church ⁽³⁹⁵⁾

Romans 8:1–17; Ephesians 2:11–22 No condemnation. Those are powerful words. We just don’t live them out well. We condemn ourselves for our faults. We condemn others for theirs. What does it mean to be set free? This is not a small question. We often immediately…

Acts 18:24–19:5; 1 Corinthians 3:5–15; 1 Corinthians 3:18–23 (read online ⧉) Continuing from yesterday, Peter and Paul were, and remain, worthy examples to follow. In particular, it is their faithful following of Jesus Christ and their wrestling with the faith for themselves and others. Not…

Matthew 16:13–20; Acts 11:1–18; 2 Corinthians 11:16–30 Peter appears to have been the first one to put it all together. He declared that Jesus was the Messiah. We often look back at Peter, thinking, “Well, that was obvious!” There were actually a number of people…

Deuteronomy 13:1–5; Deuteronomy 18:20–22; Jeremiah 28:1–9 Doomsday prophets are certainly a thing. There are a lot of them, and of varying kinds: epidemiologist (disease), environment, morality, political, sexuality, education, freedom, financial, and so on and on. Doom sells. Doomsayers may also be helpful to guide…

Numbers 14:28–35; Numbers 21:1–4; Numbers 21:21–26; Numbers 21:31–35 (read online ⧉) We often think of the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years in kind of a nebulous way. There was indeed follow the cloud of smoke by day, and fire by night. They…