Regarding yesterday’s post on Jesus’ words to Martha in John 11 –  25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. 26 And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” a friend commented: “I’m curious to know how you understand the phrase “never die” in that passage, given that it is clear in the context that Jesus is not referring to physical death? In the context of the Gospel of John (5:28-29), Jesus also refers to a universal resurrection in…

I end 2023 still chewing on one of my top three theological realignments of the year: the nonbeliever’s afterlife being annihilation vs eternal conscious torment. And I continue to lean heavily toward annihilationism – a position also known as “conditional immortality”. That is, human beings are not inherently immortal – only those who place their faith in Christ gain everlasting life. Others simply do not. As always, I could be wrong, but I currently do not think hell as eternal torment is what the Bible teaches. You don’t get to build such a horrific scenario out of a handful of…

I finished some of my Christmas “shopping” this evening – I always create a calendar on Snapfish for everyone in the family.  I’ve been procrastinating on this project (like I do every year) because it’s time consuming, but once I get started, I enjoy the process.  For one thing, I was glad to rummage around in the cloud and pull a few of the better photos from last year to get a little more exposure. Even better, putting the calendar together reminded me that 2023 has been a great year. Outside of my mother-in-law’s cancer diagnosis, the year was full…

Melissa, the kids, and my mother-in-law are all a bit frustrated with me. And it’s because I can’t answer a simple question: “What do you want for Christmas?” I hesitate to write about this since it will undoubtedly come across as holier-than-thou, but it’s what’s on my mind tonight:  We’re about a week out from Christmas – and I can honestly say that I want nothing. Absolutely nothing.  I have all I need and more.  The one exception is handmade gifts. They are always welcomed and cherished. However, if someone feels the need to spend money on me, rather than…

While listening to a James Altucher podcast, I heard Scott Adams say something simple, true, and profound: “Your ego is not your friend.” Adams then went on to explain how much of our fear day to day is due to our efforts to protect our egos from harm. His suggestion? Put your ego into proper perspective. Do not overvalue it. He illustrated the concept with a word picture: Imagine you are asked to deliver an object to a business across the street. First, imagine that object is a Rembrandt worth $40 million.  You would be nervous and thoroughly stressed. On…

I continue to watch a lot of theological debates on YouTube. Many of them on doctrines of Calvinism, but some also on hell vs. annihilation and, lately, on the nature of God’s omniscience.  Which is really a struggle over the question, “If God knows the future, is everything necessarily already predetermined and set in stone?” (I have to limit videos concerning the omniscience debate, though. Large doses give me headaches.) In watching these various debates, I have come to realize that the label “heretic!” is the Christian world’s version of “racist!” And … it grows tiresome quickly. 

Mission Resource received a gift of $12,000 from a South Dakota businessman over the weekend!  I sent him an email this morning asking if I could talk to him on the phone – I was curious about his connection to the microfinance work we are doing in Ghana. I was glad to see him oblige my request immediately. On the call this man explained how he had made a trip to Ghana ten years ago and met a man who is one of our loan officers. The two stayed in touch over the years and now the businessman wanted to…

I have been praying “Lord, teach me to pray” for the past few months. And as a result, my prayer life is growing more consistent. And that’s progress. But, I am also feeling a gnawing conviction that I am experiencing just the tip of the iceberg so far. I know my prayer life falls far short of the ideal. And it would be one thing if it were just for me personally, but now as the pastor of a church, I feel the burden all the more. Here’s the incident that keeps nagging at my spirit: when Jesus clears the…