They named it “The Sermon on The Mount” neither title is accurate. It was more of a mound or large hill than a mountain and it certainly was more than just another sermon to be listened to and rehashed over dinner. This was God in human flesh here to reestablish a relationship between Himself and man and to reveal the secrets to real living. He said, “I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” Evidently that abundant life is not something bestowed on us automatically. It comes when we follow certain principles and attain certain attitudes in our lives.
Read MoreRecently I have had conversations with two very intelligent millennials who claimed to be atheist. In both instances, we were engaged in an extended conversation that was not about religion at all. In both cases I was asked why I believed there was a God. They seemed to accept me as a fairly intelligent person and could not understand how I could believe in God and all of the things that seemed to go along with that belief like seven-day creation and a literal flood.
Read MoreHis schedule was extremely tight. He only had three years to transform the world. His task was to reveal the true nature and love of God to a world that had rejected and missed every attempt at that task since man first walked on the earth. Big task. Impossible task. And only three years?
Read MoreI have always had a struggle with story of Hosea and Gomer. Why would God ask Hosea to marry what the King James version calls a Wonton woman? Then I read Frederick Buechner’s wonderful rendition of the story found in his book Peculiar Treasures.
Read MoreJesus was strolling out to the boat to join His disciples. Walking on the water seemed to be the logical way to get there but Peter got all excited and ask if he could do so as well and the story goes that he made it for a moment, then realized what he was doing and began to sink. The question is, did Jesus stop loving or accepting Peter when his faith wavered and he began to sink?
Read MoreSometimes I think God must have a sense of humor. Maybe He even decides to call our bluff on occasion. If you continue to follow these blogs you will discover that the Lord’s Prayer is very dear to me and actually dominates my own meager prayer life...
Read MoreMy imagination seems to run wild when I think of the man who ran the Inn the night Jesus was born. I think of him going to bed that night absolutely worn out but with a warm pride at how much business he had done in the last weeks or months. The emperor had declared that everyone
Read MoreI woke up one August morning realizing that I was now the pastor of the Baptist church in the town where I had graduated from college the previous May. I had been thrown into the deep end of the pool before I had any time to learn how to swim. I knew very little about a whole lot. I often say that the secret of my success...
Read MoreThere is an old joke that tells of three blind men who were healed by Jesus meeting. One man said, “He touched my eyes and I could see.” The second man said, “He put mud on my eyes and I could see.” The third man said, “He spit in my eyes and I could see.” That day saw the birth of three denominations, the touch-ites, the mud-ites, and the spit-ites.
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