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 …
Tag: Sermon on the Mount
A Christian Response to Attacks on the Faith
The terroristic attacks on the French Magazine Charlie Hedbo have once again thrust a simmering conflict into the headlines. The magazine is well-known for its satirical cartoons that are equal opportunity offenders. The Pope, Christianity, Islam, the prophet Mohammed are all fair game for the magazines satire. It is clear that the attack this week …
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Egypt: An Uncertain Future for the Faithful
Having just spent a week in Egypt, including time in Cairo, including a visit to Tahrir Square, I am struck by the somber mood that hangs over much of the country. If you have never been to Egypt before you might not notice anything out-of-place. This was my fifth visit to the country in the …
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Blessed are the Pure in Heart
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. I have wondered why this is my least favorite of the Beatitudes that Jesus spoke. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it has a lot to do with the fact that of the group this is the …
Blessed are Those Who Hunger and Thirst
What do you long for, yearn for, lay awake at night dreaming about? What do you hunger for? Much of what we yearn and hunger for never becomes reality. When I was a kid I desperately wanted to go to the moon. I could have told you everything about the space program, including every man …
Blessed are Those Who Mourn
So in the first Beatitude Jesus tells us we are spiritually bankrupt. Okay so now what do you do with that? Simple: You mourn. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4 Jesus said that those who recognize that they are "poor in Spirit", what I called spiritually bankrupt, will in …
Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. " I am not religious but I am spiritual". If only I had a dollar for every time I have heard that phrase. It has become the new mantra. People who have or want no affiliation with any organized religious group …
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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Provocative Bible Verses: Nobody is Perfect, But They Should Be!
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48 Nobody is perfect is one of the few remaining truisms that has nearly universal agreement among people of every cultural milieu, philosophical system, or religious ideology. It is the standard way of accounting for our short comings both major and minor. We may want …
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Provocative Bible Verses: Love Your Enemies
When love is seen as nothing more than a fleeting emotion that we can't control, that we fall in and out of, and that comes and goes in a completely arbitrary way, then it is impossible to obey the command of Jesus to love our enemies. So either something is seriously wrong with our understanding …
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The Provocative Christian 