“Fight” sounds like a strange command for Christians. Didn’t Jesus say, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9)? Didn’t he tell us to love our enemies? But some fights need to happen. Some causes are too important to ignore. The same Jesus who pronounced blessings on peacemakers also stated that love makes us lay down our […]
Use one or both of these questions to introduce the lesson: 1. List some of the conflicts in which the U.S. has been involved over the years. For each situation you listed, try to name a reason for entering a war or other action. Why do you think people in those times thought those causes […]
“What is your primary leadership role?” I ask this question at the beginning of every Leadership class I teach and generally receive a wide range of responses. Some students point to a supervisory role at work, but more often than not they choose a volunteer leadership role at church, a youth sports league, or community […]
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15, 16). The “Puritan” Standard The stern faces of the Puritans of the 60s were terrifying. (The 1960s not the 1660s.) Is that what “godliness” was? This […]
MONDAY Reading for Today: Matthew 17:14-27 Acts 24 Psalm 39 Leviticus 5–7 Psalm 39 We all know life is short. We know it can be taken from us in an instant. But do we live like we understand this reality? Most of us probably don’t. We allow the urgent to overshadow the important. We allow […]
