When someone carries a debt they can no longer manage, their options narrow. Ultimately, they may try to get out from under that debt by declaring bankruptcy or fleeing it entirely. However, many can never escape crushing debt and feel stuck. This is where we find ourselves when we are all summoned to the HolyContinue reading “Canceling Debt”
Author Archives: JRMITCH85
Love Is Not Always A Two-Way Street
Our world thrives on the adage, “If you scratch my back, I will scratch yours.” This system of reciprocity has shaped our society for most of its existence. We deal with contracts, quid pro quo, engagement-rewarding algorithms, social networks built on mutual benefit, and relationships negotiated around equal emotional return. Our world moves as ifContinue reading “Love Is Not Always A Two-Way Street”
Quit Complaining About Sinners
Our minds can easily conjure up people that we find absolutely deplorable, whether we think of those who are on the opposite side of us politically, or those who come from places with different customs from ours. Every once in a while, we can unite behind the idea that some people who have committed theContinue reading “Quit Complaining About Sinners”
Rejecting Jesus
14 Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth 16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, heContinue reading “Rejecting Jesus”
Repentance: The Journey Begins
Living in the desert makes you familiar with the tumbleweeds, succulents, and wildlife, and helps you understand that what something looks like on the outside may not accurately be predictive of what lies beneath. One who has spent any significant time in the desert or even on the hilly trails knows that what might lookContinue reading “Repentance: The Journey Begins”
What It Means To Be A Community
9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute toContinue reading “What It Means To Be A Community”
The Defensive Gospel
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power; 11 put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, 12 for our struggle is not against blood and flesh but against the rulers, against the authorities, against theContinue reading “The Defensive Gospel”
The Discipline of Listening
8 He got up and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. 9 At that place he came to a cave and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are youContinue reading “The Discipline of Listening”
Covenant Everlasting
“Hear, everyone who thirsts; come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your earnings for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eatContinue reading “Covenant Everlasting”
We Need To Trust God
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words. And God, who searches hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will ofContinue reading “We Need To Trust God”
