You called it wisdom. Jesus called it wicked: Christopher Cook says, “I want you to understand that the third servant we’re talking about (from the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25) isn’t some distant villain; he’s a person who received a genuine gift, accurately calculated the cost of full investment, and decided the risk wasn’t worth the exposure. He took the safest option available, preserved what he’d been given, and called the preservation faithfulness. And Jesus looked at the perfectly intact talent and called the man who brought it lazy.”
The holy work of hello: Stacy MacLaren says, “It may not look particularly spiritual, but I believe that some of the holiest work happening on a Sunday morning begins long before anyone opens a Bible app or sings the first note of a worship song. It begins when someone pulls onto the church campus wondering if there will be a place for them. It begins with hello.”
It’s always because of God’s glory: Stephen Kneale concludes, “But in essence, the answer to every ‘why does God…’ question starts and ends with God’s glory. The world is the way it is, God permits the things he permits, he commands the things he commands, he does the things he does, all because they ultimately serve his glory.”
Why more money won’t fix you: JD Greear says, “Whether you’re a Christian or not, if you live in the United States, you almost certainly feel the pull of those two myths. Deep down, you think it’s easier for people with more money to be more generous (that’s Myth 1). And you also daydream about having just a bit more money yourself, because if you had just a bit more, your life would finally start to come together (that’s Myth 2).”
The most misspelled word in every US state: Arizona is “through.” Some of the weirdest ones are Georgia, Minnesota, and New Hampshire. I mean, how often are we spelling “ukulele” and “chihuahua”? And North Dakota misspelling “adios”? That seems a bit too much on the nose.
Photo by Benjamin Sow on Unsplash