As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4-5 NIV) Peter described Jesus as a living Stone. Ever seen one? What qualities…

Dark chocolate. Once you acquire a taste for it, you’ll never return to milk chocolate. The familiar Hershey bar with its dark brown wrapper loses its appeal when compared to one with a high percentage of cacao. You can’t stuff this kind of chocolate in your mouth like a handful of M&Ms. It begs to…

Echoes of previous sermons haunt me. Don’t be the bad soil. You know the parable. Farmer sows seed. The seed falls in four places: the path, a rocky place, a thorny, weedy spot, and the cultivated field. Only the field yields a crop. But— Wasn’t the soil the same? I doubt seriously that the soil…

“You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not…

“So he said to me, ‘This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.’” Zechariah 4:6 (NIV) Put the novel down. Let me suggest the book of the prophet Zechariah for your summer reading. The latest video has nothing on Zech’s…

Ever feel like hashing things out with God? Today’s political and cultural climate sends me to my knees, so I was looking forward to my class on Old Testament Prophets. They have much to say to 21st century America. One prophet stands out to me. His book is a favorite. Habakkuk. Small book. One of…