“When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Two verses over from this one is the shortest verse in the Bible: Jesus wept. Here, we are told He was deeply moved and greatly troubled. Basically, Jesus was really emotional. This provides fodder for some theological pondering, which is fine, but it should also be really encouraging for us. Here’s why. Read the rest…
In this final part of our Esther teaching series, Stand Up: How to Fight Injustice, we are reminded that since injustice never sleeps, we can’t either. Over the course of this conversation I offer four ways we can make sure our lives are always ready to fight injustice. Keep reading to find out what they are.
Keep Standing
Last weekend was the annual Relay for Life Walk event. While it has gotten pared back a bit over the years, the original vision for the event was for it to last for a full 24-hours. One of the original slogans that accompanied the all-night walk was that we could walk throughout the night because “cancer never sleeps.” The big idea here is that cancer is always on and so we must be also. We must be ever vigilant to halt its life-stealing advance. Because it never takes a day-off, we can’t either. This kind of militaristic sentiment works for a while, but eventually people start to get tired. Sometimes the very advances to which their support of cancer research has contributed allows some folks to relax a bit and let up on the pressure. It’s tough to stay motivated to support a single cause for a long period of time. Read the rest…
“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Jesus says two really important things here. The first gives us the rubric for having confidence in our fellowship. The second gives us the dual result of this state of affairs. Read the rest…
“When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
Daniel had been doing this three times a day in this same place for years. This time, though, had to feel a bit different. This was the first time he knew he was actively breaking the law by doing it. And yet, the place and the pattern were both well-worn in his life. At the time to which he was very much accustomed, Daniel got down on his knees in front of the window in his upper room and prayed. Shortly afterwards–as he knew would happen–he was arrested and hauled before the king. Read the rest…
“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
“You can’t judge me!” may be one of the premier slogans of modern, western culture. A hundred years ago, what the people around you thought mattered a great deal. In many cultures around the world today this is still the case. An individual’s identity comes primarily from their social structure. In modern American culture, we are taught to place a high value on choosing a path that explicitly rejects and even makes a mockery of the social order in which we live. The bravest souls are the ones who take what’s expected of them and throw it in the trash to be “true to themselves” just like everybody else…
Read the rest…
The Nexus 