Month: October 2018

Breaking Free

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In this final part of our series, Gravity: Overcoming the Weight of Our Stuff, we talk about one last, powerful way to break free from the pull our stuff otherwise naturally has on our lives.  Along the way, I offer a three step process for how to begin building the practice of sacrificial generosity into our lives, an example of what generosity can do, and a chance to respond.  Thanks for reading and blessings as you make your plan to break free from the gravity of your stuff.

Breaking Free

Have you noticed that one of Disney’s goals lately seems to be to make live-action remakes of all their classic animated films?  We’ve so far seen Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, Maleficent, Pete’s Dragon, and Christopher Robin, with films like Dumbo, Mulan, the Lion King, and Aladdin on the near horizon.  A bit of research allowed me to discover that there are also tentative plans to redo other classic films such as Snow White, Robinhood, The Sword in the Stone, and Pinocchio. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Mark 10:21-22

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“And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”  (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

This is one of those sayings of Jesus that have given people trouble for a long, long time. What did He mean by this? Was He being literal with this command? Was this a one time thing or something He intended for a broader application? Is this something we can reinterpret as metaphorical, or was He somehow saying that just poor people can get into Heaven? What are we supposed to do with this? Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 1 Samuel 18:1

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“As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Do you have a friend? I don’t mean an acquaintance. I mean a real, genuine, honest-to-goodness friend. Someone you could call in the middle of the night with anything and they’d be there in an instant if you needed them? We live today in a culture where this kind of deep, soul-level friendship is a rare thing all the while people hunger for relationships. This story may be just the antidote we need for this poison. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: Mark 10:26-27

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“And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.’”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Consider the disciples’ reaction here. Jesus had just made His famous declaration that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle (almost certainly a real camel and a real needle rather than some gate) than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. They understood Jesus rightly to be saying that rich people can’t get to heaven. And now that I have you hung up just like they were, if for a different reason, let me explain. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 1 Samuel 17:55-56

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“As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, ‘Abner, whose son is this youth?’ And Abner said, ‘As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.’ And the king said, ‘Inquire whose son the boy is.'” (ESV – Read the chapter)‬‬

One of the questions that quickly comes to the mind of the perceptive reader here is how chapters 16 and 17 can be harmonized. One seems to say one thing and the other another thing. This is the kind of apparent conflict that gives critics of the Scriptures plenty of ammunition to fire away at its credibility…or so they (and sometimes we) think. But, while this is yet another place where things are harder than usual to understand at first glance, a little bit of thinking reveals that it does not pose nearly the challenge that it seems.

Read the rest…