Most of us are probably familiar with the concept of “tough love.” Love is typically being supportive and encouraging. If a child wants to be a firefighter, perhaps his family will get books from the library about what firemen do, how fire trucks works, what kind of other equipment a firefighter might use. Perhaps the child would even get to go on a trip to a fire station to meet actual firefighters and see the things he’s only read about now in real life. 

Have you ever avoided taking your car into the mechanic out of fear of what he might find wrong with it? Have you ever avoided going to the doctor for fear of what she might tell you? Have you ever avoided having a serious and important conversation with your spouse, your parents, your children, because you were afraid of what might happen during that conversation?

While some of the pictures in Revelation may be scary and troubling, and may serve as warnings and rebukes to those who reject God, this morning’s vision is a pure dose of comfort for you and me. Here God tells us why we do not need to be afraid, because nothing will overcome his seal.

This is perhaps one of those stories that you vaguely remember from Sunday School, Rahab and the spies. Perhaps it’s been a long while since we considered the full implications of what this account means for our faith life and our evangelism. As we see Rahab interact with these envoys from Israel, we’re reminded of the important lesson that Christ is for all.

What happens if you’re playing baseball or softball and don’t heed the coach’s advice to keep your eye on the ball? What happens if you’re dicing vegetables and get distracted? What happens if you’re hammering in nails and lose focus on the task? 

Is God primarily concerned with your spiritual health or your physical health? That feels like kind of a false distinction, doesn’t it? The one who created your soul also created your body. The one who rescued us from hell also provides our daily bread.

All the careful planning in the world can’t compete with sabotage. The farmer had an enemy that, for some reason, wanted his crop to be ruined, or at least bothersome. This enemy comes into the field at night when no one can see him and plants zizanium...

“This is just not worth it.” Maybe you’ve said that as you’ve worked on a project. Perhaps the goal was good and exciting. Maybe you were looking to restore a car, build a complicated grandfather clock...

When we do any sort of marriage counseling, be in before or after a wedding, one of the exercises that I almost always have the couple do is create a list of the relationships in their lives and then from that general list create a top 4 or 5 list, ranking the most important relationship at the top of the list.

If you’ve ever started a new job or can think back to that first day of a new school year, maybe even at a new school, you know the feeling. The feeling of unease: what is happening? Where do I go? What am I supposed to be doing?

There are certain things you just need to keep track of closely. When I travel by air, I’ve got my ID on me at all times.