In the list of rules for society that God gave as a good gift to His confused, rebellious, and self-destructive image bearers, the first to which He attached a promise is “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the...
Continue reading
August 17, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
In the Ten Commandments, we find the core of a body of rules for life and society that are God’s gift to a floundering race. In them, He reveals the rudiments of the path of life in His world. Today, I want to meditate on the fourth of...
Continue reading
August 16, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
God founded His good rules for living on ten basic commands. Any people who dedicate themselves to keeping the heart and soul of these commands will find God’s good-life… a life of stability, wisdom, happiness, and wholeness… not a perfect life, because people still battle selfishness, and God...
Continue reading
August 15, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
God gave ten commandments to Abraham’s descendants when he created them as the nation of Israel. When followed, these commandments establish a grand vision for God’s good life of stability, wisdom, happiness, and wholeness. His first commandment was that they wake up to the One Holy Creator of...
Continue reading
August 10, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
Because the Creator is a God of love who, for His own purposes, made a good world for us to populate and to bring into divine order,[1] He is also eager to reveal Himself to us and to help us find the path of life in His world…...
Continue reading
August 9, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
If you are a new believer, fresh to the church scene, Christians can, I imagine, seem like really nice people who do some weird things. One of the reasons that they do some weird things is because they continue religious practices from the Bible. The old stuff is...
Continue reading
August 9, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
The big ideas about life need to be woven into the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly routines of living if one wants to keep important Christian virtues fresh… like gratitude, repentance, mercy, and forgiveness. The perpetual rehearsal of core values in the seemingly mundane aspects of life, and...
Continue reading
August 9, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
When I was working on my first Master’s degree in Biblical Studies, a classmate and I were sitting in my living room, tussling over the meaning of a certain passage of Scripture. We were sharing life experiences, considering nerdy stuff like grammar, examining the context, and basically wrestling...
Continue reading
August 3, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
In my early teens, I tried to read the letters of Paul in the New Testament. It was an embarrassing experience. I lacked the skills to follow his arguments, had no context for the letter, and didn’t understand the vocabulary. My reading interests at the time topped out...
Continue reading
August 2, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
Practicing Jews and Christians are called to be “people of the book.” That doesn’t mean they always are, but it does mean that while our religion is meant to be a relationship with our Creator through which we strive to become more and more like Him, we also...
Continue reading
August 2, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
When my daughter and her other senior teammates ran their last track race together, the four of them held hands and crossed the finish line together, shouting, “The class of 2008 Rules!” It was a beautiful moment. The coach, however, hung his head, both smirking and bemoaning the...
Continue reading
August 1, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
If you’ve spent your life in church as I have, the special vocabulary of church as well as the common events of Sunday gatherings are like a comfy old blanket from childhood… washed of course. If, however, you are new to the entire idea of church, our terms...
Continue reading
July 29, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
Now, I know that Christians have a reputation for being the most stylish people in the room, but the title of our little chat today isn’t about wearing fashionable eye-wear, though I’m more than happy to give you some tips. Here’s one; monocles are out right now. What...
Continue reading
July 28, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
If you recently responded to an invitation to “accept Jesus as your savior,” and someone handed this devotional to you, let me be the first author to welcome you to the Christian family. Jesus said that the angels in heaven rejoice over every sinner who repents and who...
Continue reading
July 27, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
I came across a fascinating exchange, practically a monologue, between a Yakuza boss and a dying assassin in the recent Woody Harelson film called Kate.[1] Spoiler Alert… big time, by the way: Trained all her life as an assassin by her handler, and, unbeknownst to her, also the...
Continue reading
June 28, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
There are some 25 million immigrants[1] living illegally in the United States.[2] Many of them snuck across our Southern Border[3] and many others came to the US on visas of one sort or another and don’t leave. For some, this constitutes a heavy burden and a present danger...
Continue reading
June 28, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
A word to the wise… read the footnotes. A review of the long history of violence and abuse by ancient rulers the world over would make a sensitive soul ill. Even so, much of the anti-colonial chatter of those advancing the most colonizing ideology in human history (Marxism)...
Continue reading
June 27, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Politics
I recently saw a picture of young woman from India holding up a sign that read “Don’t ask your daughters not to go out, Ask your SONS to BEHAVE.” (sic) I am well aware of the plight of women in the cultures of India. I have been traveling...
Continue reading
April 4, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Society
In his book, Talking to Strangers,[1] Malcolm Gladwell discusses how difficult it can be to properly assess a stranger based on demeanor and facial expression. People always assume they are great at reading others, but in actual tests of accuracy with total strangers even self-proclaimed experts blow it...
Continue reading
April 4, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
Why do so many assume that a society with more tolerance for previously less tolerated members of society is automatically an improvement and a cause for celebration and joy? Wouldn’t it depend on whose being tolerated and the impact that this welcoming spirit allows them to exert on...
Continue reading
April 3, 2023 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
