Remember Joseph and the technicolor dream coat? Joseph was betrayed by his own brothers and sold as a slave in a foreign land. Years later Joseph finds himself sitting at the King of Egypt’s right hand; second in command of that great nation with incredible power to wield as he sees fit. On a seemingly…
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Later in Abraham’s life, after a decades long battle with infertility, God blessed Abraham and his wife Sarah with a son, Isaac. God tested Abraham’s loyalty by instructing Abraham to sacrifice his only son on an altar. Just as Abraham was about to plunge the dagger into the soft flesh of his boy, God stopped…
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Picture yourself sitting in your living room one day. God comes to you and speaks to you audibly and says, “Brian, pack up a few things and leave the Fox Cities. I’m sending you to a country you know nothing about. Its culture, language, food, and people will all be foreign to you. I want…
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The Old Testament ultimately points forward to Jesus Christ. Learning to read the Bible this way is incredibly heart-warming and it stirs me to worship Christ all the more. Let’s take a look at another Old Testament story: Noah and the flood. Do you remember why God sent a flood in the first place? “The Lord saw…
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The Bible is not a series of disconnected stories. It is a single, unified story ultimately about Jesus Christ. In Luke 24, after Jesus’ resurrection, he appears to his disciples and teaches them about this truth. He says to them, “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the…
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In Joshua 1:7-9, God instructs Joshua, the new leader of the people of Israel, twice to “be strong and courageous.” They were about to cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land God had promised Abraham centuries earlier. In the middle of this bookend to “be strong and courageous” is the exhortation to…
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Below are a smattering of interesting reads from around the web. Is Multitasking Preventing Us From Being Good Stewards? “Multitasking” or “switch-tasking” may actually be harmful to our brains! This is a very interesting read from a Christian perspective. Three Ways You Can Serve Teenagers in Your Church They are real people and they are…
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I have been plodding my way through David Mathis’ new book, Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus Through the Spiritual Disciplines. I wholeheartedly recommend it to you (so much so, that I’m giving away two copies…see below). Within his section on Christian fellowship, he has a word to us on the much underrated ministry of listening. Borrowing…
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The gospel is: “Jesus lived the life I should have lived and died the death I should have died.” Salvation comes to those who believe this. A question often asked is: “Now that I’ve ‘crossed over’, what should I do? Now that I believe the gospel, what’s next?” God wants us to make forward progress…
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When I say “affinity-based small groups” do you know what I mean? In the American church today, we organize many of our small groups around certain “affinities.” It could be “young families” or “20-somethings” or “singles” or “retired couples.” Organizing our groups around that can be helpful. I’m thankful for the newly married small group…
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