Have you ever had the unsettling experience of being in a conversation and having very little idea of what the other person is talking about? You think to yourself, “I am embarrassed that I don’t know about this. It seems like I should have known about this.” I’ve had that feeling in my local ministerium.Continue reading “The uncomfortable necessity of unity – Ezekiel 37:15-28, Part 3”
Monthly Archives: February 2022
The important meaning of Ezekiel’s sticks – Ezekiel 37:15-28, Part 2
In Ezekiel 37:15-28, we learn that God has asked Ezekiel, the Saturday Night Live prophet, to do one final skit. Start by reading verses 15-17, where God describes the skit. Here’s a summary of the skit. Ezekiel is to take two sticks. On one stick he writes the word “Judah,” which is the name ofContinue reading “The important meaning of Ezekiel’s sticks – Ezekiel 37:15-28, Part 2”
Ezekiel’s final skit – Ezekiel 37:15-28, Part 1
When I was in youth group, I’ll never forget something that happened at a youth retreat. In the middle of one of the sessions, my youth pastor stopped the retreat and told us that he knew there was disunity in the group. I was a newbie, in 9th grade, and this was my first highContinue reading “Ezekiel’s final skit – Ezekiel 37:15-28, Part 1”
A failed youth group merger? – Ezekiel 37:15-28, Preview
In the fall of 2003 Faith Church’s youth group merged with the youth group of our sister church. Well, we kind of merged. What led to the merger was that our sister church, at the time, was renting space from a local Christian school, and their rental arrangement was not conducive to having a consistentContinue reading “A failed youth group merger? – Ezekiel 37:15-28, Preview”
Help carry others’ burdens – Love One Another, Part 5
Editor’s Note: This week we welcome David Hundert as guest blogger! In the previous post, I said that we disciples of Jesus are people who set aside our personal pride for the sake of the whole. How do we do that? In Galatians 6:2 the Apostle Paul writes, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in thisContinue reading “Help carry others’ burdens – Love One Another, Part 5”
How God helps us love – Love One Another, Part 4
Editor’s Note: This week we welcome David Hundert as guest blogger! In this week’s five-part series on one of the most repeated phrases in the New Testament, “love one another,” we’ve leaned that it is no small task. Perhaps at this point you’re wondering, “That’s a lot! I don’t know if I can do that.”Continue reading “How God helps us love – Love One Another, Part 4”
How to practice peace and defeat pride – Love One Another, Part 3
Editor’s Note: This week we welcome David Hundert as guest blogger! As we learned in the previous post, one way to apply the principle of “love one another” is to make it our goal to strengthen each other’s faith. Why is this important? How can we remember to do this? To attempt to answer thatContinue reading “How to practice peace and defeat pride – Love One Another, Part 3”
Followers of Jesus are salty foot-washers? – Love One Another, Part 2
Editor’s Note: This week we welcome David Hundert as guest blogger! In the previous post, we learned one of the most repeated words in the New Testament, “one another.” So, how do we, the Church of Christ, apply the concept of “one another” to our churches, our relationships? Jesus once taught, “Salt is good, butContinue reading “Followers of Jesus are salty foot-washers? – Love One Another, Part 2”
One of the most repeated words in the New Testament – Love One Another, Part 1
Editor’s Note: This week we welcome David Hundert as guest blogger! The television show, Ted Lasso, is about an American football coach attempting to coach an English soccer team. Lasso often brings his unique style to the locker room, and in one episode it seems he borrowed from a famous Allen Iverson press conference thatContinue reading “One of the most repeated words in the New Testament – Love One Another, Part 1”
How to grow your relationship with the Holy Spirit – Ezekiel 37:1-14, Part 5
How can we be filled with the Spirit like the Christians in the early church, which we studied in the previous post. In those days, what was happening was precisely what the Apostle Paul described in 1 Corinthians chapters 3 and 6, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the HolyContinue reading “How to grow your relationship with the Holy Spirit – Ezekiel 37:1-14, Part 5”
Engaging Scripture 