Jesus says in Matthew 18:15-35 – ¹⁵ “If your brother or sister sins against you, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ ¹⁷ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

¹⁸ “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

¹⁹ “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

²³ “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. ²⁵ Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

²⁶ “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

²⁸ “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

²⁹ “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

³⁰ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

³² “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

³⁵ “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Jesus’ teaching is very clear in this passage. If others sin against you, go talk with them. If they won’t listen to you, take two or three others with you to help work things out. Just remember this doesn’t mean you are to take two or three people who agree with you. You take two or three impartial people who can objectively hear both sides of the story. If this doesn’t work, take it before the whole church and let the church help deal with it. Then forgive whoever sinned against you because God has forgiven you for a lot worse things than what this other person did to you. Jesus ends up saying that refusing to forgive is nothing more than sin.

Before you read any more, please take a few minutes and wrestle with this question: Have I forgiven others the same way I want Jesus to forgive me? (more…)

Matthew 5:1-12 says “Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them. He said: ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ⁵ Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. ⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. ⁷ Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. ⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. ⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. ¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

This passage makes it clear that being a disciple of Jesus was never supposed to be easy.

Umar Mulinde grew up in a strict Muslim home in Uganda. His grandfather was an imam (religious leader of a mosque), and Umar was trained in Islamic thought which went unchallenged until he left home for college. (more…)

Historically the United States of America has been a country which based its actions and vision for the future on the teachings found in the Bible. While trade was a major reason for the first settlements in the New World, religious freedom was even more important to most of those who made the dangerous journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

Many came to America with the view that European settlers were like the Israelites going into the Promised Land. However, they had a problem. Other people were already living here. In order for them to claim their God-given property, they viewed the Native Americans to be like the Philistines which needed to be driven out. This interpretation of Scripture allowed them to massacre the Indians with a clear conscience. (more…)

Do you believe Satan is real?

In 1986, Pope John Paul II said “[The devil exists and] is a cosmic liar and murderer…[who] has the skill in the world to induce people to deny his existence in the name of rationalism and of every other system of thought which seeks all possible means to avoid recognizing his activity.” We also see from the gospels that Jesus believed he was real. Do you agree with Pope John Paul II and, more importantly, Jesus?

According to a 2013 article for the Washington Examiner, only 57% of Americans believe the devil is real. Denying his existence blinds us to the havoc he creates in our world because we then blame his actions on other things, such as bad luck.

The Devil is real. He does attack and harass God’s children. In 2013, my seminary cohort experienced his attacks when we had to go to Vietnam and Cambodia for a school trip. It happened during a visit to a Buddhist temple complex in southern Vietnam. The complex is located outside Chua Doc at a place called Stone Mountain. (more…)

Please prayerfully answer the following question: In my walk with Jesus, am I thriving – or merely surviving?

Are you growing closer to the Lord as you get older or are you struggling to hold onto and live out your faith? Perhaps you’re somewhere in the middle. Your faith is strong but, at times, your struggles seem overwhelming. (more…)

Basically my father and I have a close relationship. After I graduated from high school, I worked in our family business for almost two decades where dad was my boss. I made a conscious decision to respect him even when I thought differently than he did. Occasionally we would disagree. On rare occasions we would argue. When an argument did take place, we would keep the argument focused on the issues at hand. We never allowed them to morph into personal attacks.

I remember one time during the winter months when dad and I were at odds over a couple of issues and I was frustrated with him. It just so happened that it snowed during this time. Normally, dad took his golf cart with the snow blade attached and plowed my driveway right after he plowed his. This time, for whatever reason, he didn’t plow my driveway. I knew I was more than welcome to get the golf cart and do it myself. It took roughly 3 minutes to plow our driveway. Did I do this? No I didn’t. Since I was already frustrated with dad, I chose to clear the snow by hand with a shovel. (more…)

“There is an old story about a man who dreamed that an angel escorted him to church one Sunday. There he saw the pianist playing vigorously, the chorister leading singing, the organist playing with gusto. But the man heard no sound. The congregation was singing, but the sound was utterly muted. When the minister rose to speak, his lips moved, but there was no volume. In amazement, the man turned to his escort for an explanation.

‘This is the way it sounds in heaven,’ said the angel. ‘You hear nothing because there is nothing to hear. These people are engaged in the form of worship, but their thoughts are on other things and their hearts are far away.’” (more…)

Deora Bodley grew up in San Diego, CA. where she enjoyed reading, writing and spending time with her family. She showed her love for children in very real and practical ways by tutoring in afterschool programs and working as a peer counselor for troubled teens. She volunteered with several charity groups, including the Special Olympics and the local zoo. As a student at Santa Clara University, Deora studied French and psychology with aspirations to become a child psychologist. At one point in her life, she decided to take a break from her hectic schedule and visit some friends back East. When her visit was over, she boarded a plane to fly home. She never made it back. Deora died 35 miles from here when her flight, Flight 93, crashed on September 11^th. She was 20 years old. (more…)

The book of Acts tells about the formation of the church. It started in Jerusalem with a small group of people who were dedicated to Jesus. The Holy Spirit gave them boldness so they began to share the Gospel. People were being saved and miracles were happening. However, the Jewish leaders weren’t happy about it.

Acts 5:17-42 says – ¹⁷ Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸ They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. ¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. ²⁰ “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”

²¹ At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. (more…)

Please answer the following question- Three areas where injustice and oppression is happening in our country are…?

It’s fairly easy to name areas where injustice and oppression are happening in other parts of the world, such as Syria, Iraq and Nigeria, where brutality and human rights violations run rampant. Can we do the same for our own country?

As Christians, we should be able to it. God expects us to be aware of these areas. Isaiah 1:17 tells us to –

“Learn to do right; seek justice,

encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless,

plead the case of the widow.”

We have to know where there is injustice if we’re going to seek justice for the victims. We have to be able to recognize oppression if we’re going to free people from it. The truth is most of us can’t identify these situations unless we or someone we know is a victim. Plus, we live in a rural, white area that doesn’t have all of the problems which plaque diverse, urban areas. (more…)