In context, the captioned Scripture references people who have embraced the message of salvation through Christ or have been discipled through John's ministry. However, it also aptly applies to parents who are disciples of Jesus. Every Jesus follower, who is also a parent, experiences an incomparable joy when their children become Jesus followers and more so when they continue to live as disciples into adulthood. Furthermore, I am certain heaven is consistently bombarded with prayers by parents for children who are not following the ways of Jesus.

Grace is a very complex concept and not a natural posture for most of us. God is full of grace. He first of all gives general grace to all people everywhere. There is a predictability to his grace by the rising and the setting of the sun and the seasons of the year. The bible tells us the rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous. Everyone is treated the same when it comes to common grace.

In the captioned Scripture verse above, Paul is referencing his fellow Israelites who claim passionate allegiance to God but they are opposing other people who also express their faith in the same God. These other people are Christians who are being persecuted and in some cases put to death. Paul had previously been among those who were full of zeal for God but he was either misinformed or refused to believe that God was in their midst in the person of Jesus Christ. I wonder if he was thinking about his own journey to faith:

A student of respected teacher Gamaliel, in Jewish law

A pharisee

Condoned the death of Philip, the first Christian martyr

A well known persecutor of the early Christ followers

A dramatic encounter with Jesus while traveling to Damascus

We have turned the calendar to a new year. Depending on your circumstances, your beliefs, or your personality, you may be looking forward to the new year with dread, concern, hope, or assurance that this is going to be a great year.

Two days ago on Sunday December 17, 2023 most churches celebrated the third Sunday of Advent by lighting the Joy candle. The traditional color of the candle is pink or violet to symbolize the joy of welcoming a new baby.

A simple statement like the one above does not adequately capture the lifetime of unanswered prayer, disappointment, ridicule, and pain experienced by Elizabeth and Zachariah throughout their married life.

We have entered the Advent season. This wonderful annual season when we celebrate the arrival of Messiah. During advent we are also reminded of those who went before us living day in and day out in anticipation that they would see the Messiah during their lifetime. Generation after generation people waited. Along the way some gave up hope. Others clung to the prophecies about a coming King.

What would you do with 70 million dollars? What lifestyle changes would be possible for you with this kind of money? Imagine the ministries that would benefit from your tithes and offerings off this large sum. I wonder if I would be able to handle responsibly such a large sum of money?

I wish the captioned verse was not in the bible. In the western world disciples of Christ are rarely persecuted for living out their faith in Christ. For a long time Christians and the church in the west has been viewed with favor (or at worst tolerated) by governing authorities. This environment, free from persecution, has lulled us into assuming that being a disciple of Jesus equates to peace and prosperity. Or as some have put it - health and wealth.

For most of my adult Christian life I have been focused on getting to heaven. I love to hear sermons about heaven. I love to sing about heaven. I look forward to living in heaven. No doubt eternal life in heaven is a great hope for all believers. There is so much about heaven that really appeals to me. The downside of this approach to the future is we can tend to isolate ourselves from the realities and troubles on earth and set our minds to waiting for the great escape to heaven someday.

When our first granddaughter was born 24 years ago we were thrilled with her arrival into our family as we have also been with the 11 additional grandchildren that followed her in subsequent years. Soon after her birth I was reflecting on the kind of world I would leave for her someday. I soon realized that my generation had not done a very good job of reaching unbelievers and making disciples. All the evidence around me pointed to a world that was heading in exactly the wrong direction and to some extent I felt responsible. I began to wonder what I could do about this situation?

I have a friend who is a devout follower of Jesus and a committed disciple-maker. A neighbor of hers recently asked about the terrible state of the world and what could be done? The recent upheaval in Israel was troubling her and caused her to reach out to my friend for advice. With no background as a Jesus follower and no foundation in the Scripture this woman has no hope. In fact the world situation looks entirely hopeless to her. In desperation she is seeking answers from a disciple of Jesus.