In today’s Bible reading, John says that our relationship with God doesn’t exist in a vacuum. How we live affects our relationship with God. And how we live with others affects our relationship with God. Coming into a relationship with God is a free offer. There are no demands on us. We don’t have to…
With today’s Bible reading, we begin reading 1 John. One thing that strikes me from the very beginning of the letter is that John says that he and the other Apostles aren’t just passing along folk tales. They aren’t just passing along what other people told them. John says, “What was from the beginning, what…
All of us have itchy ears. The question is, how do you scratch? If you’ve been around church for very long, you may have heard Paul’s warning in today’s Bible reading. “For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because…
Back in 1982, Faberge Organics Shampoo rolled out a commercial that forever stuck in my mind. The same year, as I wrapped up my Freshman year at UNC-Chapel Hill, one of the staff members for Campus Crusade for Christ “challenged” me to be a part of their discipleship movement on campus. It was a fancy…
When Paul talks about honoring the elders in today’s Bible reading, he isn’t talking about honoring your parents or honoring people who are older than you. He’s talking about honoring church elders. Elders in the First Century church were pastors and mature men who had been called to provide spiritual and financial leadership of the…
We begin reading 1 Timothy in today’s Bible reading. Paul reminds Timothy that he should teach people not to teach false doctrine or pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. Why? Because they “promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan which operates by faith”. (1 Timothy 1:3-4, CSB) Paul refers to Timothy as his “true…
