Simply Gospel

May my steps be worship. May my thoughts be praise.

Christian Living

  • What Hagar Taught

    For some reason, I’m picking up on things this time through Genesis that I have glossed over before. It’s interesting how familiar text can sometimes gain new life. Anyway, in Genesis 21, Isaac is born, and we see his weaning feast eight verses later. Then comes verse nine: And Sarah saw the son of Hagar Continue reading

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  • A Small Fish In a Big Pond

    “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others.” The idea of servitude permeates the New Testament, and it contracts the way we like to center our world around ourselves. We want to be a big fish in a little pond. We want to leave a mark, a name for ourselves. Continue reading

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  • The Paradox of the Christian Life

    What does it mean when we say, “I am a Christian?” We know we are supposed to be different, but that difference occasionally runs contrary to human reasoning. We have died yet live. We have been transformed, yet we remain the same. We are not of this world, yet here we are living and functioning Continue reading

  • The Challenge of Love

    To treat others how we want to be treated, to love one another – they are ideas that look easy on paper. If we take a hard look at ourselves, though, we may find we aren’t so good at these simple concepts. God sets out expectations of how we are supposed to live and treat Continue reading

  • What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding?

    Our world is not always a nice place. We see evidence of violence, sorrow, and hatred everywhere we look. Much of our common history is driven through conflict motivated by religious intolerance, ideological differences, oppression, or wonton cruelty. We are told by many political and even religious leaders to fear the world around us, to Continue reading

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  • Important Things Versus Essential Things

    Luke 10:38-42 records Jesus visiting the home of Mary and Martha. Martha is busy doing the work of a hospitable hostess with a large number of people in the house, and she asks Jesus to tell her sister to help with the workload. She receives an unexpected answer, however, when Jesus tells her that Mary Continue reading

  • A Blessing in Prayer

    Sometimes we want to reach out and seek some confirmation that God is indeed still here. In the Old and New Testament, God interacts directly with people and individuals, but there has been a silence for the past couple thousand years. Like the saints in Revelation, we want some evidence that God still is in Continue reading

  • Seeking Meaning

    We are in a time of year when we tend to be more reflective and more thankful for the things we are blessed with. We tend to give more thought to the meaning of this life. We all want purpose or a reason for living. What are we contributing? What difference do we make as Continue reading

  • Making a Divine Investment

    Leviticus 19:23-25 is one of those Old Testament passages that seems to have little application to New Testament Christians. As the children of Israel enter the land of Canaan, God tells them that their crops for three years. Then, on the fourth year, all fruit of the land is to be given unto Jehovah. The Continue reading

  • A Time for Everything

    If I asked you what time it is, how would you answer? Time is a great equalizer in our lives. We all have time to spend, and, at any given moment, we all have the exact same amount of time. As stated in the song by the Byrds, there is a time for all things, Continue reading