James 5:16Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. We are not naturally inclined to do anything of the sort. If we listen to our flesh, we’ll duck and weave. If we abide by our instinct, we’ll run and hide. It’s just the way we are. To reveal our faults to one another? No thank you. But to become a true community, this is a glitch we’ll need to overcome. N...  Read More

James 4:15Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will love and do this or that.” Sometimes people can boast about their good intentions. “Nothing can tear me from this job.”“I will always be a part of this church.”“I will never…”“I will always…”“Yada, yada, yada” Wouldn’t it be better to preface such comments with “If the Lord wills”? And if it happens, then it happens. But why do we fee...  Read More

James 3:5How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! In the fall of 2017, a 15-year-old boy was lighting some firecrackers and accidently sparked a wildfire that destroyed 50,000 acres along the Columbia River Gorge. It burned for more than three months before it was fully contained. And, more than six months later, the fires were still found to be smoldering. Such a small cause produce...  Read More

James 2:5Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? A few years ago, I was able to take a short-term mission trip to the nation of Haiti, one of the poorest countries of the world. But I’ll tell ya right now, they are some of the richest people of faith. I arrived thinking I was there to help. But I ...  Read More

James 1:5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. No reproach. No condescension. Generosity in the extreme. That’s what it’s like doing business with God. You need the goods? He will deliver. Free of charge. Pallets upon pallets of wisdom dropped in your front yard. Do you need more? He’s got another shipping container. He...  Read More

Hebrews 13:5Keep your life free from love of money. One of the best ways of steering clear of the love of money is to faithfully tithe. Less is always more when you put it in the hands of God. He can do more with ninety percent than we can ever do with hundred. Unfortunately, we get afraid and start clutching. Tithing, however, rids you of fear and helps us declare that we have more than enough. T...  Read More

Hebrews 12:28-29Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Sometimes we think worship is a time of singing songs led by a trendy band. But, no, no, no, worship is so much more. Read these verses slowly and meditatively to understand all that’s at stake. He’s pr...  Read More

Hebrews 11:10[Abraham] was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. Abraham is known as the father of our faith. He’s a pretty significant guy. However, if you think about it, what did the man do? Well, he basically walked around looking for a city. Doesn’t seem all that striking. But we honor him today, not for his triumphs, but for his trust. He truste...  Read More

Hebrews 10:24-25Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Meeting together as Christians should be one of our top priorities. It’s a New Testament mandate. But as the letter to the Hebrews tell us, even back then, some Christians made a h...  Read More

Hebrews 9:13-14For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ… purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? The blood of bulls is nothing to be compared with the blood of Jesus. So, if an animal sacrifice was enough to appease divine justice for a time, what...  Read More

Hebrews 8:10I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Is obedience a ‘have to’ or a ‘get to’? If it’s a ‘have to’ then God’s laws are simply external – chiseled on slabs of stone. But if obedience is a ‘get to’ then God’s laws have been internalized – written on heart and mind. Where do you stand today? Is obedience o...  Read More

Hebrews 7:25He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. You may have heard the work of Jesus was finished at the cross. Well, not quite. The work, in one sense, was complete, but, in another, it’s very much ongoing. This verse tells us that Jesus ever lives to make intercession for you and me. When you go to bed a...  Read More