As Jesus famously said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be” (Matthew 6.21). In other words, we will all follow the thing that is really the most important to us. We all have the hill we’ll die on, the bridge we’d rather burn than cross. We are generally happy to live and … Continue reading A God of Freedom: A Reflection on Acts 16.16-34
Over the last few weeks we’ve thought through some of the Big Questions to ask ourselves when we read the Bible in order to help us leave the Scriptures with as good of an interpretation and application as possible, one that is not just faithful to the text, but helps us to be more faithful … Continue reading Big Questions: Concluding Thoughts
For the past week this exploration of the Big Questions that can make our Scripture reading more meaningful has been focusing on ensuring we leave our reading changed. So far we’ve framed that goal in terms of personal growth and development, and expanding in awareness, empathy, and love. Today we’ll tie these two themes together … Continue reading Big Questions: What Is the Impact of My Interpretation on Others?
Sometimes I feel like a broken record here. But to my defense, Jesus’ teachings are for the most part pretty straight forward and variations on a few themes. We’re just not very good at embodying them. But, at the risk of repeating myself, one of the strangest and most frightening trends in contemporary Christianity is … Continue reading A Gift of Peace: A Reflection on John 14:23-29
As we continue asking the Big Questions that can help us better understand, interpret, and apply the Scriptures, today we find ourselves in the midst of the last step: Expand. After doing the introductory work of the Experience and Encounter steps and the heavy lifting of the Explore and Challenge steps, we evaluate our emerging … Continue reading Big Questions: How Does My Interpretation Expand Love?
Matthew Root 