Posts with the category “elemental-season-2”

Psalm 13:2  “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts  and every day have sorrow in my heart?” If you have found this series difficult, I have a  Bible character for you to consider. Heard in children...  Read More

1 Corinthians 5:20 “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as  though God were making His appeal through  us.” So, I’ve been thinking. If human beings are  so much better off living in a community  of...  Read More

John 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are My  disciples, if you love one another.” There is something genuinely wonderful  about capping our rebuild with the umbrella  of love. What is more i...  Read More

“Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.  Bright copper kettles and warm woolen  mittens. Brown paper packages tied up  with strings. These are a few of my favorite  things.” —The Sound of Music H...  Read More

1 John 4:8  “God is Love.” I’m not a huge puzzle guy, but there is one thing  I have learned about putting them together. The picture on the box is critical. I can’t fathom  the evil required to wrap ...  Read More

“Then He chose twelve of them to be His  apostles, so that they could be with Him.” Mark 3:14One of Jesus’ most common opening lines is,  “Follow me.” Not, “Act like me. Change your  behavior. Start b...  Read More

The following is a guide to help facilitate discussion. Feel free to add or subtract or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things....  Read More

Matthew 10:40  “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes Me…” Caryl Lynn and I always wanted children.  So over eight years, we had three and our lives filled with joy. We were young, and there were diapers a...  Read More

Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill  the law of Christ.” I’m fascinated by Jesus’ healing of the paralytic  man in Mark 2:1-8. He obviously can’t get to  Jesus by himself. Four f...  Read More

Proverbs 27:17 “Just as iron sharpens iron, friends sharpen  the minds of one another.” We’ve identified significant rebuilding  blocks as we sifted through our thinking  of the past. First, there’s J...  Read More

Luke 22:20 “…after the supper he took the cup, saying,  ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood,  which is poured out for you.’” So, what is in this “cup of God’s wrath,” and  who made it? We have a...  Read More

Hosea 11:8 “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can  I let you go, O Israel?” There are two cups highlighted in the New  Testament. The second one is called “the  cup of God’s wrath.” You’ll remembe...  Read More

Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” There are many things I treasure about having grown up...  Read More

The following is a guide to help facilitate discussion. Feel free to add or subtract or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things....  Read More

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1One of the complaints I occasionally hear about God is...  Read More

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in…” Revelation 3:20Jesus and I agree that freedom is essential. It’s elemental. Apologies if I’ve made...  Read More

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the o...  Read More

“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed…” Luke 17:6I’m amused by passages of scripture that contain an apparent contradiction. In the eighth chapter of his book, John told the story of a woman e...  Read More

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man.” Ecclesiastes 12:13Hey, writer of Ecclesiastes… What is this you...  Read More

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.” John 3:8One day at Andrews University, I passed by the football field on the way...  Read More

The following is a guide to help facilitate discussion. Feel free to add or subtract or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things....  Read More

“Now all we can see of God is like a cloudy picture in a mirror. Later we will see him face to face.” 1 Corinthians 13:12I love my wife. More impressive? She loves me. I’m still a tiny bit surprised w...  Read More

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” Psalm 42:1 You survived the first two rules: 1) I’m wrong about stuff, and 2) I don’t know which stuff. Now, let’s address r...  Read More

“From out of a storm, the LORD said to Job: Why do you talk so much when you know so little?”  Job 38:1-2Agnosticism [ag-nos-tuh-siz-uhm]The belief that the answers to the basic questions of existence...  Read More

“God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.” Luke 18:11Timeout. I have an honest question. Who gets to decide what it means to be a C...  Read More

“My people…have forsaken Me, the spring of living water…” Jeremiah 2:13It’s a well-known story with at least one missed detail. Maybe you never overlooked it. But for the longest time, I did.Another s...  Read More

“…we had hoped He was the one…” Luke 24:21Everybody’s theology is just one good crucifixion away from collapse.We don’t know much about these two men except one of their names and the town where they ...  Read More

INTRODUCTIONThe following is a guide to help facilitate discussion. Feel free to add or subtract or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.OPENShare a ...  Read More

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27Jesus was a deconstructionist. He reorganized culture, reinterpreted scripture, and broke the rules. Nowhere is this more evident than...  Read More

“[Jesus] is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:17Every once in a while, I field concerned questions about how much focus a faith community places on Jesus. It usuall...  Read More

“…choose for yourselves this day… But as for me…” Joshua 24:15Let’s admit something. As we start reconstruction by grabbing a meaningful brick and looking for a foundational keystone, we are not equal...  Read More

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105I love this verse of scripture. But my reasons have changed over time. Initially, I read this as a promise of certainty and clari...  Read More

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9Regularly, throughout my life, I have prayed for clarity. I could boldly...  Read More

Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God…”Be still. Calm down. Exercise some patience—all words we need to hear at this point in the journey. The chaos of deconstruction causes most of us to squi...  Read More

We have just come off a tricky series regarding the deconstruction of our faith. So it might behoove us to spend a little time in Scripture, studying from some books that dealt with conflict, unity, a...  Read More