Advent, Week 1: Psalm 112, Part 5 How much of your gift-giving this Christmas will be lavishing gifts on people who already have all their needs met? I will love the gifts I receive at Christmas, but I can tell you very honestly that I don’t need a single Christmas gift. I want them. ItContinue reading “Gift giving that makes a difference”
Tag Archives: poverty
Your physical circumstances do not reveal what God thinks of you
Trust and Obey, Week 3: Luke 6, Part 4 In Luke 6, Jesus makes the shocking assertion that the poor are in favorable circumstances, because theirs is the Kingdom of God. The people in the crowd that day listening to his Sermon on the Plain would have been blown away by this. Jesus’ ideas soundedContinue reading “Your physical circumstances do not reveal what God thinks of you”
What Jesus might say about Elon Musk’s $1 trillion compensation passage
Trust & Obey, Week 3: Luke 6, Part 3 Jesus knew what life was like for the people in the crowds that followed him, crowds such as the ones we read about Luke 6. He knew what their lives were like because he lived that life for 30 years before he started his ministry. JesusContinue reading “What Jesus might say about Elon Musk’s $1 trillion compensation passage”
Why and How to be more Generous – John 11:46-12:11, Part 5
Does the Bible tell us the goal of generosity to the poor? It does. In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul taught something that is not mentioned enough. One of the subplots of Paul’s missionary journeys is that he was asking the churches across the Roman Empire to give money to help the mother church in Jerusalem. Continue reading “Why and How to be more Generous – John 11:46-12:11, Part 5”
What Jesus meant when he said, “You will always have the poor among you” – John 11:46-12:11, Part 4
What does extravagant generosity to Jesus look like in our day? In John 12:1-11, Mary dumped $70K worth of perfume on Jesus’ feet. While Jesus doesn’t expect us to do precisely what Mary did, he does expect us to be extravagantly generous. Why doesn’t he expect us to do what Mary did? Mary lived, forContinue reading “What Jesus meant when he said, “You will always have the poor among you” – John 11:46-12:11, Part 4″
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”
Jesus’ bizarre depiction of heaven and hell – Luke 16:19-31
Do pastors lie at funerals? Though we sound confident, usually that the deceased is in heaven, do we really know that? You can read my thoughts on that in the intro post. The question I asked in that post is: “So, what happens when we die? Is it possible that we can know now whatContinue reading “Jesus’ bizarre depiction of heaven and hell – Luke 16:19-31”
Engaging Scripture 