Yesterday, we entertained the possibility that the book of Revelation is not intended to answer the question “Are we there yet?” Instead, its main purpose is to help us answer a different question, “What are we here for until we get there?” John answers that question way back in his introduction to the seven churches of Asia Minor, “Grace and peace.” Yes, that’s right – the purpose of this book is to bring us grace and peace for today. Notice, he doesn’t say, “Grace and peace when Jesus comes back.” No, the implication is that through this revelation of Jesus Christ, grace and peace can be yours today. Continue reading Day 88: Until that Day

The year was 1988, I was in the fifth grade, and the hot topic of the day on the playground was whether or not we thought Jesus would be coming back before we died. I don’t even remember who brought it up (I sure didn’t – my church didn’t spend a lot of time on the issue), but I do remember the general consensus – yes, Jesus was coming back before we died. Continue reading Day 87: Are we there yet?

God’s love is so different from most of the pseudo-loves we encounter in this world that the very idea of it leaves many people doubting whether or not they could really be considered God’s children. “No one could love me like that,” we think. The apostle John seems prepared for our objections: “You say it isn’t so? That God couldn’t love us to the point of making sinful humans his own children? We’ll frankly, it doesn’t matter what you think. For God calls us his children and that is what we are!” Continue reading Day 86: What Does God Think

I read somewhere recently about the increasing irrelevance of last names. Once upon a time, one’s surname connected a person to his or her family. The mention of someone’s surname carried with it not simply that person’s identity, but that of their parents, grandparents, and even great-great grandparents, as well. This was especially true if your family had lived in the same place for a long time. For good or for ill, your last name meant something. Continue reading Day 85: Our People

A few years ago, it because popular for people to post a sentence or two of thanksgiving on their social media account every day of November leading up to Thanksgiving. I’ve noticed less of that this year. Maybe the idea has simply run its course. That’s ok. There are plenty of ways to offer thanks without posting something to Facebook. Continue reading Day 84: In all circumstances

I’ve always loved Paul’s deep sense of purpose in the book of Philippians. All that forgetting what’s behind, pressing on towards what’s ahead. His words remind me that as Christians, we are to be a forward looking people (not just looking forward to finishing with our reading the Bible through!). We’re to have our eyes pointed forward towards God’s kingdom come, always on the lookout for the places and ways God’s kingdom is breaking into the world and our lives today. Continue reading Day 83: Looking Forward

One of the remarkable truths expressed in the New Testament is the idea that you and I have been adopted by God to be a part of his family. God did not choose us because of any quality we possessed, but rather because he is love. It is his nature to reach out, to rescue, and to forgive. Our salvation is pure gift. Continue reading Day 82: Bridging the Abyss

According to advertisers and rock stars, the great goal of the modern-Western project is to be one’s own man or woman. Never mind that reality confirms that none of us go to be where we are all on our own. In our culture, a person is deemed valuable, successful if they are self-made, self-aware, self-actualized. Be your own man. Be your own woman. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do. You gotta do what makes you happy. To be owned is to be shamed, played, degraded by another. Continue reading Day 81: You are not your own

Reading the Bible through in 90 days hasn’t been the easiest thing I’ve ever attempted. Blogging about the journey certainly hasn’t. Today almost got away from me. Life gets busy sometimes. I don’t always have something to say. That doesn’t mean the Bible doesn’t have something to say. Or more specifically, that God doesn’t have anything to say through the scriptures. He does. But there is always a distance between “Thus saith the Lord” and my words. Sometimes more than others. Continue reading Day 80: When we don’t have a word

The other day my kids and I had a conversation about whether or not they wanted a yearbook. One said yes. One was ambivilant. I always loved getting a yearbook, but all these years later I realize I almost never flip through them. They are on a shelf on my home office. After the conversation I decided to take a look. Slowly I flipped through the pages laughing at the inscriptions made by friends – comments about girls, and grades, and all manner of things that occupied our childhood minds. How such comments seemed to be what life was all about in those days! Now, I can hardly remember anything they reference. Continue reading Day 79: It’s not always easy to tell what’s monumental