Consider this

              I like the colour green!   In fact, I think green is the best colour in the world and anyone who likes any other colour (like Blue) is silly!    Green is the best. It is the obvious choice and if you don't agree with me, then you are wrong!              Do those statements seem a little out of line or maybe a little over the top?   Maybe you read them and thought, "What?   I can like blue if I want to!" (And it is true.... you can like blue if you want to ..... you would just be liking an inferior colour because green is the best!)            Oddly, I have been in several “religious discussions” that sound a lot like my like my "green rant" above.   Someone comes along spouting some opinion or idea that has no basis in fact.   Their argument is based solely on their own opinion.   However, if you disagree with them, then you are labelled “unfaithful” or simply “wrong”.   Too many times, "What I like” and “What I think is best&q

            “Repent” is a very churchy word.   Actually, come to think of it, you do not hear the word “repent” much at church any more either.   In a day and time that sort of believes that there are no universal standards of right and wrong, a word that means “turn around and go the other way” loses some of its impact.   If any direction is fine, then why bother turning around or even thinking about where you are going, right?             However, the Bible uses the word “repent” quite a lot (53 times in the New Testament).   “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near” is the first idea taught by both Jesus and John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1 and 4:17).   “Repent and be baptized” is the conclusion to Peter’s first sermon in Acts 2.   We also read that, “The Lord is… patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).   Repentance was a big deal to the early church and it ought to be for us as well.             Part of the ch

              “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4).             That quote is part of a lengthy prayer that Jesus prayed on the night of his betrayal and arrest.   His time on earth was coming to a close, the cross loomed large and he was about to fulfill all that was predicted of him.   As he looks back on what he accomplished, he is able to say that he had finished his work.               How could Jesus say that? I mean, Jesus did not convert every person that he ever met (the “Rich Young Ruler” comes to mind - Mark 10:17-27).   He did not heal all those that needed healing.   Not everyone was impressed with or attracted to his teaching (See John 6:60).   Jesus’ ministry did not end with a big crowd of followers (Actually, there was a big crowd, but they were all against him).   Instead, he was crucified between two criminals and was publically mocked and disgraced.   By any measure that we normally use, Jesus’ ministry

          In Matthew 28, we find “The Great Commission” where Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Verses 18-20).             Note the pattern that Jesus lays out, because the order is important:   “Make disciples… baptize and teach”.   The end goal is to make a disciple, which is simply another word for “follower” or for “one who is learning”.   Part of the process of making a disciple is to “baptize” them and to “teach them to obey all things”.               Now, if we get things out of order, we have trouble.   For example, if we think that the goal is to “teach them to obey all things”, then we will never baptize anyone and we will not make any disciples because no one will ever “know all” or

              “But he did not realize that the Lord had left him” (Judges 16:20).            That verse, said of Samson, is maybe one of the saddest verses in the entire Bible and it leads to a lesson that we need to hear.             Samson was special from the beginning.   Before he was born, an angel told his parents that Samson was to be “set apart to God” (Judges 13:5) to do great things.   As signs of this special relationship with God, Samson was to avoid wine and fermented drinks, observe the special Jewish dietary rules and, most visibly, never cut his hair.               The trouble began when Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah. She was a “Philistine”, one of the enemies of God’s people and soon her friends talked her into finding out the secret of Samson’s great strength.    Three times she asked him to tell her the secret and three times Samson protected himself by giving her false information.               Now, we are not told exactly why S