“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.” (Matthew 7:1) Jesus’ words about judgment are strong and straightforward, yet they are so often misunderstood. To understand them rightly, note two things. First, he does not say “Judge wisely!”,…
Neither Condemn nor Acquit: Do Not Judge
Opening Ancient Doors
“Fling wide the gates, open the ancient doors, and the great king will come in. Who is the great king? The Lord Almighty—he is the great king!” Psalm 24: 9-10 What ancient doors do we have to open? Anything that…
Never to be Seen
Are you a gardener? Did you ever plant a seed? Did you ever wonder about the “Seen Parable” (Lk 8: 4-15) and try to figure out which one you were and become depressed because you thought that the description which…
10 Commandments in the Modern World Pt 10 – Be Happy for Others
Commandment 10: Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s goods. In our last article, we covered coveting your neighbor’s wife. In this one we will talk about our neighbor’s possessions. It is very natural to want what someone else has. We…
Having a Heart like Jesus’ Sacred Heart
Consider the heart: at the center of the body, it is essential to life. When we speak of the heart in matters of faith, we mean the center of our being, our key values lived out, our motive core. God…
The Underrated Virtue of Nice
In mystery author Agatha Christie’s biography, she wrote about her father’s death. Many of those present at the funeral said the same thing about the late Mr. Miller. “He was a nice man.” She went on to state that niceness…
When the Mere Mention of Sin Becomes the “Sin”
Have you found that the mere mention of the word “sin” can be taken as a sign from others that you are somehow intolerant? Our culture relegates the concept of sin to a religious term that only extreme ideologues would…
The Fantasy of a Judgment-Free Zone
The ad for a national fitness center franchise promised that for $10 a month I could enter a judgment-free zone. It gave the hours where I could escape the judgmental world around me to enter a place where no one…
I DARE YOU!
You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are…
Spiritual Decoys
“[Hezekiah] did what was pleasing to the Lord. He destroyed the pagan places of worship, broke the stone pillars, and cut down the images of the goddess Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze snake that Moses had made,…