It’s hard to accept death and dying, especially when it comes too close to home. Yet death and dying are part of life. No one will stay on earth forever. Yet somehow we still would like to pretend death and dying are not part of our lives. And when death claims one of our own, we might even be angry at God for taking our loved one. We’d like to have cake and eat it too. It’s human to not…
Lent has lasted now for six weeks. Have you learned anything new? I’ve come to understand more deeply it’s all about God. My contribution to my salvation is my need to be saved. God has provided everything else. It’s God’s grace from start to finish. We all need God and his grace. There has not been, is not, and will not be a human being who does not Jesus to save him. Just think about Peter who had a fundamental…
At first sight, this text has nothing to do with undeserved grace or does it? I was astonied by this year’s (B) lectionary reading. Then Peter said in reply, “Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging…
There are some puzzling Bible stories of what Jesus did, like turning tables of money changers and telling Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan!’ It’s a bit shocking to hear Jesus reacting this way but when we look at the stories a bit closer, we find deep wisdom in them. Today I want to talk about the latter story. It will help us to understand the importance of embracing God’s perspective. From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that…
Facing the truth is sometimes very hard. Accepting the blame is not fun or easy. But it is necessary in order to live authentically. How about you? Do you accept the reality of your sinfulness? Sure, it’s one of the hardest things to do. But it is also one of the things that bless us the most. Because when we come to terms with our sinfulness, we are ready to receive the only effective remedy for sin known to humankind:…
Do you remember when Jesus called Peter to follow him? Jesus asked him to let down his nets after a night without any success. When Peter did what Jesus asked him to do, they had a huge haul of fish. Peter was awestruck. And he asked Jesus to leave him alone because he could not handle that much holiness. When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m…
Who do you say Jesus is? This is one of the most important questions you ever answer. Who is Jesus to you? Is Jesus a philosopher, a teacher, a radical social activist or something more personal, maybe even life-changing? This is what Peter answered to Jesus’ question: Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16, CEB,*) How about you? Is Jesus a savior to you? Do you think Jesus is the son of…
Have you accepted the reality of your sinfulness? Are you willing to admit that because of you Jesus died on the cross? Or do you deny your need for Christ? We would like to think we are not sinners. We would like to think it’s not our fault that Jesus died on the cross. But we could not be further from the truth. If we do not accept this fact, we are living in a lie. Then we either live…
Peter is one of the Bible characters whose spiritual growth impresses me time after time. He was passionate for Jesus from early on yet he didn’t first really understand what it meant to live for Jesus. But Peter was willing to learn, first from Jesus and later on from the Holy Spirit. Peter’s story is an encouraging example of heavenly spiritual formation, what it really means to grow in grace. Just think…Peter was the one who cut off the ear…
Peter stated it very clear: “Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one [Jesus].” (Acts 4:12, MSG) When we have come to know the saving knowledge of Jesus and when we believe it by grace we have been set free. But what do we do with this knowledge, this joy, this freedom? How big is our heart? We are called to accept Jesus…
