Digging in Deeper: 2 Samuel 4:7-8

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“When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of the Arabah all night, and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron. And they said to the king, ‘Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. The Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.’”  (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

Have you ever done something foolish to impress someone? What was it? In high school I participated in a summer arts program that included a trip to Santa Fe, NM. Walking around the hotel where we spent the few days we were there, some of the friends I had made during the summer goaded me into stealing a hot water sign from in front of a carafe in a hospitality station. It was wrong on many levels, not to mention just stupid, but I wanted to be cool. What a dummy. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 2 Samuel 11:10-11

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“When they told David, ‘Uriah did not go down to his house,’ David said to Uriah, ‘Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?’ Uriah said to David, ‘The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.’”  (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

There’s nothing so much like righteousness to reveal sinfulness for just how ugly it really is. David had raped a man’s wife—this man’s wife—and now he’s trying to get Uriah to unwittingly help him cover up his evil deed. But Uriah just won’t play along no matter how hard David tries. And the harder David tries to cover his sinfulness with Uriah’s righteousness, the worse he looks and the deeper into it he falls. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 2 Samuel 11:4

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“So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house.”  (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

There are two things worth noting about this verse. Both speak rather directly to where our culture is today. One focuses on the sin and one moves past that to life afterwards. One is a reminder that the #MeToo moment is an important reckoning for our culture to have. The other grounds us in the fact that grace is big and one person’s #MeToo moment need not define the rest of his or her life. Read the rest…

Morning Musing: 2 Samuel 11:5-6

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“And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, ‘I am pregnant.’ So David sent word to Joab, ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite.’ And Joab sent Uriah to David.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

In Genesis 3, Moses writes that when Adam and Eve each took a bite of the fruit from the forbidden tree, the first thing they did was to hide. They were ashamed. They covered themselves up, and then, when God came walking in the garden in the cool of the day as was His custom, they hid from Him too. Sin does that. Read the rest…

Live Courageously

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This past Sunday we ventured into part three of our teaching series, Pursue: Chasing God in a Godless World.  One of the truths we need to embrace if we’re going to do that is that sometimes it’s hard to do.  So, what do we call it when someone does the right thing even though it’s hard?  Keep reading to find out.

Live Courageously

Our culture loves heroes.  Superhero movies have always been popular, but the last few years have seen their profiles rise to epic proportions.  For many moviegoers, the wait for the next Marvel film is agonizing.  I recently read a quote from Kevin Smith, a director popular among the nerd culture, who said that given the choice, he would rather see the next Avengers movie than direct another movie ever again.  This past Wednesday evening I couldn’t even begin to count how many little superheroes I saw running around here.  Since the year 2,000, sixteen of the 40 highest grossing films have been about super-powered individuals in one way or another.  If you add films about heroes more generally (like Star Wars or Harry Potter) that number goes up 28 and you could probably make a good case for adding a few more to that list. Read the rest…