Jesus lays out an impossible standard in the extension of forgiveness to others, to which the Apostles essentially reply “There in no way we can run the program you’re laying out here, INCREASE OUR FAITH!” Jesus then responds to that request by telling us very graphically, that it is not more faith [...]
Consider the insatiable lust with which a person pursues the things of the world – pride, power, attention, entertainment, all manner of fleshly pleasures. Imagine a human being whose entire life is spent chasing after the desires of the flesh. Ya’ got that in your mind’s eye? Alright. Now imagine taking such [...]
This week in Luke 16, we have a very perplexing story in the parable of the shrewd manager, which Christ then uses to lower the boom and bring forth a stinging indictment against His own blood bought children. He tells us that unbelievers are more resolute and aggressive in pursuing their temporal [...]
Religion says: I obey; therefore, I am accepted. The Gospel says: Because I am accepted, therefore I obey. The religious person obeys in order to gain acceptance - the Gospel believing person obeys because they are already accepted. Two people operating on these 2 very opposite principles will sit right next to [...]
What absolutely scandalized the Jewish religious leaders in Luke Chapter 15, is that Jesus not only received those they considered to be an abomination before God, but that He actively went out of His way to pursue them and seek them. Perhaps we’ve satisfied ourselves that we’ve graduated to the level of [...]
With the multitudes so quick to assert that “All roads lead to God” - we might want to consider agreeing with and then qualifying that statement. All roads lead to God alright... One road leads to Him as Savior, and all the other roads lead to Him as Judge. This week in [...]
In this hyper-spiritualizing church culture we find ourselves living in, we often struggle with questions concerning the misfortune that comes our way. The Jews that Christ addresses in Chapter 13, would link absolutely every calamity in life to some spiritual cause, and Jesus came along and reminded them that we simply live [...]
Now we’ve all seen pictures of meek and mild Jesus beside a crib with his hand on a sleeping baby, we’ve seen pictures of Jesus with children laughing upon his lap, we’ve seen pictures of Jesus holding little lambs, and we’ve seen pictures of Jesus knocking on doors and hanging on a [...]
