“David comforted his wife Bathsheba, came to her, and went to bed with her. She gave birth to a son and named him Solomon. Adonai loved him and sent through Nathan the prophet to have him named Jedidiah (loved by God), for Adonai’s sake.” ~ 2nd Samuel 12:24-25 The book of 2nd Samuel and subsequent…
Last night at sundown began one of the most observed days on the Jewish calendar. Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. It is a day heavy with importance. For the past few weeks, Pastor Nick has been walking us through the Tabernacle as described in the Old Testament. Once per year, on the Day…
Don’t judge a book by its cover. Have you ever heard that? Of course you have! Are you guilty of doing that very thing? Of course you are! It’s so easy for us, even as Christians, to see something or someone, a situation or a whatever, and make an instant opinion and assessment of what…
When I left for work this morning, it was grey and raining, still a bit dark, a normal Tennessee winter morning. First driver I encountered ran a stop sign with no headlights on, and I don’t mean he slowed down. He just went straight through. Within a mile or so, a tractor trailer pulled…
"I regard Job 1 and 2 as the strangest chapters theologically in the Bible. The story they tell challenges what most Christians believe about God, man, law, causation, and time. If everything that people knew about God were based on the first two chapters of Job, they would have a strange religion. On the other …
We all go through different seasons in our lives. Sometimes life is flying by, and we are coasting through unscathed. Other times we feel like we are climbing Mount Everest through knee-deep peanut butter and briar patches. Right now, I am dealing with the latter. I am a perfectionist, and I am SUPER impatient. These…
The other day, I was moving firewood from the backyard to our patio so we would have some dry firewood for this chilly weekend. As I was moving, of course I got a splinter in my thumb immediately. It was just a small piece sticking out and, after a couple of patient minutes, I pulled…
"I suppose that, the nearer we get to heaven, the more conscious we shall be of our imperfections. The more light we get, the more we discover our own darkness. That which is scarcely accounted sin by some men, will be a grievous defilement to a tender conscience. It is not that we are greater…
The love of Jesus is not pragmatic. For pragmatic people, things are done, decisions, are made, and situations are viewed in ways that make sense. We approach the situation and act in a way that is logical. We look for ways that there will be the best possible outcome. Also, at least for me, we…
Outcasts. Who loves the unlovely in our world? Or, more specifically, in the church, the Body of Christ? Who decides which of us belongs in the box called “untouchables”? I am in that box many times, but God did not put me there. Many times, others place me there. Sometimes, I consign myself to…
