These past three weeks, my preaching has been focused on the story of Cornelius’ meeting with Peter found in Acts 10.  An angel visits Cornelius and tells him to send for Peter, 30-some miles away. The next day, the Spirit shows Peter a vision of a sheet filled with animals and tells him to “kill and eat”. Peter is still pondering this vision and God’s command to not call anything unclean that He has made clean when Cornelius’ men show up.  So God arranges this meeting between Peter and Cornelius and it ends with Peter sharing the Gospel with Cornelius…

“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.” — Stephen R. Covey How does a person reach the point where he or she is motivated from the inside to grow in faith? Is it purely a work of the Holy Spirit? Perhaps it is more aptly described as a cooperation with the Holy Spirit? And a related question: Is there nothing which can be done to light the fire of motivation from the outside?

If you haven’t come across this already, here’s an incredible resource you need to check out: Bibleproject.com Their mission is “to help people experience the Bible as a unified story that leads to Jesus.” There are links to podcasts and articles, but the most helpful resource is a growing series of animated videos. These videos are typically 5 to 10 minutes long and tackle everything from book overviews to exploration of recurring themes and explanations of various biblical genres. And they are all done with excellence. They are almost as addictive as cat videos – but a much more valuable…

I don’t know a lot about cars, but I know this much: Oil needs to permeate every nook of the engine. If the oil is low, the engine might keep functioning for a time, but the friction will generate a lot more heat. As that heat builds, the oil will burn up faster. Once the oil runs dry, the whole engine locks up, breaks down, and becomes useless.  As I am reading through the Apostle Paul’s letters to the various newborn churches, it is clear that Church life has been fraught with difficulty and conflict from the beginning.  MAYBE there…

The other day I wrote about the way some people look for answers to their problems in the pages of Scripture as if God’s word was some ancient Magic 8 Ball.  This is not to imply that God cannot give us personal direction from His word, just that it is not wise to go cherry picking passages on which to base our choices.  In the mid-90s, I was a few years out of college and working in LeMars, Iowa as a youth pastor. I had been in town for three and a half years and the church was having financial…

In Acts 10, when the Lord gets Peter’s attention with the sheet full of animals in order to introduce him to the Gentile soldier, Cornelius, it rocks Peter’s world.  Upon actually meeting Cornelius face to face and knowing – beyond a shadow of a doubt – that this appointment came straight from God, Peter said out loud in amazement: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.” (Acts 10:34-35) As it is translated in the NIV, that phrase – “how true…