"Lord Jesus, the thorns and thistles of the fallen and troubled life are everywhere I turn my eyes. Some days that’s all that I can see, all that I can feel. Their sharp spines tear at me. They steal all my attention." (For the complete prayer, click the link below.)
Tag: Christ
Quote of Note #251: Jesus our All in All
"For then God wills to be all things to us--home and friend, mother hand and food for the coming day, the place where we can lay our heads, the heart in which we can find rest and can be like the fowls of the air and the lilies of the field, and say, 'I have nothing, and now Thy hand must be all things.'" H. Thielicke (For the complete quote, click the link below.)
Quote of Note #248: Loving our Enemies
"Yes, we never touch the ocean of God's love so much as when we love our enemies. It is a joy to accept forgiveness, but it is almost a greater joy to give forgiveness." Corrie ten Boom, He Cares, He Comforts: In Sickness and In Health. Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1977, page … Continue reading Quote of Note #248: Loving our Enemies
Pastor Note #145: What Makes for the Blessed Life?
"Blessed are those who force their way to the front of the line; they will get to run things their own way." (For full post, click link below.)
Prayer Note #69: A Prayer (Drawn from Colossians 3:12-14)
Grant that I might be a living embodiment of Christ’s saving, healing, redeeming love in this broken world.
Quote of Note #215: God’s Participation in our Lives–Prayer
"God commands us to pray, God participates in our affairs and our needs, our cares and in our distresses, in our expectations, and in everything." K. Barth
Bible Note #60: Zacchaeus #4–Getting into the Story–Jesus Makes a Lot of People Mad
So, I’ve now provided some background material (see links to previous "Zacchaeus" posts at the end of this post ) for understanding this powerful encounter between Jesus and the chief tax collector in Jericho—maybe more background information than you really wanted (judging from the amount of traffic those earlier posts have generated). Let’s now dive … Continue reading Bible Note #60: Zacchaeus #4–Getting into the Story–Jesus Makes a Lot of People Mad
Quote of Note #192: Love in Human Flesh
"Jesus walked the earth rehumanizing the dehumanized and cleansing the unclean. Why? Because his heart refused to sleep in. Sadness confronted him in every town. So wherever he went, whenever he was confronted with pain and longing, he spread the good contagion of his cleansing mercy. Thomas Goodwin said, 'Christ is love covered over in … Continue reading Quote of Note #192: Love in Human Flesh
Bible Note#58: Zacchaeus #2–Some Background
In order to understand this encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-9), we need to know a little bit about the geography of the Holy Land in Jesus' time. So, let’s start with this question: where was Jericho and what was Jesus doing there? I’ll address the second question first. What was Jesus doing in … Continue reading Bible Note#58: Zacchaeus #2–Some Background
Bible Note #57: Zacchaeus #1–The Real Zacchaeus and That Terrible Children’s Song
Christians, especially American Christians, can be really good at sanitizing the gospels in order to make Jesus less offensive. We want a version of Jesus that doesn’t make us uncomfortable, one that fits with our American way of seeing things. The story of Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus is a case in point. One of the … Continue reading Bible Note #57: Zacchaeus #1–The Real Zacchaeus and That Terrible Children’s Song
Gary Chorpenning's Notebooks 