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Thoughts From N.T. Wright

Dear Friends, Today’s post is by the British New Testament scholar, Pauline theologian, and Anglican bishop, N. T. Wright. It deals with two common Christian prayers – the Lord’s Prayer and the Tax Collector’s Prayer in Luke 18 (sometimes called the ‘Mercy Prayer” or the “Jesus Prayer”). These two excerpts are taken from Wright’s book, “Simply Christian.” It’s a fresh way of looking at two well-known prayers. Enjoy. “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God have mercy on me, a sinner.’” The Lord’s Prayer isn’t the only prayer that has formed the basis of deep and rich traditions of Christian praying. There are other prayers which have been used in similar ways through the years, either as a pattern or as something to repeat in order to go down deeper into the presence of the God we know in Jesus. Perhaps the best known of these… is the ‘Jesus Prayer’: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have m
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Thoughts From Martin Copenhaver

Dear Friends, It is so important, in regard to a healthy prayer life, that we have an intimate relationship with God. Jesus had that and modeled it to us by sharing with us his preferred name for God – Abba. It leads me to ask: “How do you address God in prayer?” It does make a difference. Yet, interestingly, I have found over the years that many people struggle with intimacy with God, often because they had no intimate relationship with their own earthly dad or parental figure – something Martin Luther struggled with. Today’s selection offers us insight into this very important issue. It is from Martin Copenhaver, from his devotional “The Gospel in Miniature.” I pray his words might be a first step on the road to healing for those who lack intimacy with, "Our Father who art in heaven..." Enjoy. “When we cry “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit, that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs w
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Thoughts From John Bunyan

Jeff Evans Dear Friends, There are some books written years ago which one can read today and still feel the warmth of the author’s affection for Christ. John Bunyan’s writings are that way. In fact, he was so captivated by Jesus, that he could not stop speaking about him in public places, which got him shut up in an English jail for 12 years. He could have walked out of that jail at any time if he had simply promised (and followed through on that promise) not to speak about Jesus (preach) in public places. Bunyan is best known for his phenomenally popular allegory on the Christian life entitled, “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Yet, he wrote many other very helpful works as well, including, “The Intercession of Christ” – from which today’s selection comes. As you read, I believe you will also sense the passion, gratitude, and warmth of his love for Jesus coming through so clearly. May that same warmth of affection for Jesus blow over your heart as well. Enjoy. “Christ is not only
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Thoughts From Heather Clark

Dear Friends, Today’s “thought” comes from a friend who attended my church and Bible studies in Honduras. Her name is Heather Clark. She is both a medical doctor and a Christian Life and Mindset Coach who transparently confesses, “As a Christian physician who has survived 3 episodes of major depression, I know how bleak the world can look when consumed by "not good enough," negative and anxious thoughts.” Her ministry goal is to help women find more joy in their faith and life. If you would like to check out her ministry, I include a link to her website at Christian Coaching Center, LLC Today’s selection is for anyone (male or female!) who struggles from having accepted as biblical a common saying that’s not! It’s one of a series of posts that debunks phrases commonly thought to be biblical because people in churches repeat them so often. Enjoy. That’s not in the Bible…. “Today’s statement: ‘God won’t give you more than you can handle.’ Let’s go to 2 Corinthians 1:8-9. ‘W
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Thoughts From Ron Jenson

Dear Friends, As a pastor one of the things I‘ve discovered is that people often pull away from the church when they go through difficult times, which seems very counter-intuitive to me. Our times of difficulty are the times when we need the support of our brothers and sisters most. Why, then, would we pull away from our source of help when we need it most? I’ve found the same to be true with God. Many people pull away from the Lord when they need him most. Not all people, of course, since some are driven to God by hard times. Yet, there are a good number of others who feel detached from God and pull away in those hard times when they need him most. The following story is simply one example of a leader in ministry who initially did that, before learning through his struggle that it was not a good policy. This selection comes from a book entitled, “How to Succeed the Biblical Way” by Ron Jenson, former president of the International Sch
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Thoughts on the Existence of God

Dear Friends, I am often asked, “How can we know God exists?” The other question I have been asked in conjunction with that is, “If God exists, has he always existed? And if so, where did He come from?” Likewise, “If He always existed, what did He do for all that time before He created anything? After all, even if one did happen to believe the universe is millions or billions of years old, God would still have existed for infinite ages before that! And no, I am not so presumptuous that I think I can offer a viable answer to all those questions in a short 5-6 paragraphs of text! I know better. But I will give you (those who care enough to think about it) some short answers I have given to people who have asked me, simply to get them to ponder the reality and existence of the God we Christian’s call “I AM” – a name which is nothing more than the Hebrew verb “to be." God’s self-given name is, “I AM,” because He is the uncreated God who is, and always has been, and ever will be. A
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Thoughts From Dr. Mark Hamby

Dear Friends, Today I am simply sending you a link to a message I listened to yesterday after a friend passed it along to me. She did that because it related to a part of the message I preached this past Sunday from Acts 9:19b-25. It was a message in which I suggested (from the text, and pointing to the example of Saul himself, soon to be the apostle Paul) that we should not try to keep newly converted people from sharing about their faith encounter with Jesus until they have read more, or studied more, or are more “qualified” to speak. The title of my message was: “Refusing to Wait! Sharing What We Know, With Those We Know, Without Waiting Until We Know it All.” I would earnestly encourage everyone to take the 10 minutes it requires to listen to this recounting of a true story presented honestly, transparently, and with humor, even though it is serious. I dare say you will not be disappointed. It is an episode from Dr. Mark Hamby’s, “Fastened Like Nails” podcast (and despite
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