Bringing Light to Life
I have a reoccurring dream in which I’m running as hard as I can. Sometimes I’m running barefoot across an open field of green grass in the country. Or, on an asphalt street through a crowded neighborhood. Often I’m playing football and trying to outrun defenders. What makes this dream troubling isn’t where I’m running […]
Jesus took an invisible-abstract idea and drew a picture of the intersection of a branch and grapevine. “I’m the vine and you’re the branches. Stay connected to me and you’ll produce barrels of grapes” (John 15:1-5–paraphrase). But Jesus said more. He told us how to live as a branch in a vine: “If you abide […]
All of the resources available to Jesus are there for us. The questions is, how do we follow his example and draw on such wisdom and strength. The night before his crucifixion, after leaving the upper room, and leading his disciples out of Jerusalem, Jesus answered that question with one word which he used ten […]
Throughout my four years at Dallas Theological Seminary–four years of intense biblical study and spiritual growth–I learned that I was to follow Jesus in his teaching and discipleship methods, but not in his supernatural ministry. His miracles, I was taught, were for the purpose of validating his person and message. I learned such miracles are […]
What you expect from Jesus will determine what you receive. When Jesus visited Nazareth, his hometown, his childhood friends and neighbors were initially impressed by his words (Mark 6:2). But then they recognized him. “Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here […]