Love is not always a feeling. Sometimes it is a choice. I feel very confident that we have often acted in ways that could hinder God from having positive feelings towards us. We crucified his Son. And yet he has always loved us. He chose to love us. He made the commitment. Love does the most for what others need the most. This is Jesus. Now put this in the context of our interpersonal relationships within the church. We have been commanded to love each other with the same love Jesus has for us (John 13:34-35). How do we do that? There are no more crosses to die on. That…

Here we are, still in the early days of a new year. I’m not even going to ask if you’ve kept those resolutions you made looking forward to goals for this year! In fact, in this post, I want to consider looking the other direction: to the past. In a Wednesday night devotional, Jeremiah referenced the account found in Joshua 4 of the Israelites taking stones from the middle of the Jordan to construct a memorial. This was to give their children something to “look back” and have a visual, concrete reminder of God’s leading in their lives. As Jeremiah used the idea of “looking back,” for some reason, my…

A preaching friend of mine who lives in Michigan recently told me that he saw a very interesting statement written on the marquis outside a local denominational church. It read, “Under New Management.” In our conversation, he and I were attempting to figure out exactly what that meant. We all understand the concept of new management. When businesses are struggling, sometimes drastic measures need to be taken in order to achieve financial success. We watch college and pro sports programs fire coaches and executives every year when their teams don’t win. We see local restaurants with bad reputations sometimes close and reopen with a new menu – or perhaps they…

You’ve heard the announcement before. It usually happens during times when there is severe weather in a particular location.  The news reports of these announcements often go something like this: “Governor ______________ has announced that all state offices will be closed. All nonessential personnel are advised to stay at home.“ Have you ever wondered who the “nonessential personnel” are? While I am sure they are happy to have a day off, I’m also wondering how they feel knowing that their position is deemed to be nonessential. I’ve also been wondering about something else. What would happen in a local church if an activity and/or an announcement were designed to exclude all of the nonessential…