The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds from Matthew 13:24-30 (The Message)
Jesus told another story. “God’s kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped…..
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Valentine’s Day attracts a lot of superficial talk about love, but it strikes a chord in that we all want love in our lives. Maybe the holiday reminds us of how much we wish – and against all experience to the contrary – expect love to be simple: hearts, flowers, chocolates, and tender I love you’s.
But our lives teach us…..
Passing the anniversary of the pandemic outbreak, with hope shining brightly on the horizon like the advent of spring, it seems like a good time to take stock of where this year of isolation from social norms as brought us.
While grateful for the silver linings, we’d be…..
The gospel writer John narrates Jesus’ encounter with Pilate (John 18:33-38):
33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your…..
When a character in the science fiction movie “The Matrix” needs to make a getaway in a helicopter, she downloads the knowledge of a pilot’s license into her brain and proceeds to take off in the chopper.
As preposterous as this sounds in real life, I wonder if sometimes we are…..
In my daily reading material I hear a lot about gratitude lately. People have even studied it scientifically, observing the positive effect of thankfulness on the biochemistry of the brain. Added to all the anecdotal evidence, it’s an easy sell to say that it’s good for humans to be…..
When we read Exodus’s story of Israel’s flight into the desert, we usually observe the fickleness of the Hebrews – how they praise God one minute and turn around and complain the next. But when we find ourselves in our own spiritual wilderness period, it’s pretty easy to find things to grouse about.
…..
Trust is valuable. We want people we trust and aspire to being trustworthy.
Yet, like so many precious things, it’s fragile. Once broken, it’s challenging to reassemble.
Such a valuable commodity predictably requires delicacy. Yet when we speak of building trust, we forget that it can also be a pretty messy and graceless process.
Let’s…..
How do we cope with the down times in our lives? Where should we turn when we feel spiritually dry, when nothing in our lives feels productive, and circumstances conspire to discourage us from actions we thought were important?
In short, what can we do when we’re “spiritually” depressed?
It’s in these times that I think the…..
One more thought about Easter before we head into Pentecost this Sunday…
Before Jesus ascends into Heaven, He leaves us with a job to do – namely, to spread the gospel.
The first disciples took this commission very seriously, despite having barely a clue what it would involve. In many cases that testimony cost them…..