Truth can be so destructive. Or more accurately said, truth all by itself can be destructive. Like a quotation taken out of context so it appears to say something different, even contradictory, to what the original speaker had in mind. The person said the words, but the quotation didn’t say all the words. In Luke 7:36 – 50, a woman comes into a room where Jesus is eating and she falls at...
You and I live in a time when we desperately need to know the difference between true and false mercy. I remember when one of my kids was little and came inside crying because she got a splinter. Mercy rose up in me. I knew the splinter had to come out. But when I tried to remove it, she recoiled in pain, screaming, “Don’t touch it! Don’t touch it!” My efforts to bring healing were hurting her...
I have a longstanding habit of trying to make a difference (in my family, my friendships, the world, my yard, you name it) by working harder and faster. I press into my days determined to keep my commitments, be productive, focus on priorities, love people well, and serve God. How I go after this, though, is akin to trying to get power from an electrical cord by plugging it into itself. I am...
Jesus stood up to impossibility. Like the brave kid on the playground who finally tells the bully to knock it off, Jesus walked right up to impossibilities and punched them in the teeth. And the blind saw, the lame walked, the sinner was washed clean, and the outcast came to dinner. This is so important for you and I today. We seek to faithfully live out God’s will for marriage and...
If you want to live a godly life, learning how is not the most important thing. Most men and women who come to Regeneration want to know how to change their lives, how to break old patterns and replace them with new, healthy, holy ones. To that end, the information we teach is incredibly valuable. Valuable, but nowhere near enough. Knowledge is not life, and knowing about life is not the same as...
It’s a form of fraud. A store offers a great item at a great price, but when you show up, that product is gone and you’re shown something “just as good” but at a higher price. If you recognize the scam, you turn on your heels and leave empty handed. There’s a spiritual version of bait and switch, too. And most people buy it hook, line, and sinker. Here’s how it works: You’re trying to change a...