Tag: Sharing the Gospel

Morning Musing: Romans 15:5-7

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“Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus, so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice. Therefore welcome one another, just as Christ also welcomed you, to the glory of God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I have an awesome church. It’s filled with great people. They are not perfect people, but they love each other and bear with each other with graciousness and a pretty remarkable spirit of unity. Not every church is like that. But when they are, they bring glory to God in a way that falls right in line with a blessing Paul spoke (well…wrote) over the church in Rome. Let’s take a look at the church’s purpose and one significant way Paul pointed us to be able to fulfill it.

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Morning Musing: Romans 12:17

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“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the principles kids tend to operate by is that turnabout is fair play. If someone has wronged you in some way, it’s only right, it’s only fair, it’s only just that you get to do it back to them in return. This principle lies at the heart of one of the foundational ideas in the history of jurisprudence: an eye for an eye. The idea that we should respond to others in kind has been baked into the cake of humanity from nearly the start. And then came the Christian worldview to turn that idea on its head. Let’s talk about what Paul, borrowing from Jesus, had to say about it to the church in Rome.

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Morning Musing: Romans 11:7-10

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“What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened, as it is written, ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, to this day.’ And David says, ‘Let their table become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and their backs be bent continually.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)

If you’ve had the pleasure of experiencing the journey that is parenthood, you know that one of the biggest ongoing challenges is figuring out how to effectively and adequately discipline children who misbehave. While there are plenty of books out there on the subject, no two children are the same. Some methods work on some children, other methods work on other children. There is no one-size-fits-all approach you can use that will do the trick every single time. That being said, there are some generally transferable approaches worth knowing. One of these is that sometimes the natural consequences are the most effective punishment. The outcome of a particular decision can be its own most effective consequence. This idea plays into what Paul has to say here. Let’s give it a look.

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Morning Musing: Romans 10:14-17

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“How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.’ But not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our message?’ So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things that irks critics of Christianity more than many other things we do is our constantly trying to share our faith. Why are Christians so pushy with their beliefs? Why can’t they just leave other people to believe what they want rather than going around telling them they’re wrong all the time? What arrogance to think they know better than everybody else what’s right. What’s the big deal? What Paul says here has a lot to do with it. Let’s take a look at what he has to say.

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Beautiful Feet

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This was a standalone week between series. So, I took the opportunity to share with the congregation something I’ve been studying in my own devotional time. I’ve been working my way through Romans, and I’ve made it as far as chapter 10. Paul writes about salvation there in terms that are crucial for followers of Jesus today to understand. Let’s explore what he has to say.

Beautiful Feet

Have you ever washed a bottle with a small opening? I’ll admit: I hate doing that. You can use a bottle brush, and those are moderately effective, but I find the best approach is to squirt some soap down into them, fill them a bit, and then shake the mixture up really, really well. As long as the bottle isn’t just completely filthy on the inside, that usually does the trick. The only problem with this method is that you have to rinse it really thoroughly or else the next person who uses it gets a mouthful of soap. You can accomplish this in one of two ways. You can carefully run water down the side of the bottle, shake it up with the clean water, dump it out, and do it again. And again. And again. Until after about 100 repeats the bottle is ready to go. The second approach is a whole lot more wasteful, but also more effective. And faster. You just hold the bottle under the tap, turn it on full, and let the clean water run into the bottle until the water coming out of the bottle is clean. 

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