Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
How’s our faith? Does it work? Or is it a work in progress? A key: faith starts with God, not with us. The story of the “rich young ruler” helps here. The man asked Jesus about heaven. Was his pristine religious life enough to gain eternal life? Jesus answered by first asking him about his …
Read More A Trustworthy GodHere’s a key for sound spiritual health: give God thanks in everything. Always. Tell him you recognize how good and faithful he is. Even in hard times. This invitation is striking—a real reach. Yet it’s also biblical, a pathway of faith, and a sign of Christ’s presence in us. Jesus, by his Spirit, works in …
Read More Spirituality 101Grocery stores can have bad moments. Think of a bad orange in a produce bin. Part of the skin is collapsing into a grey-green paste, with a white ring spreading around it. A good orange, on the other hand, is a joy. Years ago I volunteered on an Israeli kibbutz for six months to study …
Read More AbidingJames reminds us of capsized values. “…you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” [James 4:14-15]. He’s right. We usually …
Read More “Instead”This is a follow up to our five posts on “believing” in John’s gospel. What else can we learn? How, for instance, do strong thematic strands that accompany “believing”—such as love, grace, light, life, truth, glory, and more—fit together? This question, never fully answered, invites readers to keep reading reflectively. Seeing Jesus as divine is …
Read More Jesus on Believing – an AfterwordThis is the last of five posts on John’s theme of “believe” in his gospel. We took up the topic because of John’s stated aim—“Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the …
Read More Jesus on Believing, 5 of 5This is the fourth of five posts about the use of “believe” in John’s gospel. Jesus, before his crucifixion, called on his eleven disciples to be braced for what was coming. “Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me” [John 14:1]. To believe in one is to believe in …
Read More Jesus on Believing, 4 of 5In this, the third of five posts on believing in John’s gospel, we turn to Jesus healing the blind beggar in chapter nine. The blind man lacked any sense of meaningful life until he met Jesus. After being born blind he was relegated to social invisibility—left to exist through pity. He still had parents but …
Read More Jesus on Believing, 3 of 5This is the second of five reflections on John’s gospel. John featured Jesus’ purpose to invite people to “believe” and have eternal life (John 20:31). In this post we look at the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 2:23 to 3:36. Verse 2:23—“many believed in his [Jesus’] name”—seems a hopeful start but, “Jesus on …
Read More Jesus on Believing, 2 of 5All Scriptures are “God breathed”—given by God to change us (2 Tim. 3:16). So, for anyone ready for spiritual formation, try this: read all of John’s gospel in a single sitting. With a print Bible to mark-up. You can read the whole in three hours or less. Pick a quiet time and place. Maybe away …
Read More Jesus on Believing, 1 of 5