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correcting blind spots

by marvin williams on March 1st, 2013 | 4 responses
In The Call to Joy and Pain, Ajith Fernando, a Christian leader from Sri Lanka, wrote: “The church in each culture has its own special challenges—theological blind spots that hinder Christians from growing to full maturity in Christ. . . . I think one of the most serious theological blind spots... read more »

a prize awaits

by pohfangchia on February 15th, 2013 | 2 responses
How do I decide what to write in my ODJ article? Each month, I move down the list of 66 books in the Bible, and pick a passage from three books to write on. But sometimes I’ll write on the passage that I’m currently studying. Interestingly, I’ve noticed that quite a number of my articles are... read more »

opening up

by tom felten on February 7th, 2013 | 9 responses
Recently, my wife and I had the privilege of speaking on the topic of Loving One Another at a marriage retreat. Attendees included couples of all ages—those who had been married just a year to a “golden” duo who had spent 50 years together. That couple, Joe and Arlene, blessed the younger... read more »

not fooled

by regina franklin on January 11th, 2013 | 8 responses
“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” —Mark Twain A well-known humorist of the 19th century, Twain wielded his biting wit to expose the ills in humanity. Oftentimes, though, his ideas simply echoed the truth... read more »

sin is serious

by marvin williams on December 13th, 2012 | 4 responses
David Head, in his book He Sent Leanness, overhauls a traditional public confession of sin found in the Book of Common Prayer and offers a satirical look at our shallow view of sin: “Benevolent and easy-going Parent: We have occasionally had some minor errors of judgment, but they’re not really... read more »

born to die

by Jeff Olson on December 3rd, 2012 | 4 responses
We’re well into that special time of the year when our focus turns to the celebration of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:1-20). The world has never been the same since that sacred night in Bethlehem so many years ago. Once you get past Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, however, and press on into the record of... read more »

leave room for God

by marvin williams on December 2nd, 2012 | one response
A TV commercial begins with a boy sitting in a play tree house, taunting a grandma and a baby because he has the family’s bag of Doritos chips, and they don’t. The grandma and the baby conspire to get their share. Cooperating with one another, the grandma slingshots the baby to grab the Doritos.... read more »

right thing, wrong reason

by sheridan voysey on November 8th, 2012 | 8 responses
I was preaching one evening when a mentally ill man walked down the church aisle, slapped me in the face, pushed over the pulpit, and sent the congregation into a panic. In a protective act, a church member named Gary stepped toward the man as he lunged towards Gary and his wife. I sent an email to... read more »

thanks, but no thanks

by pohfangchia on October 26th, 2012 | 8 responses
A Christian school for autistic children received a donation from a corporation. After making sure that there were no strings attached, the school accepted the money. Later, the corporation requested to have representation on the school’s board of directors. The head of the school returned the... read more »

collapsed

by regina franklin on September 10th, 2012 | 6 responses
In the past few years, my kids and I started a Christmas tradition of making gingerbread houses with some friends. Last year, as we prepared to go meet with the others, I gathered our supplies and noted with concern that the baked product didn’t seem quite hard enough. Later, my dread grew as the... read more »
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