The Healing Begins At Home There are few places more personal than our homes. This is where life unfolds. The home is where we eat, rest, laugh, argue, pray, and carry our burdens. It is where we are most ourselves. When someone is coming over, we usually take a moment to straighten things up. Not... Continue Reading →
The Call, The Catch, The Commission
When God Starts in the Margins Let me begin with a question: If you were going to launch a movement to transform and redeem the world, where would you start? It is natural to think in terms of power, visibility, and influence. Our minds go to capitals, capitals of religion (Jerusalem), of politics (Rome), of... Continue Reading →
The Wedding at Cana
I. A Wedding in Cana (John 2:1–2) John begins this account with what seems like a simple phrase: “On the third day...” (John 2:1). At first glance, it might appear to be nothing more than a chronological note. However, “the third day” recalls the resurrection, the climactic moment when Jesus rose from the grave, revealing... Continue Reading →
The Childhood of Jesus
I. Jesus’ Growth in Nazareth (Luke 2:39–40) There is a kind of mystery in the years that pass between Jesus' infancy and His public ministry. The Gospels give us snapshots of His birth, then again when He’s twelve, and then the curtain lifts in full in His thirties. We might be tempted to call those... Continue Reading →
Life In The Valley
Introduction: Many years ago, the great preacher Charles Spurgeon, often called the "Prince of Preachers," wrote these words: “I could say with Job, ‘My soul chooseth strangling rather than life.’ I could readily enough have laid violent hands upon myself to escape from my misery of spirit.” Now, this was not a man who lacked... Continue Reading →