The Day I Beat Kleptomania & Became an Honest Man
The last of the great commandments given by God to Israel at Mount Sinai in order that they might reap the benefits of a blessable and blessed society cuts below…
Road Rage, Frustration, and Divine Purpose
Exodus 20:13 gives a simple command with layers of implications in the context of Scripture. “You shall not murder,” demands that society punish legally provable murderers with death, and, more…
“Not Murdering” God’s Way
In The Ten Commandments, we have the rudiments of a legal code. Torah however, is much bigger than a legal code. In it, specific commands are woven into the rich…
Honoring Those Racist, Homophobic, Patriarchal People Who Raised You
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…
Sabbath Keeping God’s Way
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…
Don’t Wear the Name of the Lord in Vain
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…
Stop Being Pagan
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,…
The Greatest Commandment
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, He is also…
Weird Things Like Baptism and Communion
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…
Cultivating Mindfulness of Christian Virtues
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,…
Wrestle Scripture; Grow Strong
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…
What to Expect When You’re Expected to Read Your Bible
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…
Reading the Bible and Loving It
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…
Nice Guys Finish First
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…
Christians Worship God
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…
Putting on Christian Glasses
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,…
So You’ve Accepted Jesus
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…
Kate and the Yakuza Talk Critical Theory
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. Spoiler Alert… big time, by…
Controversial Thoughts on Immigration
There are some 25 million immigrants living illegally in the United States. Many of them snuck across our Southern Border and many others came to the US on visas of…
A Daring Claim about Colonization
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.…