember Bernie Madoff? He was the financier who stole millions from hundreds through a Ponzi scheme that was sinister and
Focal Passage: Psalm 5:1-12 My mother awoke to the sound of my cries in the wee hours of Jan. 1. I don’t remember the exact
Focal Passage: II Corinthians 8:1-9 Mention money and Jesus in the same sentence and you can get yourself in trouble. Too many salacious controversies with
Focal Passage: Psalm 139:1-4, 7-16 Some Christians seem to have an aversion to “big” theological terms. Some of those terms, like justification and sanctification, come
Focal Passage: Philippians 4:10-20 Contentment is an enigma surrounded by a mystery folded within a conundrum. Paul says it is a “secret” (vs. 12). We