Have you heard of Fundamental Attribution Error? In lay terms, when other people screw up, we assign blame (cause) to a character defect in them – laziness, carelessness, stupidity. However, when we screw up, we tend to see the role circumstances played in our misstep. My alarm didn’t go off. ...
What does “Resurrection” mean to you? For some, it is that 1st Easter Sunday. Jesus’ death & resurrection forever changed the world. For others, it’s when we’re in heaven or Jesus returns. A final resurrection is coming along with Judgment Day. Both answers are correct, but both answers are also ...
Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Technically, Jesus does not say “money” although money is very appropriate because money ...
I have an engineering degree. I was a bad engineer, so I got into ministry. I learned people are more complicated than any engineering problem. I certainly am. Jesus tells a Parable about 4 soils, representing 4 kinds of people. 4 different hearts with the potential for faith, hope & ...
A popular definition of hypocrisy is a variation on the theme of “do as I say but not as I do.” Simply put, people who say one thing and do another. This is not how Jesus presents hypocrisy in The Sermon on the Mount. For Jesus, hypocrites do the right ...
The Mission Church in Townsend, DE will dissolve next year. Lots of factors led to this fate: pastoral mistakes, cultural headwinds, and more. I will discuss these soon, but not yet. It is more important we love people well. God is Love. Love of God and Neighbor (friend & foe) ...
Jesus enters Jerusalem alongside a frenzied crowd full of excitement. Palm Sunday is a parade, but it’s not the Macy’s parade with 2-story balloons of Elmo & Clifford. Palm Sunday feels like a coronation. But it’s not like the crowning of King Charles where everything was scripted according to centuries ...
The Beatitudes in Matthew 5 begin … Blessed are the poor in spirit Blessed are those who mourn Blessed are the meek This is not the wisdom proclaimed by our secular age. I remember NT Wright saying during the COVID pandemic the church has forgotten how to lament. To lament ...
Three summary statements from BibleProject about peacemaking and the Kingdom of God. “When God’s Kingdom arrives in full one day, it will bring peace between all people. And so anyone entering God’s Kingdom now is called to work as a peacemaker. That means entering into conflicts and working creatively to ...
Were you taught Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible (Genesis-Deuteronomy)? I was. This is funny. Numbers 12:3 says, “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.” Do you think the “meekest” man on earth would say ...