Matthew 22: 1-10 A California scientist has computed that the average human being eats 16 times his or her weight in an average year, while a horse eats only eight times its weight. This all seems to prove that if you want to lose weight, you should eat like a horse. This being somewhat believable,…
Category: Jesus
The Harvest Time Has Come
Matthew 21: 33-46 There were hard times in Palestine when Jesus told this story. Hard times like when a woman in a grocery store bent over to reach some apples. Her back gave out, she froze in position, and shrieked in pain. Another shopper leaned over and with empathy in her voice said, “If you…
Ahead of Us
Matthew 21: 23-32 The pastor announced during worship there would be a meeting of the board following the service. After the benediction the group gathered for the called meeting. All looked confused when a visitor who never attended their church before joined them. “My friend,” asked the pastor, “did you understand that this is a…
God Is Generous
“Let’s celebrate. The dead ARE alive, the lost ARE found. We ALL get paid the same wage. No one is left out. No one is forgotten. The kingdom of heaven is like this.”
What Would God Do?
“The gospel story plays out with our sinless Lord dying at crucifixion, dying as a sinner, a law breaker and blasphemer, for our sakes, atoning for all sin for all time. We then plead for mercy throughout the ages, and our God forgives. Time after time after time. Century after century. Millennia after millennia.”
Don’t Lose Them
“The crux of it all remains verse fourteen: “SO IT IS NOT THE WILL OF YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN THAT ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES SHOULD BE LOST.” — NO SEPARATION. Establishing, maintaining and reconciling relationships between God and God’s people.”
From a Rock to a Block
Matthew 16: 21-28 Saint Peter and Satan were having an argument one day about baseball. With a beguiling leer, Satan proposed a game to be played on neutral grounds between a select team from the heavenly host and his own hand-picked Hades boys. “very well,” the gatekeeper of the Celestial City agreed. “But you realize,…
Who Are You?
Matthew 16: 13-20 Little Brandon Smith had just been put to bed for the 22nd time, and his mother’s patience was wearing thin. “If I hear you call ‘Mom’ one more time, you’ll be punished,” she warned him sternly. For a while it was quiet, and then a small voice called from the top of…
He Didn’t Go to Them
“I am ruined because of what I’ve experienced, and what I’ve witnessed. It is our business to always instill hope in the lives of those who are hurting. Our God is able. Our God is great, and our God is always near to those who ask, seek and knock.”
But Peter Wasn’t Afraid
Peter’s doubt became more dominant in the moment than Peter’s faith in Jesus. The strong wind and battering waves became more real than Jesus. The physical realities of gravity and weight, wind and water, became more real than their Lord defying all physical realities and telling Peter to “Come out to me.”
Psalm 102 in The Message 