Category Archives: Bible

FaithBuilders

Posted on by
Reply

This year, I have been continuing to provide new FaithBuilders materials for those who want to learn more about God and to explore their faith in new and engaging ways. I, first, created FaithBuilders as a tool that parents can use to lift up important stories from the Bible and to share faith-building time with their children. I began FaithBuilders, last year, by lifting up 52 stories from the life and the ministry of Jesus Christ and by providing a few short questions each week to encourage some thinking and discussion. The idea is to focus upon only one short story from the Bible each week.

This year, I am lifting up key 52 stories from the entire Bible that can give you a bird’s-eye-view of the Bible and that can help you (and your family) to learn key stories from the Bible that can help you to understand the entire Bible better. Here is an example of this week’s FaithBuilders material:

_________________________________________

Week 11 – Genesis 29:14-30

Have you ever been tricked by another person? Talk a little bit about a time when you were tricked and about how being tricked made you feel.

Jacob served Laban for seven years before he asked Laban to allow him to marry his daughter, Rachel. Why do you think Laban tricked Jacob (See: Genesis 29:17-18 and Genesis 29:26)? How do you think Jacob felt when he discovered that he had married Leah? How do you think Leah felt about the whole thing?

People sometimes grow angry when they discover that they have been tricked by other people. Do you think that Jacob got angry? Why do you think that Jacob agreed to work for Laban for another seven years? Do you think Jacob forgave Laban, or did he just work for Laban for another seven years to get what he wanted?

We do not ask fathers to “give away” the bride during weddings at our church. Why do you think that we stopped doing that? What does being “given away” by her father during the wedding ceremony say about a woman and her relationship with her father and husband?

Jacob ended up married to both Leah and Rachel (which was allowed when the Book of Genesis was written); but we learn in this week’s story, that Jacob loved Rachel more than he loved Leah (See: Genesis 29:30). What do you think it was like to live in the house with Jacob, Leah and Rachel? What kind of problems do you think were created because Jacob loved Rachel more than he loved Leah?

Laban tricked Jacob because he wanted Leah to be married and to have a nice life, too. Do you think that it’s ever OK to do something that you know is wrong because you want to see something good happen? (For example: Do you think that it’s ever OK to steal money from someone who is wealthy and give it to somebody who sends his/her kids to school hungry because he/she does not have enough money to buy food?) If you think that it’s OK to do something that you know is wrong because you think that something good will happen, where do you draw the line? How far is too far?

________________________________________

If you would like to begin using FaithBuilders as a tool to strengthen your faith, or to help your children or grandchildren learn more about God and the Bible, please click this link: https://lifeandfaith.online/faithbuilders/ and be sure to come back each week.

You can begin almost anywhere in the set of readings and questions that I have provided, and you may even want to invite someone to visit FaithBuilders and to discuss the stories and questions that you will find there with you.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge the Lord and God will make your path straight.“

FaithBuilders

Posted on by
Reply

FaithBuilders Picture

Several months ago, I began a new ministry called FaithBuilders.

I have noticed (in my 32 years as a pastor) that many Christians either don’t know much about the Bible or that they feel overwhelmed when they try to apply what the Bible says to daily living. Sunday School teachers are doing their best to help children learn stories in the Bible; but, sometimes, the Sunday School curriculum that they use is built around so many unfamiliar stories that children remember only a few of them. We live in a time when more and more parents depend upon the Church to teach their children about God (while they, perhaps, go out for Sunday brunch?), and when other parents do not teach their children much about God or the Bible at all. And even some churches have shifted away from teaching basic stories from the Bible and have started teaching little children about compassion, kindness, gentleness and love – wonderful values and principles that are, sometimes, much too nebulous for little children to embrace and understand.

And I’ve asked myself, many times: “What is something that I could do to change that?”

