Follow the Path That Opens
When I came back to Southern California in early 2020, I was a bit sad about many dreams and goals in my life that had either withered or crashed. I had always been big on pursuing goals—I still am. Perhaps you can relate to pursuing dreams and goals—and to their withering or crashing. As I crossed the Arizona-California state line, I clearly sensed the Spirit of God prompt my heart and mind something like this: Stop pursuing your goals. Just follow the path that opens before you. At first, I was a bit wary. But I sensed it was God, so I didn’t make any…
Everyday Previews of Heaven and Hell
Could it be that everything of beauty and joy on earth is in some way a preview of heaven?
How to Love, Part 2: Loving God First
When I went to seminary, I met a lady who loved God more than anyone else I had ever personally known. She honored God’s Word, was led by God’s Spirit, and lived the life I saw written in the New Testament. Then I married her. And we’ve been pastoring together ever since. Matthew 22:37–39 reiterates Old Testament commands and says, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Because Kim loved…
How to Love, Part 1: Agape
I’ve lost count of how many times I see someone accusing Christians, particularly traditional Bible believers, of being “unloving” because they didn’t celebrate or approve of that person’s ideas or lifestyle. Yes, believers are sometimes unloving, judgmental, or prejudiced. And when they are, they need to repent and change. But that’s only a part of the picture. It is becoming critically important that people who identify as followers of Christ define and practice what God’s love / Christ’s love really is. New Testament Greek uses four words for love: Eros—physical love (of which plenty varieties are going around). Philos—emotional love…
The Galatians 3:28 Society
Musuta was a local kid where I lived in Tanzania. His father mistreated him, and my parents welcomed him in. Like any preschool kids, Musuta and I simply became best friends. My mother used this photo on her 1963 Christmas card. I always thought it was natural. In my adulthood I realized how in-your-face it was at the time. How hierarchical and divided we humans have made the world. And someone somewhere will always need to fight for equality and for change in attitudes. But the One who created us still has by far the best, and only universal, approach…
