Q – With all the starvation and poverty in the world, how are Christ’s followers to live? Is it wrong to be rich in light of the needs that exist? What about when Jesus says it’s impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Read the rest of this entry »

James 4:1-4 (NIV)
¹ What causes fights (wars) and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires (used 5 times, always negative, lust), that battle within you? ² You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. ⁴ You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

Today is sanctity of life Sunday and its interesting, I think, that this Sunday follows our discussion last week of sin. It was my goal last week to expand our view of sin. As one might expect, our tendency is to understand sin as the overt, occasional mistake. The bad things we do once in a while. That outburst in word or deed that takes place when I deviate from my normal controlled behavior – or something like that. Defining sin that way is sin. Read the rest of this entry »

Romans 3:25-26, “justice and the death of Jesus” [Listen]

Good Friday

There are many ways to look at the death of Jesus. Scripture is full of different reasons for why Jesus died. Read the rest of this entry »

Jeremiah 22:3, “Pursuing Justice: racial harmony” [Listen]

Prejudice and racism stands against God’s plan for those who would follow Jesus. We spit in God’s face when we demean someone made in God’s image. Read the rest of this entry »

Deuteronomy 10:14-19, “Pursuing Justice: defending the weak” [Listen]

Today is “Sanctity of Life Sunday”. Many set this day aside to focus on the value of human life – we are going to do that. Next Sunday we are going to talk about “racial reconciliation” and our tendency to devalue God when we devalue the image of God through racism and prejudice. While there are many ways to approach these topics, I’d like to look at them through the concept of “justice”. Read the rest of this entry »