I suspect all who either follow Jesus or are intrigued with him know he yearns for behavioral change in his people. But how should we respond when we fail? What does that say about our faith?
Read MoreExulting in Guilt
I don’t get sin. Oh, I do it. And I like the classic definition of missing the mark. Not hitting the center of the target may not please God, but it doesn’t end the world. So why does God view sin as so…well, sinful? Worthy of death? Separation? He’s always required a life for us to gain forgiveness, either the earlier annual animal sacrifice, or that of his Son, Jesus. He doesn’t…
Read More
Image from Immanuel Bible Church
The Glory of Guilt
Pain from a broken leg keeps us from doing more damage to the injury. So we limp to see a doc and get it casted to enable healing. We don’t all break our legs, but we do sin. Perhaps, just wondering, but does guilt serve a similar role spiritually for those times?
Read More
image by Andrea Rebello
Wipe Out--Ourselves
Back in high school, until one of us had a car, we’d hitchhike from Long Beach to Huntington Beach, also known as Surf City. South of the pier between guard stations 3 and 5 provided some of the best body surfing waves, so we’d swim to the outer break and merge with the water to catch one that would drive us shoreward until our bellies scraped the sand. Yeah, sometimes we’d target pretty girls standing in the shallow water, to come close enough to prompt their pretend-to-be-afraid screams. Sometimes we’d...
Read More
Sisters' Cafe
Fresh Cliches
Today in worship I wondered about some clichés that need to be fresh. Sunday: the first day of the week. A chance to get lost in worship, to acknowledge our shortcomings, to gain forgiveness. To get a fresh start. So true it’s become a cliché. But Sunday’s not enough.
Read More
Photo courtesy of WakingPhotoLife