By Beth Demme When you hear the phrase “the kingdom of God,” what do you picture? Do you picture a throne room with a powerful ruler? Do you hear a loud booming voice? What if it is much more … unassuming? What if the kingdom/reign of God is simultaneously so big as to be beyond description, and yet somehow also …
Do I Need a Jesus Realignment? Or, Why It Matters to Me that Jesus Healed on the Sabbath By Beth Demme Was Jesus a rabble-rouser? Was he a rebel with a cause? Is that why Jesus broke the rules about the Sabbath? When Jesus allowed his disciples to pluck grain and when he healed the man with the withered hand …
The Irony of How We Use John 3:16 By Beth Demme 16For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. There are different opinions as to how many verses are in the Bible, but everyone agrees there are thousands of them. One …
Pentecost Reminds Me To Breathe God In By Beth Demme We all know there are four seasons—winter, spring, summer, and autumn. I live in the northern part of Florida, just on the border with Georgia. Unlike our friends further south in Florida, we are lucky enough to get at least a taste of each of the four seasons. Some of …
By Beth Demme Do you remember Paul Harvey? He was on the radio back in the day, always sharing “the rest of the story.” Well, in Christianity, Ascension is the rest of the story. As much as my faith is based on incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, it is also about ascension. I declare this every time I say the Apostles’ …
Keeping Up With God, Who Is Always A Step Ahead By Beth Demme In the New Testament, right after the four Gospels, we have a book called “Acts.” Sometimes it’s called “Acts of the Apostles” because it’s the story of how the apostles began to teach, preach, and heal after Jesus ascended to heaven. Sometimes it’s called “Acts of the Holy …
Yes, You Are Like The Eunuch By Beth Demme Sometimes we read about an incredibly beautiful moment in the Bible, like the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, and we think “good for him!” without understanding it’s really about us, too. And while it can be potentially dangerous to make everything in the Bible about y-o-u, maybe that’s a risk …
The Surprising Connection Between Dependence and Abundance By Beth Demme I don’t know anything about actual shepherding, like, with sheep. Literally, nothing. My visions of being a shepherd come from church Christmas pageants when I was a kid. The 10-year old boys were the shepherds and that meant they carried a cool stick and wore their dads’ bathrobes. That’s probably all …
The Power of a Shared Meal By Beth Demme I love sitting down at a table with people and sharing a meal. Whether it’s a holiday meal with the family that has loved me my entire life, or an evening out with new friends, I always enjoy “breaking bread” with people. “Breaking bread” has a special meaning in Christianity. If …
Why I Love Doubting Thomas By Beth Demme When you hear the story of “Doubting Thomas” do you think of him as a failure or do you feel an affinity for him? If you don’t know the details of his story, pause for a minute and read how he got his nickname at John 20:19-31. On the one hand, I …