Were You Ever a Hitchhiker? 

Hitchhiking as a young teenager, I really didn’t have any idea where I was headed except to get out of the city, New York City to be exact.  Having lived in other places I knew there was more than the ‘asphalt jungle’ of subways, buses, gangs and definitive ethnic and class separation.  Life there was finding a safe haven, a protected atmosphere, a comfort zone where you didn’t have to keep looking over your shoulder all the time.  I was looking for…

Newness, A New Humanity 

Years ago, I was moderating a Bible Study on a local TV station that appeared early on Sunday morning.  We relied on a well-known series outline that many churches in the viewing area were using.  One taping session we found ourselves dealing with a new show director.  She approached us and said that we needed to kind of spice it up with a little controversy so that the viewership would grow.  We told her we had an established outline that was widely…

Focus on Looking Forward

“This is what the Lord says---He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, ‘Forget, the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up: do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland…

The Gospel of Newness; The Word 

I know the list in the previous article was long but it emphasizes the complete difference between novelty and newness.  Spiritual newness happens every next moment because every next moment is new.  The Word of God always has something new for us.  The Bible is the channel for newness because it has a way of working into your daily routine.  Even your worldly routine finds new meaning when the Word precedes its activities.

 The Lord has made…

The Gospel of John, the Gospel of Newness

 “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for Him (Lam.3:22-23).”

 That passage is a great introduction to the Gospel of John which is a Gospel of newness.  Last time we stuck a pin in the balloon of novelty.  Novelty is fake newness, a balloon that needs puncturing. …

Novelty and Newness, There is a Difference

 “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for Him (Lam.3:22-23).”

 There are two kinds of newness, novelty and spiritual newness.  Heed the above quote from Lamentations.  The Lord’s love and His compassions “are new every morning.”  What…

Baptism, the New Identity

The question of Baptism, “Is it necessary for salvation?” begs an answer.  The Reformation is what has sparked that question repeatedly from one generation to the next.  The long-term denominations from Romanism, Orthodox, the reformed catholic emphases of Anglican and Lutheran systems, have traditionally maintained the need for Baptism from infancy on.  There are really three questions here.  The first has to do with necessity.  The second with salvation and…

Revisiting the Lord’ Supper Part 11 Giving/Sharing 

Taking, thanking, breaking and now we come to giving, the fourth of the action words.   Taking, thanking and breaking are centered in the individual.  It takes those first three to build the kind of unafraid, uncompromising character that can step out and give, share and distribute the blessings we have been given.  

No one said it’s easy.  

It takes work to build a character with faith.  When Paul tells…