It is disheartening to hear news of illness and death of loved ones. Even Jesus wept for his friend Lazarus. Illness, suffering and death are part of life here on earth but we are not without hope. Even if it might look like Good Friday ended every good thing it is not so. Even though it might look like the tomb is the end of everything it is not so. Even if it might look so that dead is the…
During this Holy Week I’ve been reading The Sacred Meal by Nora Gallagher. This is a book in the Ancient Practices series published by Thomas Nelson. The Sacred Meal is about the practice of Holy Communion. What makes this book special is the writing style of Nora Gallagher. Reading the book feels like sitting at a coffee shop with a good friend and comparing notes on the Lord’s Supper. The book is not a theological reference book but a conversational…
We are entering into the Holy Week by celebrating Palm Sunday by remembering the day Jesus rode to Jerusalem to fulfill his destiny. While doing so Jesus fulfilled also the prophecies of the Old Testament. “Shout and cheer, Daughter Zion! Raise the roof, Daughter Jerusalem! Your king is coming! a good king who makes all things right, a humble king riding a donkey, a mere colt of a donkey. I’ve had it with war—no more chariots in Ephraim, no more…
Do you let Jesus carry your burdens? Or do you still carry them on your own? Is your faith only intellectual or have you really let Jesus rule your heart? Do you trust Jesus to carry your burdens? Do you let Christ serve you, give you true freedom? Or do you still suffer alone? But the fact is, it was our pains he carried— our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that…
How long has it been that you’ve been embraced by God? How long has it been that you’ve been read by the Word? How long has it been that you’ve been home to God? God misses you. God is dying to see you. God is waiting for you to return to him! Do you remember the parables in Luke 15? 99 sheep and 1 lost and how the shepherd did everything to find the lost one? And how he rejoiced…
Last Sunday our family was leaving church without attending the coffee hour because it was already 11.30am. I was explaining our children that there were no lunch served just coffee and dessert this time. Our son responded saying “Right, they served the main course in the worship.” Pretty profound theology for a 5-year old! This exchange came into my mind while reading the 10th chapter of Luke in the Message. The story of Martha, Mary & Jesus got a whole…
When we live in grace God does not treat us as sinners anymore. We are his saints. But it does not mean that we would not be sinners anymore. We are not practicing sinners, that’s true. But we are recovering sinners. This does not mean that we could do whatever we want to and then ask for pardon. God forbid! A saint can’t willfully and actively continue to sin because we have been washed clean and died to sin. But…
What can we learn from the temptations of Jesus? Or are they inapplicable in today’s world? But it is not just about big temptations, it’s about our daily choices. It’s about putting God first in everything. My thoughts on Matthew 4: 1-11 were inspired by Eugene H. Peterson’s sermon notes found in Conversations – the Message with its translator. The core of the temptations is to put something else first in our lives and God second. The things can be…
Are you a friend of grace or a stranger to grace? I don’t know anything more liberating, more exhilarating and more exuberant than God’s abundant grace. In grace the whole salvation story comes together and starts to bloom. Grace is so wonderful, amazing, powerful, wild but gentle that it tames me over and over again. It embraces me and woes me for God time after time. It surprises me, it encourages me, it corrects me, it renews me, it treats…
Don’t let the fear of religious rituals keep you away from experiencing the blessings of Lent! The fear is needed to keep us on toes when it comes to practicing piety. There are great dangers in empty religious rituals. Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding. (Matthew 6:1, MSG) But the solution is…
