There is a great deal being said in recent days about Jesus being divisive. What is a stunning turn of events is that it is not being declared by people outside the Christian faith who you would expect to have a negative view of Jesus. Instead, it is being proclaimed by people within the church …
Category: loving your neighbor
Loving Your Enemies
Several years ago, I wrote a book titled The Provocative God: Radical Things God Has Said and Done. The focus of the book was to address radical passages in the Bible that we have either become so familiar with that we fail to recognize their radical nature, or that, due to their radical nature, we …
Whatever Happened to Hope?
Do we live in troubled times? Of course we do. I don't need to give you a litany of the terrible things happening in our world. You see it 24/7 on your news feed, social media, and from the people around you who are sharing and passing along more of the same. It is a …
What Ever Happened to Civil Debate?
One of the more formative experiences in my childhood came in the 6th grade. We had a teacher who encouraged open debate and critical thinking. Several times during the school year a subject would arise in which there were multiple, strongly held, varying positions among the students. Our teacher would use those times to set …
We All Need Forgiveness: An excerpt from my upcoming book, The Provocative Christian: How Gospel Focused Living Changes Everything.
On June 6, 1944, allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France. One of the hardest hit units was the 116 infantry regiment of the American 29th Infantry Division. They landed on Omaha Beach in the first wave of landing craft. David Silva was a 19-year-old infantryman in the 29th Division. When the ramp dropped …
Loving People Jesus Style is Hard Work
What do we mean when we use the word love? Better yet, what did Jesus mean?
Wanting Christianity Without Christ
When we live in our own cultural setting, with little real exposure to other cultures, it is easy to miss how we got to where we are. When we live in our own microcosm of time and ignore the centuries it took to get to this moment, it is inevitable that we will have blinders …
Three Must Have Relationships in Your Life. (Pt 2 of 3)
His name was Joseph. Yet everyone called him Barnabas, which means "Son of Encouragement". That name became such a part of his identity that today few people remember that his given name was Joseph and we refer to him only as Barnabas. So how did Joseph become Barnabas for the rest of history? There are …
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Death, Destruction, and Dedication in Eastern India
In the fall of 2008 the Indian state of Orissa was rocked by a shocking wave of violence. Tens of thousands of Hindus went on a month-long rampage against local Christians. By the time the violence ended more than 60 pastors were killed, mostly beaten to death by mobs, and 100 churches or church related …
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Why Zambia Needs Jesus
I have traveled enough to have seen my share of Third World Poverty. From Swaziland, to the Amazon Basin, to India poverty has a somewhat familiar face. There is a difference between the rural and urban face of poverty but generally speaking when you see rural poverty in one country it looks a lot like …
Killed by the Taliban While Serving Jesus
For 33 years Dr Tom Little and his wife Libby served the poorest of the poor in Afghanistan. They had dedicated their lives to a ministry of eye care and preventing blindness. On Thursday August 5th, Tom and nine fellow aid workers were killed by the Taliban. The initial report from the Taliban was that …
Love Your Neighbor; Or Not
In a tragic and ironic twist a modern-day Good Samaritan is left to die on the side of the road instead of being helped by the people who pass him by. The phrase "Good Samaritan" has come down to us from a story told by Jesus. In the tale an unknown man is beaten and …
Worship and Justice
I made the mistake of asking a friend for some book suggestions related to the chapter on worship for the Provocative Christian Living book. He suggested a book that connects our worship of God to our doing justice for the poor, oppressed and enslaved. It was not what I expected but more than I could …
Provocative Bible Verses: Sacrificing for Your Enemies
No it does not say "Sacrificing Your Enemies" as good as that might sound at times. Jesus instead was pretty clear and adamant about us making sacrifices on behalf of our enemies. In the Sermon on the Mount he hits this hard. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. …
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Don’t Even Think of Saying You Sacrifice for Jesus.
I came upon this quote recently. It was written by Dionysius the Bishop of Alexandria in 260AD. He wrote at the conclusion of a five year plague that at its height killed 5,000 people a day and by the end two out of every three inhabitants of the city. “Most of our brother Christians showed …
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The Provocative Christian 