This is from a Bible Study series I wrote called Christ Encounters exploring some of the most well-known encounters with Christ in the Gospels. Each study provides (1) initial observations/questions, (2) interpretation & exegesis, and (3) practical life application questions. 27Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked…
Tag: Jesus
Chasing Lambs
“Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.” LUKE 15 I often begin my day with a morning walk with God at Gale Woods Farm near our home. Rolling hills, a wooded path, a lake and pastures with grazing cows and playful sheep are the background to this life-giving routine. Today as I was…
Cabin 16: The Neighbor’s Well
I’m reposting this in light of recent conversation in our Heaven LifeCourse about the nature of heaven and hell, freedom of choice, being ‘given over’ to the destructive consequences of sin, and how we are daily becoming creatures more fit for heaven and hell. -JB _________ This post is in memory of Robin Williams and a…
Going Green with Jesus
“Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will reap a crop of my love; plow the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord. HOSEA 10:12 Jesus spent his entire ministry teaching one main message: Open your eyes and see a new way of being human available to…
Move the Stone, Come Out & Be Unwrapped
I’ve been studying the raising of Lazarus recently. I love how a closer examination of a very familiar passage can reveal new spiritual truths. Here are a few little insights I’ve gleaned. First, this story is full of deep emotions and coated with tears, grief, loss and longing. Just think of the last funeral visitation you…
Re-Born Identity: “Kingdom Exchange Principle”
The Christian life is filled with counterintuitive paradoxical truths. One of my favorites is Jesus’ strange warning that “Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it” (Luke 17:33). On the surface this is ludicrous. I mean the last time I lost $10 I was poorer and…
Just 33 Years
A repost from 2014. I completely broke down during worship recently. I was overcome with emotion — kind of out of the blue. I was speaking and just lost it and could not compose myself. If you were there, you know how long I wept up front… (Aaaaaawkward.) When I finally pulled myself together I…
If the Cursed Fig Tree Could Talk…
God placed our kind on earth on the third day of creation. We were planted into the soil in order to give ourselves away for others. We give oxygen for all living things. We give shade in the summer heat. We provide a backrest for a weary traveler. We give fruit for other’s nourishment. And many of us will give our very…
