Yesterday I started what a series studying the book of Acts, and the central question we’ll be asking each week is this: How did the first Christians live as followers of Jesus, in their world? This week we are working through Acts 1. In the first three verses, we learned that, over the 40 daysContinue reading “Jesus’ surprising instructions: Wait and Witness (what is that???) – Acts 1, Part 2”
Author Archives: joelkime
How Should Christians Live in the World (Introducing Acts) – Acts 1, Part 1
How should Christians live in the world? Do the Republicans have it right? Should we follow the Democrats? Is American life the way to go? What about some other country, like England, that has a Christian heritage? What about Spain or France or Italy which are predominantly Catholic nations. Should we follow the Catholic way? Continue reading “How Should Christians Live in the World (Introducing Acts) – Acts 1, Part 1”
How to bring justice and mercy to those in your community struggling with affordable housing – Current Events 2020 Q1: Affordable Housing, Part 5
How should we Christians think about affordable housing? What started this discussion of affordable housing was a situation in my community in which a boardinghouse providing affordable housing for 14 people might be shut down due to zoning law. You can review the story here. What could it look like to apply Amos 5:11-12 toContinue reading “How to bring justice and mercy to those in your community struggling with affordable housing – Current Events 2020 Q1: Affordable Housing, Part 5”
Do Americans need to repent? – Current Events 2020 Q1 – Affordable Housing, Part 4
Are Americans like the Israelites in Amos’ day? Are we wealthy? Are we a religious people? And yet are we oppressing others? First, let’s consider our wealth. The Israelites in Amos day were riding a wave of wealth. When you compare Americans with so many places around the world, we are wealthy. For the mostContinue reading “Do Americans need to repent? – Current Events 2020 Q1 – Affordable Housing, Part 4”
Does God hate your church’s worship (and how to find out) – Current Events Q1 2020 – Affordable Housing, Part 3
Has your church ever evaluated your worship services? How do you know what is good worship and what is not? What metrics do you use? Quality? Excellence? Professionalism? Attendance? Growth? Better yet, what metrics would God want you to use? As we continue our study this week on affordable housing, surprisingly perhaps, one Old TestamentContinue reading “Does God hate your church’s worship (and how to find out) – Current Events Q1 2020 – Affordable Housing, Part 3”
A nude prophet teaches mercy and justice – Current Events Q1 2020 – Affordable Housing, Part 2
In the previous post, I told you the story of a boardinghouse in my local area, the tenants of which might be evicted because of a zoning law. I’ve started a series about how Christians can think biblically about current events. What is God’s heart for a boardinghouse that might get shut down because ofContinue reading “A nude prophet teaches mercy and justice – Current Events Q1 2020 – Affordable Housing, Part 2”
How a zoning law could make people homeless – Current Events Q1 2020 – Affordable Housing, Part 1
Last month Penn Live reported on a PA Commonwealth Court appeal ruling that took place January 10th, saying that the ruling said, “Should spell doom for a long-running, but apparently never officially permitted boarding house,” which is located in the far southeastern corner of East Lampeter Township. Perhaps even more importantly, Penn Live said, theContinue reading “How a zoning law could make people homeless – Current Events Q1 2020 – Affordable Housing, Part 1”
How to rip off labels stuck to you – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 5
Have you ever been a part of a sports team that wears jerseys with labels on them? Usually a jersey has a team name, logo, and your player number. Some also include your last name and maybe a sponsor name and logo. NASCAR driver uniforms have, perhaps, the most labels of all. We, too, canContinue reading “How to rip off labels stuck to you – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 5”
How fantasy football helps us identify as Citizens of God’s Kingdom – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 4
Did you know that Citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven is like fantasy football? When you play fantasy football, you normally draft onto your fantasy team players that are from teams that you don’t root for. All of a sudden, now that they are on your fantasy team, you start being interested in that player. Continue reading “How fantasy football helps us identify as Citizens of God’s Kingdom – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 4”
How Christian dual citizenship matters to politics – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 3
Christians, did you know you have dual citizenship? I, for example am a citizen of the United States of America because I was born in the city of Alexandria, which is the state of Virginia. I have a birth certificate with raised seal to prove it. Which is the land of your birth? Where isContinue reading “How Christian dual citizenship matters to politics – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 3”
Engaging Scripture 