Daily Thoughts
10.15.12 Deployed
Read: II Peter 2:9-12 Back when they used to let me attend Vacation Bible School (before the unfortunate Kool-aid incident of 1988), I loved the praise and worship time. Seriously, it might have been my favorite part of the whole … Continue reading
10.16.12 On Mission
Read: John 8:25-30 “They’re not going to catch us. We’re on a mission from God.” That line, spoken by Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd), forms one of the recurring gags of the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. In case you’ve never … Continue reading
10.17.12 No Distractions
Read: Luke 9:57-62 The past few years have seen a real crackdown on “distracted driving.” In 2010, in fact, the state of Illinois instituted two new laws effectively banning the use of cell phones in construction areas and school zones. … Continue reading
10.18.12 Know Before You Go
Read: Luke 14:25-33 A few months ago, football coach Camron Miller made national headlines for an e-mail he sent to his football team. As his team prepared to begin practicing, Coach Miller wanted to be sure his boys were ready … Continue reading
10.19.12 Suit Up!
Read: Ephesians 6:10-17 Armies throughout history have seen the importance of equipping and outfitting their soldiers for war. Medieval soldiers famously wore entire suits of armor when they headed out to battle. Though somewhat bulky and cumbersome (estimates place … Continue reading
10.22.12 Whatever It Takes
Read: Mark 2:1-5 On July 5, 1994, Alvin Straight began a journey that would bring him international acclaim and eventually spawn an Academy Award nominated movie. Just a few days earlier, the 73-year-old Straight heard that his brother Henry had … Continue reading
10.23.12 Becoming Attractive
Read: John 12:30-33 Our culture is obsessed with beauty. We want to be attractive. We want to look our best. Walk into any Walgreens and you’ll see aisle upon aisle of products designed to help us look more alluring. Most … Continue reading
10.24.12 All I Know
Read: John 9:24-27 Evangelism. The word is enough to make even the most committed of Christian break out in a cold sweat. There’s something nerve-racking about telling someone about your faith. We may all agree that it’s important, that it’s … Continue reading
10.25.12 According to You
There’s a Gospel according to Matthew; To Mark; To Luke; and John too. There’s another gospel that many are reading, The Gospel according to You. Many read not the words of the Bible; I will tell you what some … Continue reading
10.29.12 Our Main Task
Read: Matthew 28:16-20 Michael W. Smith: “Transformation in the world happens when people are healed and start investing in other people.” For years, I’ve heard people make a lot of fuss about “Famous Last Words.” Somewhere along the line, we … Continue reading
10.30.12 The Best Investment
Read: Matthew 6:19-21 Earlier this year, my parents introduced me to A&E’s Storage Wars. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the show before, but it’s actually pretty fascinating. For the uninitiated, Storage Wars chronicles a group of people who … Continue reading
10.31.12 Investing Wisely
Read: Philippians 4:15-18 What if I had invested? The past decade has seen several companies’ stocks skyrocket in what seems like record time. Internet start-ups like Google rose from relative obscurity to become financial titans. Established companies like Apple reinvented … Continue reading
11.01.12 How to Invest
Read: Acts 16:1-5 I’ll be the first to admit that I know very little about investing. Scratch that, I know literally next to nothing about investment. I have a pretty good idea of what a stock is. I know enough … Continue reading
11.02.12 A Return on Your Investment
Read: I Thessalonians 2:17-20 When you invest your money in something, you expect to get that money back. Actually, that’s not entirely true, is it? When you invest money, you expect to get more money back. You don’t put $100 … Continue reading
11.05.12 Why We Give
Read: James 1:16-18 Why give? That’s certainly a valid question. We want to be sure we’re spending our money wisely. At the very least, we want to be sure we’re not wasting it. That’s why we check out businesses before … Continue reading
11.06.12 Lifestyle Generosity
Read: Luke 10:30-35 What does it mean to be generous? How would you define “generosity”? I hate to admit it, but my definition of generosity typically has to do mainly with money. When I think of a generous person, I … Continue reading
11.07.12 The Generosity of Jesus
Read: II Corinthians 8:9 A couple of years ago, Forbes Magazine published an article about the most generous people on the planet. In order to narrow down their search, they confined their article to a very exclusive list of philanthropists—those … Continue reading
11.08.12 A Generous Church
Read: Acts 4:32-35 Chances are that you’ve never heard of Traceway Baptist Church in Clinton, Mississippi. Few people have. With an average weekly attendance of just around 50, Traceway isn’t burning up the church growth charts. Yet, this small church … Continue reading
11.09.12 Generosity Evangelism
Read: James 1:16-18 Why give? That’s certainly a valid question. We want to be sure we’re spending our money wisely. At the very least, we want to be sure we’re not wasting it. That’s why we check out businesses before … Continue reading
11.12.12 Go!
Read: Exodus 3:7-10 Read: Isaiah 6:8 I was skimming through an internet news site a couple weeks ago when a bizarre headline caught my eye. Though I didn’t catch it’s exact title, I noticed it said something about the “Time … Continue reading
11.13.12 Where Are You Going?
Read: Matthew 28:18-19 Read: Acts 1:8 We live in a world of constant motion. Though much of it happens without us even noticing it, our planet is always moving. For starters, this earth is continually revolving around the sun at … Continue reading
11.14.12 Starting at Home
Read: Mark 5:1-20 A couple of months ago, the WIN-Gallup International organization made news when they released the results of their latest poll, “The Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism.” Surveying over 50,000 people from 39 countries, the poll sought … Continue reading
11.15.12 A Gospel for Everyone
Read: Acts 8:1b-8 Although it often goes overlooked, Acts 8 contains the story of one of the most momentous occasions in the life of the young church. Following the stoning death of Stephen by the Sanhedrin, a horrible time of … Continue reading
11.16.12 Until the Whole World Hears
Read: Acts 1:8 At the start of this year’s football season, the White House rolled out a new campaign dubbed “1 is 2 Many.” Far from a divisive political issue, the initiative focused on the horrors of domestic abuse and … Continue reading
11.19.12 What the Future Holds
Read: Romans 8:31-39 Two weeks ago, millions of Americans across the country went to the ballot box and cast their vote for President of the United States. In some ways, we were all glad to see Election Day come, as … Continue reading
11.20.12 The Reason to Celebrate
Read: Psalm 105:1-7 Why do we celebrate? Truth be told, we have all kinds of reasons to throw a party. We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduations, retirements, housewarmings and soon-to-be-born babies. People have parties for Halloween, for Christmas, for the … Continue reading
11.21.12 When Heaven Celebrates
Read: Luke 15:4-7 Read: Luke 15:8-10 As you can no doubt see, these parables are about more than just a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son. In telling us these stories, Jesus peels back the curtain of … Continue reading
11.22.12 Thanksgiving
Read: Psalm 100 Today, millions of families across the country will come together and celebrate one of the most iconic meals of the year: Thanksgiving dinner. There will be turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy. Some people (myself not included) … Continue reading
11.23.12 Mission Accomplished
Read: Matthew 25:14-21 As many of you may know, I spent the better part of this year preparing to run a 5K. Up until this past spring, I’d never run a race before. Truth be told, I’m not even all … Continue reading