Thursday, July 28, 2022

Links - Bible Study

This week I offer you a collection of articles on reading or studying the Bible well. I hope you find them useful.

Why I Stopped Calling Parts of the Bible ‘Boring’
When I announced that we were spending the next six months in Jeremiah, I said something I’d heard many Bible teachers say before me: “I know this book is boring. But we’re going to learn something.” I think I was trying to lower the stakes for them—or maybe for me. I was setting the bar low so that if Jeremiah held their interest even a little, that was a success.

But looking back, I regret saying it. It’s not true. Jeremiah isn’t boring. The Bible isn’t boring. Even the parts that people always say are boring are weird, gripping, and awe-inspiring. If we let them, they will absolutely command our attention.

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Nothing but the Truth

pinky promise
Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all ... Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (Matt 5:33, 37).

Truth is a precious commodity. In a world filled with “my truth”, alternative facts, and things that are “true from a certain point of view”, Jesus wants us to be people of Truth.

At first glance, Jesus’ command about oaths is a little puzzling. What’s wrong with making an oath and not breaking it? Jesus’ objection to oaths becomes clearer in another passage:

Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Marriage is a Three-Legged Race

Three-legged race
Lately I’ve been pondering what one piece of advice I’d give my young relatives about marriage.

Boiling it down to one thing is hard. It assumes they know there is no more “your money” and “my money”, only “our money”. You hope they know marriage means you stop dating. Surely they can figure out the answer to “Does this make my butt look big?” is an emphatic “No!”

Now, everyone who’s married could give a dozen tips to the newly married, but no one wants to listen to all that. Is there just one thing that trumps all the rest? Looking back over 22 years of love and laughter and hurt feelings and I’m sorry’s, a common theme does seem to emerge:

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

The Problem of Tares

wheat
How do you know if someone’s a vegan?*

What do you call a vegan who eats steak? Happy, yes, but what’s the name for them? Confused? I know a website called “vegan when sober,” so I guess that offers another option.

We don’t have a word for that because vegans don’t eat meat. A person who calls himself a vegan but eats steak isn’t really a vegan any more than a person who calls himself a Democrat but votes for candidates promising a minimalist government is really a Democrat.

So what do you call a Christian who doesn’t love his neighbor, seeks revenge, and prioritizes money over everything? That’s not a Christian. What do you call a follower of Christ who doesn’t follow Christ? That’s right up there with a square circle.

But people can call themselves Christians no matter what they believe or how they behave.

Jesus warned us about these people: