Day and night. Darkness and light. It may sound like Paul is giving an astronomy lesson to the folks in Thessalonica but he's actually using those opposites as a metaphor. I've heard this verse before in songs and sermons and usually it's understood to be a description of who we (Jesus followers) are. We are children of the light. We're awake, ready and see the truth of who God is. We're not asleep, unprepared and in the dark about God's true nature. I think all that is good and true, but I want to take this in a little different direction.
Read MoreColossians has a lot of cool stuff in it. Paul affirms the ultimate authority of Jesus, gives encouragement, direction on basic "how-you-should-live-and-act" stuff and even finds time to drop some doctrine. (Pretty impressive the amount of stuff he can communicate in a letter, huh?) But there was one phrase in last verse of the book that really caught my attention. "Remember my chains."
Read MoreIn Philippians we find Paul encouraging people to think about good things. However, I don't think Paul's goal was to just make them feel happy. Rather, I think he wanted them to have a mood and mindset that makes them more receptive to to hearing and following God.
Read MoreOne of the first things I do when starting a Word design is to ask "What if" questions. What if 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 was displayed as an info graphic? What if the story of John the Baptist being beheaded was a kid's handout? What if battle of David and Goliath was portrayed as a old boxing poster? For Ephesians, I asked "What if the seal of the Holy Spirit was literally a seal?"
Read MoreMany of the first followers had previous occupations before they became Jesus people. Matthew was a tax collecter. Peter and Andrew were fishermen. Paul helped murder followers of Jesus. Wait, what?
Read MoreIn 2 Corinthians, Paul gives us a world of extremes. He talks about being wise and foolish, having faith and not sight, being persecuted yet not abandoned, loving art yet owning a Thomas Kinkade painting. (OK, I made that last one up.) What's up, Paul? Do you have multiple personalities?
Read MoreThe Apostle Paul wrote nearly half of the books in the New Testament. (His descendants must be getting some serious royalty checks). Most of his books deal with explaining how this whole living-like-Jesus thing works. In 1 Corinthians, he boils it all down to four words. Do everything in love.
Read MoreIn Romans, the apostle Paul pretty much lays out the theology of salvation over 16 chapters. There's a lot of stuff he says that boils down to "That is who you were, but in now in Christ, this is who you are." I was lost, but now I'm found. I was in bondage to sin, but now I am free in Christ. Sounds nice, right? But there are still a lot of times where I don't feel found or free. Are you lying to me, Paul?
Read MoreOn Sunday, May 1, I heard the news that Osama Bin Laden was dead, assassinated by the United Stated government/military. Folks in the U.S. rejoiced in the streets. To be honest, I even felt a sense of "he got what he deserved." I mean this dude did some pretty awful stuff. But here's what I don't get: some churches (people who follow the teachings of Jesus and are called to advance the Kingdom of God) took part in the celebration and even attributed the success of the assassination to God. Wait, what?
Read MoreAs the book of Acts begins, Jesus does some after resurrection check-in with his homies and then flies away to heaven. For three years, the disciples continually misunderstood Jesus' message, one of them sold out Jesus for some bling, and the rest of them deserted Jesus when he was crucified (Peter even denied he knew him). Jesus was the only thing holding this group of punks together and now he's gone? They're in trouble.
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