Caring
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Old Testament, Amos 6:1-7 Amos 6:1-7 Well, back to Amos. Just last week our Old Testament musings caused us to stop in the text of this “Trumpet of Yahweh,” as...
Valued
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, Luke 16:1-15 Luke 16:1-15 There’s a lot of the “world” in our gospel text this week. Just lately I have spoken to several in my daily circles about how I see...
Everybody!
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Epistle, 1 Timothy 2:1-15 1 Timothy 2:1-15 When Paul pens words to Timothy, I really want to hone in on what we find, each line, each paragraph. Paul’s relationship with Timothy is a special one-he addresses the younger...
People are Treasure
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Old Testament, Amos 8:4-7 Amos 8:4-7 Tucked back in the folds of the Old Testament prophets are those smaller writings that we label as “the minor prophets.” As I have written several...
Reaching
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, Luke 15:1-10 Luke 15:1-10 Most of us know the stories told by the Savior in Luke 15. They’re about lost stuff being found. Sheep, coins, and persons; lost and found. They are marvelous. Even on the...
Strength and Mercy
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Epistle, 1 Timothy 1:12-17 1 Timothy 1:12-17 Most of us, as we age, tend to notice that there are certain things that don’t come as easily as they used to. It can be physical weakness or mental focus, a...
Shepherd
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Old Testament, Ezekiel 34:11-24 Ezekiel 34:11-24 Any discussion of shepherds, sheep, wolves and the like are loaded in the Bible. What do I mean? Well, early on God himself portrays himself as a shepherd of his...
No Rivals
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, Luke 14:25-35 Luke 14:25-35 One of my favorite pastor/writers is A. W. Tozer. Tozer pastored in the middle of the 20th century both in America and Canada and was a favorite among many American evangelicals. Favorite to some, but...
Fruit
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Epistle, Philemon 1-21 Philemon 1-21 Probably no New Testament letter is as unfamiliar to Bible readers as the little book of Philemon. It is a letter from Paul, imprisoned, now as an old man for preaching the gospel of our Lord...
Movement of the Heart
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Old Testament, Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Pretty simple stuff here from dear old Moses. God is life. There are no viable options. But here is something not so simple. Life, or the attempts at life...
