Romans 12:1 encourages us to be living sacrifices (expanded upon in the previous blog post here). That’s not all this verse teaches; let’s look at it again: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual …
When the apostle Paul moves from his explanation of the gospel to drawing out the practical implications in Romans, he starts with this: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Rom. 12:1 ESV) …
I love Facebook and Instagram. I hate Facebook and Instagram. Sometimes I love and hate social media at the same time. I am sure I am not alone. I signed up for Facebook a very long time ago. In the early days, it did seem fun and a good tool to connect with people, especially …
I had a bad flu recently. I am sure you know what that feels like. I went from running a high fever to having shakes and chills, going along with headaches, a runny nose, and a sore throat. The worst of it only lasted a few days, but it seemed a lot longer. One of …
When we are in the middle of being tempted towards sin, it matters how we think. It helps a great deal if we are prepared in advance as to how to respond. This is true of all kinds of sins. Perhaps you are alone on your computer and you are tempted to click to sites …
There is a line in a famous Christmas carol, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, that says that Jesus is “risen with healing in his wings”. You’ve probably sung that line countless times and never really understood what you have been singing. Wings? I don’t remember that bit in the Christmas story! Charles Wesley, who wrote …
It is easy to slip into thinking of God as owing us something. We can get upset if we have worked hard to be faithful, we have been generous, we have served God, and then we don’t get something we prayed for or wanted. We can think that we have a right for God to …
Religion can be described as doing the same things over and over. We often use it in the context of spiritual matters, like praying every day or going to church religiously. Yet we can do other things religiously as well. We might eat dinner at the same time every day, or always go shopping on …
Many people think of Christians as people who like to follow rules. There are a range of things Christians do that others do not, like going to church and praying. There are also things Christians avoid doing that many others think as normal, like drunkenness and lying. It sure looks like rule following or religion! …
God works in mysterious ways. We know that. There are so many things that happen to us and around us that we would never have predicted and which we do not understand. Yet sometimes we are privileged to see a series of events that reveal a little of God’s unexpected kindness to us. I can …