Friends,
Welcome back!
I hope you are challenged by this post.
Please continue to change your world.
Bob
Link to a previous post on my blog.
Bible Study: Big men don’t run. Except when they really want to help someone.
“Before Jesus talked about lost things that were found he balanced the picture of the great open heavenly feast with the costs of discipleship. All are invited but it demands all you have. (Luke 14:12-35)
Martin Luther summed up the balance when he said, “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.”
To follow Jesus takes all of you. You are often out of place in this world. Family, friends, and people in general don’t understand what you are doing
Jesus told stories about a God who looks for the lost when they are far from him. He talked about the human joy of finding a lost animal or coin. He said that the joy in heaven was far greater. (Luke 15:1-10)”
Links to things I’ve read recently.
How Christians Can Overcome Polarization and Engage in Culture with Civility
“Everyone has suggestions for moving forward through the sludge of cultural animus. I won’t claim that my suggestion is the best way or the only way; rather, it is a component of what I think we need as a civilization—a serious commitment to an open and honest airing of viewpoints that do not fit neatly into our culture-destroying social media and cable-news boxes. Allow me to specify.”
What Can We Do to Care for and Honor the Elderly in Our Churches?
“This is an absolutely vital consideration for every Christian. It will test, I believe, whether we truly are a whole-life pro-life community in a way that we have not been tested before because we’re looking at a phenomenon called the “graying of America.” What’s happening is that in a typical population, you would experience a pyramid when it comes to age distribution. You have a few people who are elderly at the top and a lot of young people as you go down. But what we’re finding is called the rectangularization of that distribution. By the year 2035 in the United States, it’s predicted that there will be more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18.”
How to Forgive a Loved One After Their Death
“When someone we love passes away, we expect to feel sadness over our loss. But as we move further along in our grief, we may not anticipate the anger some memories trigger. Those who faced their disappointments while the person was alive may not feel this as much. But those who tried to “believe the best” or covered their hurts with excuses may find themselves wrestling with the pain of past wrongs.
That happened in my family. Those who made excuses for a family member’s actions struggled after his death when they ran into painful memories. Others who’d acknowledged and grieved those hurts while he was alive didn’t carry the same degree of frustration.”
From Paradise Lost to Paradise Restored
“What was Eden? A garden, yes. But more deeply, the first temple. It didn’t have walls; but it was a place where the divine and the human met, where the immortal and the mortal intersected. God and man enjoyed unbroken fellowship. Indeed, God put Adam in the garden and told him to “work it and keep it”—innocuous-sounding English verbs, but in fact the very two verbs with which the priest was instructed to care for the tabernacle, working it and keeping it (Num. 3:7–8; 8:25–26; 18:5–6; 1 Chron. 23:32; Ezek. 44:14.). In other words, Adam was the first priest—or to put it the other way around, all Israel’s priests were picking up where Adam left off, caring for a place where God could meet with people.”
7 Keys for Thriving in Lifelong Ministry
“At the starting line of an Olympic race, nothing looks particularly dramatic. The athletes stand still. The crowd waits. The runners’ muscles are motionless. The track lies open. Then the signal sounds, and in a matter of seconds the race is over. To the spectator, it may seem almost natural: a brief flash of speed followed by applause. But those few seconds are never merely a few seconds. They’re the visible tip of years hidden from public view.
Behind that moment lie thousands of hours of training. Victory isn’t won merely by speed on race day; it’s won through long obedience before the race ever begins. If you’re a believer, you’re in a daunting spiritual race with eternal consequences.
How much truer is this of the pastor, who also has the weighty task of shepherding other believers? If we want to avoid the all-too-common pitfalls of burnout, scandal, and disillusionment, we must follow seven keys to pastoral perseverance rooted in Scripture and biblical wisdom.”
Help Your Children Understand AI’s Place: Three Foundational Truths for AI Use
“AI is an amazing tool. As a teacher, I have used it to compile research, format communications, and spark creative output and interaction for students. It has saved me hours and headaches creating review games and practice standardized tests. However, as a parent and a teacher, I have an important, overarching concern about AI. I regularly witness AI strangle creativity and critical thinking skills.
God reveals himself to be a thinking, speaking, and creating God. He made us in his image and calls us to use his gifts to grow in likeness to him. AI isn’t inherently evil. On the contrary, this human creation is a testament to the way God has made us. AI itself is a product of the knowledge and creativity he has called us to pursue. However, creations make terrible masters, and any tool can be destructive if misused. The greatest danger of AI is if our children—or we—sacrifice our minds to the simplicity and ease of our own creation.”
Finding Hope at Life’s Dead Ends
“Have you ever reached a dead end — a situation beyond your control, when your dreams crumble, hopes fade, and others tell you to give up? Sometimes it takes one word to bring everything to a halt. Words like cancer, divorce, bankruptcy, infertility, and unemploymentcan make the future seem impossible.
There is no such thing as hopelessness when Jesus is present and has the last word!
Mark 5 tells the story of Jairus, a respected synagogue ruler whose twelve-year-old daughter was dying. He brought his desperate situation to Jesus, only to face an agonizing delay and the devastating news that his daughter had died. Despite all this, this story teaches us how to place our dead ends into the hands of the living Savior.”
How the Book of Ruth Points Us to Christ
“The book of Judges ended by stating the crisis in Israel: There is no king. The book of Ruth shows us how God is working behind the scenes, in the worst of circumstances and with the most unlikely people, to bring into the world a king for his people. The genealogy that begins at the end of Ruth will continue in Matthew 1, showing us the greater Son of Ruth and the greater kinsman-redeemer: Jesus Christ.”
Biblical Wisdom On When To Say Yes
“It wasn’t long after I moved to New York City that I was commuting home from a day at the Redeemer offices and happened to be in the same subway car with one of our assistant pastors. I don’t know how the conversation began, but I remember both of us making comments about how busy our lives felt. I was a recent college graduate, single, and navigating life with a full-time job in a big city. He was a pastor, husband, and father of young children. Both of us felt overwhelmed but for very different reasons. I do not remember much of that conversation except for a simple statement he made that has remained with me for many years: “Sometimes we have to say no to a good thing to say yes to a better thing. Every time we say yes to something, we are saying no to something else.” He probably wasn’t thinking he was making a revolutionary statement to me, but to a young girl figuring out time, boundaries, and life out of college, the statement changed much of my perspective.”
“In the exciting years of early adulthood, your trajectory can feel like it’s up and to the right—a degree, a new job, a promotion, a new opportunity. Life seems ever-expanding in those early years of work, marriage, and child-rearing.
But at the outset of midlife, the arc begins to bend. The possibilities shrink. There’s a simmering uneasiness, an angst at feeling hemmed in by the decisions that have brought you to this point. Limitations show up, closing in on you, causing your early ambitions and aspirations in your career or ministry to bump up against the ceiling of reality.”
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