pastor || writer || speaker
Photo by Helena Lopes on Pexels.com This past weekend as part of our series, "The Pursuit of God: The Life of David," Will Branch explored the friendship between David and Jonathan. When I think about what true friendship looks like, I often turn toward the book of Proverbs, which speaks a lot about our relationships, …
Continue reading "Characteristics of True Friendship: excerpts from the Book of Proverbs"
There are certain books of the Bible that people tend to avoid. Somewhere near the top of that list for many is the Old Testament book of Leviticus. Perhaps part of the reason for this is that Leviticus seems so archaic and strange, so disconnected with the world in which we live today. Sacrifice and …
Continue reading "Sacrificial Offering: finding life in the blood in Leviticus"
In recent days, I have been thinking quite a bit about what it means to be God's people in God's world. My thinking has brought me back to certain key Scripture texts that speak clearly and profoundly to this point. I have returned often to Micah 6:8, one of the most succinct summaries of the …
Continue reading "The Calling of God’s People: a word from Micah 6"
After a message I heard this past week from James 3:1-12 about taming the tongue, I have been pondering the first verse of that text: Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1) This is one of those verses that sent …
Continue reading "“Not Many of You Should Become Teachers”: thoughts on working with words"
If blessing means "to speak good words over something or someone," what a powerful message of blessing comes to us from Paul's words in Ephesians 1:3-14. He tells us that God "has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ" (1:3). Every spiritual blessing. Just that one word sets the tone of …
Continue reading "Re-speaking God’s Good Words to Ourselves and Others"
Matthew Erickson 