Micaiah comes and goes in the Biblical story so fast he’s easy to miss. But while we don’t know that much about the prophet, his time in the limelight of 1 Kings 22 leaves a lasting impression. Caught between a hard truth and the notorious Ahab, King of Israel, it’s impossible not to put ourselves in…
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There are few things that hurt more than when someone else is chosen over you. No matter the ways we try to rationalize or minimize the sting, it’s never fun to be that person. It’s made even worse when you’ve done everything right, and you should be the right choice. How do we handle it…
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Sometimes life can drive us to a breaking point. We can give, and strive, and work, and scheme, only to feel like we’re going nowhere. It can be enough to make us ask the question, “What’s the point?” Elijah was there. He had done everything right, yet no one seemed to listen. When Elijah was…
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Rain, fire, dueling gods, kings, and prophets. This story has it all. At its essence though, it’s a picture of the very same battle we all have raging in our own hearts. We dance to appease our false gods only to hear silence. Elijah’s challenge is pointed squarely at us- will we choose a God…
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God’s provision often comes from places we would never expect. And while we may not no where to look for it, we do know what he looks for in us. The Widow at Zarephath was an unexpected source of provision for Elijah, just as Elijah was an unexpected source for the widow. But for both…
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A nobody from nowhere. That’s the man that would become the most significant prophet since Moses and until Jesus. What is it about this guy Elijah that would prompt God to use him as a figure for hope during centuries of silence? We get a peak of what he is all about in the very…
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Big moments capture our attention and our emotion. We spend our lives fretting over these big moments, but it’s only when we reflect back on our lives that we realize it’s the moments we didn’t even know were happening that really set the tone for what our lives become. We would do well to examine…
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After a long, hard trip, there’s nothing quite as sweet as a homecoming. Finally reaching the destination that you have long for and struggled to find, to be home is the sweetest satisfaction we can know. The tragedy, though, is that some will never know this feeling. They assume that this journey, this place, is…
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There are few things more dangerous than an enemy from inside the camp- a double agent. Double agents know all the secrets of both sides. They know the lingo, what motivates, what agitates, and what creates a sense of comfort. They are incredibly dangerous because they know how to manipulate trust and manipulate our desires….
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When life begins to get a little rocky and the waves start to pound all around us, it can be easy for us to feel unsteady, unsafe, and a bit seasick. When that happens, what we desperately need is something that will allow us to steady the ship amidst the waves. Peter’s teaching can help…
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Sometimes the Christian life feels like we don’t quite have all the right ingredients- like we’ve chosen a complicated recipe that we can quite make according to plan. In order to get something on the table, we substitute ingredients and kind of guess at what the end product is supposed to be. The end result…
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The Christian life is absurd if you live it the way the Bible teaches. As Peter finishes his exhortation to various churches about to suffer, his teaching is incomprehensible to anyone that is apart from Christ. But in Christ, his exhortation is the only thing that can give us hope. An exhortation to endure and…
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The beginning of a new year provides us with an opportunity to consider the previous year, rejoice in the successes, and learn from the failures. There is a lot of value in reflecting on the previous twelve months. However, the beauty of the gospel is that whatever the last year (or more) has been, today…
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When Jesus came, he came on a mission, in part, to bring us joy. When he dies, he prays for his disciples that they would have his joy, but also that they would be among those that bring that joy to others. We have been given the same mission that Jesus came with- a mission…
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As we gather on Christmas Eve, we reflect on the night Jesus was born and the why Jesus came. We consider his teaching and his mission, which he tells us was all about (remarkably) our joy. http://media.blubrry.com/provjeff/providencejeffcity.com/media/A_Mission_of_Joy.mp3Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
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As the days rapidly countdown to Christmas Day, the waiting to celebrate is almost over. Soon gifts will be opened, meals shared, and memories created all around the world. For now, though, we wait. There’s something about that- the waiting- that seems to be a baked into all the things we love the most. It…
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Tidings of comfort and joy- There are few things more “Christmasy” than that. Yet when we read the actual Christmas story, there is almost no comfort and joy can be hard to find. So how did these two ideas become so deeply associated with Christmas? After all, in a broken world, isn’t it dismissive and…
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The songs we sing at Christmas teach us a lot about what we’re looking for during this season. The theme of “joy” is one that is prominent in our songs, but how did we get there? What is it in the stories that teach us how to be joyful? Surprising little in these familiar Christmas…
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Follow the leader is a simple game. The leader does something, everyone else should do the same. Simple. Yet when Jesus is our leader- the last thing we really want to do is play that game. Because following the leader, when the leader is Jesus, means following him into some very hard places. The beauty…
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Suffering is disorienting. Persecution can make you doubt what you know is true. Our instinct is to fight back or run away from the things that harm us. However, Peter calls us to a different way. In an unexpected (and often unwanted) set of instructions, Peter tells us the way forward is through careful, strategic…
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