Category Archives: Theology

Blessings and Curses: Deuteronomy 28

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The last of the five books of Moses, Deuteronomy wraps some things up and reviews some others.  He knows that he will not be entering the Promised Land, and wants to encourage the Children of Israel one last time to remember God and keep his commandments.  Chapter 28 is in two parts; first the blessings for obedience followed by a list of curses for disobedience.

The first 14 verses of Deuteronomy 28 list the blessings for obedience.  In short, God will bless the land allowing it to flow with mild and honey.  Crops will fill their barns, grapes will fill their winepresses, children will be born and the nation will live in peace from their enemies.  They will be high and mighty over the other nations of the world.  Many more verses, 15 – 68, detail the curses God will bring for disobedience.   Continue reading →

Who Loves You?

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When I was a kid my favorite restaurant was McDonald’s.  When I saw a t.v. spot for the latest Happy Meal toy, there was nothing doing until I got one.  In time I had to decide between the Happy Meal and the Big Mac.  All through high school and into college McDonald’s was still my favorite, but during my college years I was introduced to Applebee’s.  I had a couple of friends that worked there at different times, and eventually I came to know pretty much everyone at our local restaurant on a first name basis.  At a different time in our life, my wife and I ate out just about every night and wound up at Applebee’s even if it was just for desert or to see our friends there.  We moved away, grew up a little bit, and now live about 45 minutes away from the nearest one.  Ruby Tuesday is now our favorite place to eat out.  We save it for special occasions, but their salad bar can’t be beat.  I’m a big fan of the bleu cheese crumbles.  We love Ruby Tuesday. Continue reading →

Where is God?

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Where is God? Lots of people have a take on where God might be. Atheists believe that there is no god of any kind, anywhere. Agnostics believe there may be a god or some type of higher power, but we either don’t know what that is or perhaps we cannot know. Deists believe the universe was set into motion like the gears of a clock, but that we are tiny and insignificant to such an omnipotent God. Then there’s New Agers, Scientologists, Oprah and so forth. Some spend their entire lives looking for God, but he isn’t hard to find. The truth is it should be hard to miss God. Continue reading →

A Lesson in Humility: God is in the Manger Part II

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When the wise men came from the east seeking Jesus, they went to Jerusalem.  They were looking for a newborn king, so they naturally went to the palace located in the capital city.  King Herod knew nothing of a king being born, because the birth of Jesus was not one fit for a king. Continue reading →

God is in the Manger

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UPDATE: This is part 1.  Part 2 here.

The nature of all sin is that we are so easily willing to settle.  We could have the very best of all that God has in store for us, but all too often we take the easy way, the short cut, the path of least resistance or instant gratification.  Instant gratification may the biggest temptation our culture offers today.  A functional relationship with an actual human being takes time and effort, whereas “hooking up” for a one-night stand requires no long-term commitment.  I contend that the long-term benefits make the commitment a worthwhile endeavor.  A thief – or simply someone who is lazy – is thinking hard work pays off eventually, stealing pays off right now.  But there are also consequences for cheating to get ahead.  Sin is almost always an attempt to skip to the good part.  Satan tempted Jesus three times with shortcuts; turn this bread to stone, prove yourself by jumping from a high place, bow down and worship me. (1) Any of those would have brought more immediate although less rewarding gratification than by taking the slow, painful path to the cross.  Sometimes God’s will is the slow, tough path.  The problem is that we are willing to settle for less.

The same is true with Christmas. Continue reading →

Adopted by God

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Adopted by God, a 3 point sermon from Galatians 4

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.     – Galatians 4:1-7

We are by nature the enemies of God.  Ever since the Garden of Eden, humanity has been prone to do the opposite of whatever it is God wants us to do.  Jesus describes us in John 8 as being slaves of sin.  It is easily witnessed throughout the history of God’s people in the Old Testament, the struggles of Paul with his own sin nature, and for that mature the course of all history.  While in a general sense we are all belong to God, our natural state is like that of the prodigal son.  God is watching and waiting for us to come down the road where he will welcome us with open arms. Continue reading →

The Body of Christ

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John Lennon’s quote that “we are more popular than Jesus” sparked controversy and protest once it reached the United States.  That statement, part of a much larger discourse, was taken terribly out of context.  Here’s what Lennon really said:

Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I’ll be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first—rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.

Lennon was commenting on the decline of Christianity in England (and all of Europe for that matter) and over there no one even got upset.  In it’s context, what Lennon was saying was true. Continue reading →

Who Is Jesus?

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Who is Jesus?  Sounds simple.  And you could answer simply.  But no matter how you respond to the question, we all know that in reality it just isn’t that simple.  Everyone has a default image that comes to mind when we hear the name Jesus.  The question becomes “Which Jesus are we talking about?”  That my friend is the right question.

UPDATE: I’ve removed the link to the Who’s Jesus website because that blog has been deleted by it’s author.

Who is Jesus is also the title of a blog I’ve just been reading.  The author identifies himself/herself only as C.  You don’t learn a lot about C by reading the blog, but I already know a lot by the clues that are given. Continue reading →

Baptism and Re-Baptism

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There’s a story in 1 Samuel about the Israelites carrying the Ark of the Covenant into battle with them.  They had beaten by the Philistines and wanted a rematch.  So they carried the Ark with them into battle so that, in their own words, “it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies.”  Rather than asking God to save them they thought “it” would save them.  They confused the symbol with the thing it represented.  The symbol is not the thing.* Continue reading →

Born Again

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(click “watch on YouTube” when prompted)

Text = John 3:1-15

John 3 is a familiar text for those of us that grew up in church.  That is exactly the point I mean to get at.  When Jesus says the words born again, we know what he means by that.  But to a person on the outside looking in, our choice of words can alienate the very people we are trying to reach.  Terms like born again, regeneration, converted or even saved have meaning to the Christian believer but require explanation to those not versed in our church  jargon.  So, perhaps you are trying to find out what it means to be born again.  Otherwise, we could all use a reminder from time to time; it helps when explaining it to others. Continue reading →