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Passover for Christians?
“Wait. Why should I care about Passover? I’m a Christian. Isn’t that a Jewish thing?” I have frequently heard this response when sharing about “Passover for Christians”. Yes, Passover is a “Jewish thing”, but its also a “Christian thing”! The two are closely related. Jesus celebrated Passover all of His life, including the night before He was crucified. At that meal (Matthew 26:17-30), Jesus instituted the “Lord’s Supper” (Communion),which is one of the two ordinances we observe. By understanding the Passover story, our understanding of the Lord’s Supper is greatly enhanced. Exodus 12 recounts the dramatic story of the Israelites and their deliverance from Egyptian slavery. In order…
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Approaching Advent
This Sunday, November 29 marks the beginning of the 2020 Advent season. Advent is a four-week period of praying, perhaps fasting, reading scripture and anticipating our Lord’s birth on Christmas Day. Similar to Lent, it allows time and a sacred space in a busy season to contemplate the coming of Christ and the miracle of the incarnation. The church has always seen Advent as a period of waiting – an intentional observance that helps us avoid what Stanley Grenz calls our culture’s “drive through Christmas” attitude. We throw ourselves into the frenzy of preparations for Christmas, but often fail miserably in taking time to prepare our hearts for the Lord’s…
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Deborah, a faith-inspiring leader
Judges 4:1–7 forms part of the lectionary readings for the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, which is November 15th. This book describes life in Israel after Joshua’s death (a period around 1210–1051 B.C.). As the nation was established in Canaan, its days of wandering ended. Many of the covenant promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were being fulfilled. Chapters 2–5, however, show a tragic cycle of disobedience, oppression, repentance, and deliverance that happened repeatedly throughout the times of the judges. The reason is that Israel forgot its heritage and all that God had done for the nation. Consequently, the people failed to finish the job of cleansing the land…
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Post Election: Where Do We Go from Here?
At the time of this writing, the numbers say 74,939,396 US citizens voted one way and 70,636,322 voted the opposite. The final numbers will differ some. But regardless of what the final numbers are, that is a lot of difference. NBC broke down the race-based religious data. And they found this—which will come as no surprise: Among white Protestants, 73 percent voted for President Trump, and 26 percent voted for President-elect Biden. Pew Research paints a different picture for Blacks: 90 percent of Black Protestant registered voters backed Biden. Christianity Today reported, based on National Election Pool results, that nationally Trump took 40 percent of the Latino vote; Biden took 59 percent. …
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A summons to faith and faithfulness
Joshua 24:1–3, 14–25 forms part of the lectionary readings for the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost, which is November 8th. This book chronicles the way God provided for the Israelites’ entrance into the promised land. This portion of Scripture also reveals much about the character and nature of God. Specifically, the traits of the Lord are portrayed and clarified as this book shows how God interacted with His people—leading them, protecting them, teaching them, loving them, and making a way for them to fulfill His will for their lives. The bulk Joshua falls into two main divisions: the conquest of the land (chaps. 1–12) and the division of the land (chaps.…
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Overwhelmed? 6 Truths to Guide You
We all get overwhelmed. Our chest tightens. Our breath shallows. Our eyes tear. We believe no matter how hard we strain, things won’t work out. In these days we need reminders of truth. Here are six truths that help me overcome feelings of defeat: 6 Truths to Guide Us 1. We are valuable because God made us (Genesis 1:27). We see a person’s job promotion on Facebook. Yet again. We unpack boxes in the house a friend bought, when we barely made rent. Our souls feed on images of value—how much we possess or have accomplished. So, we strain. We build our ladder and hang every rung with weight…
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An Invitation to Lament
Everyone is grieving. Students mourn the ball games and proms they didn’t have. Folks agonize over the jobs and insurance they’ve lost. People ache after their loved one joined nearly a quarter of a million others killed by this “novel” virus. We’re all grieving . We need to. We need to wrestle and scream and plead with God to do something about the whole dadgum thing. Actually, we need to lament. Today I invite you to lament with me. We’ll journey together, interactively, so grab something to write with and get into a comfy chair. Begin by jotting down the first thoughts that come to mind when you hear the…
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Is this thing on?
It’s 9:55am on a Tuesday morning and in 5 minutes I’m about to go “live” on Facebook to share a lesson or devotional on a special Facebook Page aimed at the kids and parents that call Rock Creek Church their church home. I’m prepared and ready to share something utterly profound and amazing since after all God’s word is indeed just that, but then I realize I have no idea if even one person will be online with me to see it. Will I be saying “is this thing on?” That’s when it struck me…Oh my Goodness, does God feel this way sometimes? Does God sometimes feel like anyone is hearing him? Granted,…
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Shame, Jesus, and Me
This month I’m honored to invite my friend and teammate Christian Williams as my guest blogger. I love being in Christian’s company because one minute she’s making me laugh so hard I’m crying and the next she has stopped me in my tracks with a thought-provoking reflection. Christian is a Dallas transplant (Native Arkansan) and DTS student who loves communicating truth and building safe, authentic, purposeful communities. She feels God’s pleasure most when using her imagination, storytelling, teaching, and living in intentional relationships which yield growth and transformation. Dub: (verb) to give an unofficial name or nickname to (someone or something). I dub everything. From my period- I call her…
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A Children’s Pastor’s response to COVID-19. What an opportunity it is!
It’s everywhere and it’s effecting everyone. No one is exempt from the effects of COVID-19. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen and I thought 9/11 was about as crazy as it gets. I would have never guessed that I’d see the day that I would run out of toilet paper and there wouldn’t be anymore to buy. What’s funny is that there are people out there that have 800 rolls of toilet paper filling up a closet or garage in their home. Who would have known that a respiratory virus would require so much toilet paper to cure? I wish I was half as smart! Oh well, I’ll…
