May 17, 2026

Joshua 11: 14 (NIV)

The Israelites carried off for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but all the people they put to the sword until they completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed.

God does not call us to be separate for the sake of isolation.*

Israel’s invasion of Canaan is a bloody and brutal story. We wonder why God would command that even the children should be included in his scorched-earth policy. To help us understand, fast-forward to another era of Israel’s history: their conquest and captivity by other nations. These invaders weren’t so diligent about wiping out their new subjects, sometimes even going so far as to allow them some measure of religious freedom, and promoting them to positions of authority. Among the Israelites exiled to other lands were many who continued to practice the religion of their ancestors – even some who had no memory of their homeland or perhaps had never even been there. Similarly, if God had been willing to spare any of the Canaanites, even babies, there could have been a remnant among them who would one day resurrect the wicked idol-worship of their parents and infect the Israelites. God was thorough in protecting the purity of his people.

The church is under attack all over the world. We rightfully fear for our religious freedom in the United States. Satan may use his forces of evil to conquer God’s people but his victory will be hollow – and temporary. There is a message of hope for us in the idea of a remnant. In Romans, chapter 11, Paul refers to the story of Elijah who thought he was the only surviving worshiper of God in all of Israel. As it turned out, there was a remnant of 7,000 who had not bowed down to Baal. Paul then reminds us: “So, too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.”

The most powerful and hopeful message for the church comes from Jesus himself: “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16: 18)

The church . . . was God’s idea. This means it is good and it will succeed.*

March 17, 2026

Matthew 5: 23, 24 (NIV)

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift.”

People sometimes assume that they have secured forgiveness without specifically asking to be forgiven.*

Jesus’ message in this chapter was about “fulfilling the law.” That is, filling the law full of authentic worship instead of empty ritualistic obedience. Here, he is specifically addressing religious Jews who knew what it meant to offer a gift at the altar. But Jesus was speaking to us as Christians, too.  While we don’t bring offerings to the altar, we do participate in comparable activities – corporate worship; the Lord’s Supper; private devotions – anything that brings us to the throne of God.

For an act of worship to be authentic, we must examine ourselves, our relationship with others, and our standing with God. In the course of our introspection, we may recall some rift in our connection with another person. As someone has stated, “Proper worship makes us mindful of duty to others.”* Jesus isn’t satisfied with our mere acknowledgement of the problem – he wants us to make amends with the other party and he wants it done now. 

I like this alternate rendering of Jesus’ words: thy brother hath cause of complaint against thee, just or unjust.* This version puts the responsibility on us to take action, whether our brother knows about the offense or not. We don’t get a pass just because the other person isn’t aware of what we’ve done or if we believe ourselves to be falsely accused.

Finally, he says, “Be reconciled, then go offer your gift.” Jesus doesn’t give us instructions about what to do if our attempt at reconciliation isn’t well-received. I won’t presume to tell you what to do in this case, but there are other scriptures that set a precedent for how to proceed if it becomes clear that you are engaged in futile activity. I think it is safe to say that if you have dropped everything to be reconciled to your brother as Jesus commanded, then the Holy Spirit will speak to your spirit and direct your next course of action.

In geometry I learned that the shortest distance between two points was a straight line. And that may be true in geometry but not necessarily true in your getting to God. Quite often in our approach of God . . . the most direct approach . . . is not a straight line but it is by an offended brother.*

May 16, 2026

I Corinthians 9: 22 (NIV)

To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.

A persistent temptation is to make the means of a thing the end and to have the end forgotten in the glow of satisfaction from having used the right means.*

I recently read an article in a Christian publication about attracting “Millennials” (ages 18 to 34) to the church. According to one pastor quoted in the story, “The Millennials are the least churched generation.” It was also reported that this pastor’s congregation had “changed its traditional church service to one incorporating laser lights and smoke machines.” Really? I wrote in my journal after reading the article: “Maybe I need an attitude adjustment but it seems wrong to be trying to ‘attract’ Millennials with shiny stuff. Shouldn’t we be attracting them to Jesus?”

The very next day, I got my attitude adjustment. I heard a young man share his story about how he and his family came to know the Lord. When he and his siblings were small, he said, his parents were having a hard time financially. One night they took the family to an event at a church just so they could all have free hot dogs to eat. Fast-forward to today: that young man is a Christian college graduate and is heading up a church plant in a very “unchurched” area of the United States. Thanks to a church that attracted people through their stomachs, hundreds of people are going to be reached through their souls. 

Yes, God purified my attitude but I am still left with a fundamental problem. While we may need to become all things to win Millennials, let’s not forget that there are Baby Boomers (51 to 69) out there who need Jesus, too. Have we forgotten their needs in our enthusiasm to win a younger generation? What about the parents of those Baby Boomers – what is the church doing for them? 

As we try to follow Paul’s example, let’s remember that Paul is talking about winning the lost – not entertaining the masses. And while Paul was willing to adapt himself to win the person, he didn’t adapt the message and never meant that we should. As someone has pointed out, “Paul is speaking more about giving up rights to make inroads for the gospel, not about exercising those rights.”*

As engaging as he was, the people who heard him were never merely entertained.*

May 15, 2026

I Corinthians 5: 12, 13 (NIV)

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? . . . God will judge those outside.

Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.*

Paul poses a very good question. Why are we so outraged at the behavior of those outside the church? They are lost sinners so our expectations of them should be pretty low. We should redirect our wrath and judgment towards those who are in the church – those who should know better and whose lives should reflect their desire to please the Lord.

