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You Are Free: A Lesson from the Greco-Roman World
Most of us know that the world of the earliest Christians included slavery. The book of Philemon details the return of the slave Onesimus. And elsewhere, Paul flips the usual household codes, addresses slaves directly (scandalous!), and tells masters they, too, have a master. But even more personally, Paul refers to all believers as manumitted from sin and free to serve our new master: righteousness. Here are three examples from Paul’s letters. Notice what he says about who owns the believer. Do you not know that if you present yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or obedience resulting…
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Let Jesus satisfy your heart with His Love
How confident are you that Jesus loves you? Do you need assurance that He loves you? You might think that Jesus could not possibly want you because your life has been so messy or because someone has told you that you are not good enough for God to really love. The truth is that your heart need for love is real, and Jesus will satisfy your heart with the goodness of His love as you let Him do it. The Quest for Satisfaction Several years ago, my daughter and I were talking about the quest for satisfaction that drives women in our culture. From our experiences in ministry to women,…
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You are Free!
Most of us know that the world of the earliest Christians included slavery. The book of Philemon details the return of Onesimus. And elsewhere, Paul flips the usual household codes, addresses slaves directly (scandalous!), and tells masters they, too, have a master. But even more personally, Paul refers to all believers as manumitted from sin and free to become slaves of righteousness. Here are three examples from his letters: Romans 6:16-23 Do you not know that if you present yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you…
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Our Path to Purpose
What do Aristotle, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Bono of U2 have in common? They joined the many sojourners throughout history who have pursued transcendent purpose in life. As we journey through life, where would our path take us if we set our compass toward purpose-filled life?
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Slavery and Abortion in a Nutshell
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” Proverbs 14:14 In these most recent heated debates, I thought some food for thought might be appropriate: SLAVERY existed in America for about 300 years. It is possible that up to Approximately 60 million human beings died in and due to the American version of slavery during that time.[1] Half the country believed they were “free” to own slaves and that it was their “right.” (Constitutional right, certainly. God-given right even.) Many argued that blacks and Africans were not even human beings but were property. Who were others to tell them what to do with their own property?…
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What are we prepared to do to do to cling to what is good? Protect innocent life? Hold onto to freedom? Teach our children?
Today we are deeply concerned over the rise of authoritarian rule that makes us choose between political mandates or our jobs. That may soon require us to use our tax money to dismember or poison babies. We are troubled about the confusion over calling gender fluidity good, and God’s commands for sexual morality evil. We wonder especially how to help our children reject the lies and embrace the truth. But things could get much worse. They did get far worse when the communists took over Eastern Europe. And yet in Hungary there were boys and girls and teens and college students who helped to lead a revolt against the Soviets.…
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Recognizing Sinful Patterns
here do our sinful patterns come from? Scripture is quite clear that our sin comes from the evil desires of our old nature. James 1:15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.
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The Week After Easter
The Easter message––that Jesus came to set us free and give us new life––does not change. Even in the confines of a pandemic. No one could have foreseen the magnitude of coronavirus strife. Except Jesus. Jesus knew that days like these were coming.
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Your Christmas Wish
Each year growing up, I made a list of things I wanted for Christmas. I’m pretty sure “a horse” topped the list every single year (and no, I never got one). I definitely knew that in order to get what I truly wanted, I had to be nice, not naughty. Looking back, that’s probably why I never got the horse. Anyhoo… As adults, we don’t worry about making Santa’s NICE LIST so we can get what we desire most. Instead we embrace Christmas as a season of giving, good cheer, and hope for the new year. And as Christians, we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. Reconciliation to…
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No More Masks
As the days grow shorter and golden leaves fall from trees, we pack up Halloween decorations in preparation for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Although a few costumes may linger in photos on the fridge, everything else is set aside for another year. However, there’s one thing that few of us ever put away: the everyday masks we live behind. We all have masks of one sort or another. Reasons vary. For some, our masks protect us from going too deep or being too real. For others, masks allow us to live more boldly as the alter ego we espouse. Still others crave physical and…
