1 Corinthians 3:18-4:5 Remember all the way back to yesterday? For some of us, this isn’t as ridiculous of a question as it seems! Yesterday, the Lord was teaching us that we are His holy Temple and His Church: the people that He inhabits through His Holy Spirit. Because this is who we are, God works through us to redeem the world and to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Paul extends his teaching at the beginning of Chapter 4, when... Read more
What more terrifyingly ecstatic words could be uttered than these: "You are the Temple of God"? Read more
Hidden in Paul’s argument is one of the secrets of the spiritual life. Read more
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (verse 31.) In the second half of I Corinthians 1, St. Paul gives us the other side of God’s grace, which is our humility. So that we don’t take God’s good gifts and claim that we have gotten them for ourselves, Paul makes sure that we are reminded of our humility before God. The fact is that God has chosen us; God has taken the foolish things and... Read more
The antidote to pride and ingratitude is to praise God and thank Him for His gracious gifts. Read more
Christ’s School of Suffering, the discipline of our heavenly Father, works like this: God allows, even brings, suffering into your life as a means of disciplining you or training you. Read more
Mark 10:1-16 “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” These are very strong words that Jesus has spoken, and we must take them seriously. Knowing that God has created marriage and that He hates divorce, we should take Jesus’ words very seriously. I don’t intend to enter into an argument about the exceptions to what seems to be an absolute statement by Jesus... Read more
Mark 9:38-50 Hell! No, I’m not saying this as a curse but as a reminder of this terrible place. Hell is an idea that has been tamed. The fact that we can so easily say “Hell!” as a curse, and not as an exclamation about the place of God’s judgment, is an indicator that our society doesn’t take Hell seriously. I’m sure you’ve heard that it’s only the God of the Old Testament who is judgmental and threatens to send... Read more
Mark 9:30-37 “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all” (verse 35.) This is basic Christianity. Christianity 101. And yet so many Christians keep flunking out of this most basic of courses. This is because, unlike simply memorizing the Creeds or a catechism, this course is a practical course, and the entire “grade” is based on the dreaded “lab practical” exam. Jesus, the Master Teacher, has tried to teach us this before. ... Read more
Give Us This Day
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In
Ember Wednesday (1st Sunday in Lent) – Matthew 9:1-13
Matthew 9:1-13 What in the world is an Ember Day? Without going into all the details, Ember Days are days throughout the Church Year in which fasting and prayer are particularly emphasized. Sometimes also giving to the poor is emphasized. If you take these 3 together: fasting, praying, and giving alms, you have the three godly disciplines that Jesus teaches about in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. If you have undertaken a food fast, it is appropriate... Read more