Nearly dead-center in the middle of Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, we pick up an interesting motif. “When you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, …
Author Archives: joslund1
The Danger of Easy Answers
A lot of our axioms and canned answers are really quite awful. Someone loses their job, and we say “God has a plan.” Someone loses their house, and we say “God moves in mysterious ways.” Someone loses their family, and we say “God is in control”. Perhaps we aren’t all to blame. Perhaps we’re …
Blessings in Unexpected and Confusing Times (Part 2)
5. “Blessed (fortunate, prosperous) are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” This immediately reminds me of two other sayings of Jesus. The first is when He’s diving the “sheep” from the “goats”, and both groups ask ‘when did we… see you hungry, sick, in prison, etc…?’ and Jesus responds that when they did it …
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Blessings in Unexpected and Confusing Times
So I’ve been doing a chronological study through the Gospels over the past year, and have finally gotten all the way up to the famed “Sermon on the Mount”. This iconic speech is the longest of Jesus’ recorded sermons in the gospel accounts, and will no doubt provide me with plenty of study and reflection …
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Jesus HAD to pass through Samaria
When we read the book of John we are privileged to get a “look behind the curtain” (to borrow imagery from the Wizard of Oz). While each of the synoptic gospels provide a useful synopsis of some of the significant events of Jesus’ missionary journeys, John presents in what I like to call a theological …
Celebrating Christmas Year-Round
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” I had to give pause for reflection on this well-known song lyric to determine whether I agreed. If I were to land in agreement with Andy Williams’ assessment, I would then have to address the more challenging question – “why?” I grew up in a home where …
The Wealth of Nature
“He is richest who is content with the least, for contentment is the wealth of nature.” – Socrates So I was thinking about Genesis 11 the other day, and the story of humanity building a tower of confusion – a tower of Babel, which would “reach into heaven”. On the one …
A Brief Look at Identity
Several years ago I came across a fantastic list (from Greg Boyd) that outlines some of the Scriptural descriptions of our new identity in Christ. I’ve gone through this list many times over the years, and again just recently, which got me to thinking, “maybe a brief look at identity could be useful to my …
I am the church.
I am the Church. You are the Church. We are the Church. Many people over the years, both famous and otherwise, have made statements about their fondness for Christ while expressing a dis-satisfaction with Christians – with the Christian Church. But it hasn’t stopped there. Much of this sentiment, I fear, has penetrated the hearts …
Inheritance
I used to think that “inheritance” was an odd word. To be honest, I don’t think I had fully grasped the concept. Based on the movies and television, it seemed that some people were left things (money, estate) as an “inheritance”. This struck me as something of a strange idea, because I had gotten used …
Just for a Closer Walk 