Category: Digging in Deeper

Community gathering with food, live music, and kids' activities outside St. Jude's Church

Community Rhythms

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“So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.” (Acts‬ ‭6‬:‭7‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

The neighborhood church is making a comeback. There’s just something good about a church that is an integrated part of its community. People know the church, and the church knows the people. When a need arises, everyone works together to meet it. Neighborhood churches aren’t necessarily big, but they are impactful. And they grow. It has been a few weeks, but today we are continuing with the fifth part of our conversation about the things that are contributing to the growth we are seeing happen in real time at my church, let’s talk about community rhythms.

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A balance scale held by a hand with dark and light elements on each side, glowing sword and book labeled 'JUSTITIA' in background

Love and Hate in God’s Good World

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“The Lord hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to him: arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.” (Proverbs‬ ‭6‬:‭16‬-‭19‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

I’ve been reading back through a book lately called, Gentle and Lowly, that makes the case for the gentleness and passion God has for people, and especially His people. Drawing on both New Testament and Old Testament sources alike, it’s a powerful exploration of the deep and passionate love of God—a love far deeper and more passionate than we can really imagine. Yet as great as God’s love for us is, as much as He is love, there are some things He hates. Solomon gives us a list of some of them here. Let’s take a look.

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Hiker standing on rocky mountain peak with sun rays breaking through clouds

Get While the Getting Is Good

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“A worthless person, a wicked man goes around speaking dishonestly, winking his eyes, signaling with his feet, and gesturing with his fingers. He always plots evil with perversity in his heart; he stirs up trouble. Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly; he will be shattered instantly, beyond recovery.” (Proverbs‬ ‭6‬:‭12‬-‭15‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

There is a basic human intuition that we should reap what we sow. If someone does good things, they should expect to receive good things coming back their way. If a person does evil things, however, just the opposite expectation should frame their thinking. Given the world as it actually seems to exist, we don’t necessarily see this kind of thing playing out as often as we’d like. Yet this basic intuition is more right than perhaps we realize—something the collection of Proverbs helps us to see. Let’s take a look at another of the many examples of what Solomon had to say about this.

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Terraced olive grove on hillside with person harvesting olives near a coastal village

Summer Reruns: Humble and Intentional Faith

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I had somebody ask me the other day if I had ever gone back to read an old post or sermon and found that I had written something in the past that I no longer agree with or believe. I was happily able to assure him that this wasn’t the case. I haven’t read anywhere in the universe of every post I’ve ever written to be sure, but my thinking on a number of issues has remained pretty stable over the past decade. I say that because here is a post from way back near the very beginning of the blog reflecting on a passage that I wrote about not too long ago on our journey through Romans. While I bring out some different angles on the passage here than I explored more recently, I still heartily endorse everything I wrote back then. Let take a trip down memory lane today and reflect on the humility and the intentionality the Christian faith requires.

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Woman using laptop at a cozy desk with notebook, mug, and sleeping cat

Summer Reruns: Real Religion, Part 2

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Yesterday, we took a look at an old post from James that has our Lord’s half-brother describing what real, good, God-honoring religion should look like. What that first part of this two-part reflection established is that even people who profess to have no religion at all are a whole lot more religious than they think. This second part has us diving further into what James describes as the right kind of religion. The bottom line is this: real religion should accomplish kingdom good. If it’s not, then it’s bad religion. And there are few things worse than bad religion. Let’s take a closer look together at just what makes the kind of religion that is worth having.

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