I am not advocating for Christians to be uninvolved in current issues, but I would caution us to look at Paul’s example. You won’t see any instances of Paul preaching morality to nonbelievers or attacking their sinful behavior;* he preached Jesus. Becoming a follower of Jesus leads to higher moral standards so that matter pretty much becomes a nonissue.

There is no evidence that Jesus ever expected Rome to enact legislation to change people’s behavior.* There is no point in trying to “legislate morality” – we should be preaching the gospel if we want people to change – but a government run amok can pass laws that hinder our religious freedom, thus the need for Christians to participate in community and government affairs. We can’t be salt and light in the world if we hide in the "church house."

The promotion of human rights is not a substitute for the message of cross-bearing as a universal rite of passage for believers.*

May 14, 2026

John 10: 4 (NIV)

“When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”

There’s a reason Jesus is called the “good shepherd” and not the “good cowboy.”*

The only first-hand knowledge I have of sheep comes from the one my cousins had as a pet when we were kids. His name was Baa and he butted like a goat, so we weren’t inclined to spend a lot of time getting to know his other character traits. My internet research into sheep behavior was a little more informative than my personal experience.

According to Wikipedia, “sheep have a strong tendency to follow and a leader may simply be the first individual to move.” If the first individual to move is another sheep, you can see how easily sheep could be led astray. In this verse, Jesus is referring to the shepherd’s programming of the sheep so that they will follow him. The one who has spoken to them since birth, the one who has fed them and cared for them, is the one they learn to follow. If a particular shepherd’s flock gets mixed in with another’s, his well-trained sheep will recognize his voice and separate themselves from the others to follow their shepherd.

Now that I have such vast knowledge of sheep behavior (!), I understand that this verse is not about the sheep but about the shepherd. I have always tried to read into it that the sheep have some responsibility to know the shepherd’s voice but Jesus called himself the “good shepherd” and he demonstrated good shepherding techniques. We know his voice because of his efforts to train his flock to follow him: care, feeding, protection. We may choose to ignore his voice, stupid sheep that we are, but he has done all that he can to make us want to choose him.

Don’t be one of those sheep who follows the first individual to move. The Good Shepherd has taught you his voice – follow him to safe pasture and abundant provision.

There is a difference between getting sheep into a pen and teaching them to respond to the voice of the Good Shepherd! . . . Sheep that are simply conditioned to inhabit a pen are easily lost. Sheep that have learned to hear and obey the voice of the shepherd never lack sustenance and direction.*

May 13, 2026

Job 12: 5 (NIV)

“Men at ease have contempt for misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.”

When people are little more than a punch line, it’s hard to honestly claim you love them.*

I have a friend who used to be homeless – well, she lived in a tent – but now she is employed and housed and enrolled in college. She is also a Christian but she admits that she sometimes struggles with finding compassion in her heart for her former associates in the down-and-out community. It’s sad but true: the further removed we are from our misfortune, the more our compassion fades. If we have overcome a difficult past, we tend to look down on those who are still wallowing in the same difficulties. We can be downright harsh when we see someone who has “brought it on himself.”

It’s even worse for those of us who have never walked in those hand-me-down shoes. What is our problem? Do we think it’s contagious . . . that we can catch bad luck by looking at it? No, I can’t relate to my friend’s life on the street. I don’t know what it feels like to lose a child or suffer with a lifelong illness. But I do know about failed marriage and the loss of a career.  Do I deserve contempt because those heartbreaks resulted, at least in part, from my bad choices? 

One Bible commentator says that it is a “universal trait of our fallen human nature” to despise the unfortunate.* God forgive me for all the times that I have felt superior to another and thought “There but for the grace of God go I” in the snottiest sense of the phrase. Jesus knew every loser’s backstory, saw through every liar’s lies, and foresaw every sinner’s slip back into the old life, but he loved them anyway. And good for me that he still does because I am that loser, that liar, that sinner. 

We can’t sit back at ease, feeling contempt for those whose misfortunes are the inevitable result of their poor choices and call ourselves followers of Jesus. Followers of Jesus demonstrate compassion and perhaps, in time, we learn to feel it, too.

Love moves towards others in the spirit of self-sacrifice: fear shrinks from others in the spirit of self-preservation.*

May 12, 2026

Nehemiah 9: 8 (NIV)

“You have kept your promises because you are righteous.”

God is who He is.*

It’s hard to single out just one attribute of God to explain his actions in any particular situation. Everything he does is a result of everything he is. When we thank him for keeping his promises, we might also praise him for his lovingkindness. When the Levites called out to the Lord as recorded here in Nehemiah, they were mindful of his righteousness. God can’t not keep his promises. He wouldn’t be righteous if he couldn’t be trusted.

Which of God’s attributes provides you with the most comfort? I think I find the most comfort in his consistency – or immutability, I believe is the technical term. He is true to himself always. He never has “one of those days” when he just doesn’t feel like being everywhere at once. He isn’t wishy-washy about being merciful. With God, all things are possible – except that it is impossible for God not to be God. 

Want to learn more about the attributes of God – the characteristics that set him apart from all other beings? Google “attributes of God” and read the articles, being careful to check the scriptures to ascertain that they are accurate and applicable. Then take some time to praise God for who he is and how each of his attributes impacts your life in a positive way.*

Like true north, God is a fixed point of reference that never changes and will always be exactly where he’s supposed to be.*