I began to wonder if adults would find it far less intimidating to talk with their children about God if they were better equipped? What would happen, for example, if I created a list of 52 stories from the life of Jesus and asked people to focus on one story each week? Would adults take a few minutes at the end of each day to teach children a story from the Bible if I provided some easy-to-use tools? Would adults be willing to take a few minutes at the end of the day to read a story from the Bible and to talk with their children about it if I provided a few questions to get the conversation going? What about adults? Could an adult be encouraged to read stories from the Bible a few moments each day and to reflect upon questions that can help them to build a bridge between the stories in the Bible and daily living? What would it look like if I created a list of 52 stories from the life of Jesus to read during one year; and then, created a list of 52 well-known stories from the Bible to read throughout the course of another year? It seemed to be a win-win for everybody! Adults would be equipped. Adults could be encouraged to read the Bible and pray with their children. And the children, of course, would benefit from spending some time each day with their parent(s) or another adult(s) learning about God and building life-giving faith-links to the Bible that they could carry with them for the rest of their lives.

FaithBuilders is a ministry that’s been created to help you to build a bridge between where you are right now and where God wants to take you tomorrow. And, the best part about is that it’s easy, convenient, and life-changing! And, guess what? FaithBuilders can all be found right here on this blog! Just click the menu option above.

Why not visit FaithBuilders today? There is no better moment than right now to begin to explore the Bible in a new way, and there’s no better moment than right now to begin to introduce children to stories from the Bible that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Click Here to Visit FaithBuilders

Spiritual Growth in Challenging Times

Posted on by
Reply

FaithBuilders Picture

I had the chance to gather in an online meeting with nearly thirty spiritual leaders that represented five different faith traditions this morning.

We, most certainly, had different ideas about God and spirituality. Imagine Jewish rabbis talking about how they celebrated Passover with Islamic leaders who are getting ready for Ramadan. Imagine Christians talking about Holy Week and Easter with a Buddhist. Imagine a Mormon speaking about the new temple that is being built in our local area while spiritual leaders from different faith traditions listened to her and shared in her excitement. It was an incredible experience!

People of all faith traditions are moving through challenging and unusual times.

Our shared humanity is something that reminds us that we’re vulnerable. It’s scary to think about the fact that, any time you leave your home, you are opening yourself up to the possibility of being infected by a deadly virus. Many people, who were wishing that their lives could slow down for a while, have too much time on their hands. Some people have even begun to openly rebel against social distancing and are protesting on the steps of capital buildings across America. And then, there are those who are grieving because they’ve lost people that they dearly loved in the last few weeks. There are students who were preparing for their high school or college graduation, but who are now mourning the fact that they will never see some of their friends again. Stress and tension are high. Some people are continuing to search for ways to be kind to others while others have a fuse that’s growing shorter every day.

Spiritual leaders, even across faith traditions, agree that isolation has some benefits.

Many of us are trapped in busy routines that can silence the voice of God. We pack our schedules with a nearly endless list of things to do. I recently asked a group of teenagers how many of them would like to tell their parents that they need to just stop once in a while – and every hand in the room went up. We search for significance through job promotions. We try to gain a sense of satisfaction by buying things that we don’t really need, or by bragging about how much money we have in the bank. Some of us have a Bible that we proudly display on the coffee table in our living room; and yet, we never open it. It’s sometimes hard to hear the voice of God because we never simply stop, and take time to reflect and pray. Jesus withdrew to the mountaintop many times during His life and ministry because He knew that God’s often found in silence and solitude.

One of the big benefits of isolation is that we have more time to spend in faith-building activities and in sensing our deep connections to the Divine.

Several months ago, I created something that I’m calling FaithBuilders. In my life and ministry, I’ve learned that many people are unfamiliar with even the basic stories in the Bible. I spend time with teenagers who don’t know how to find specific verses in their Bibles, and who have never heard the story of Joseph’s coat of many colors, the story of the Exodus, or even the story of Samson and Delilah. Today, more and more people have never heard many of the stories about Jesus that are in the Bible.

Spiritual leaders, even across faith traditions, agree that isolation has some benefits.

And that’s why I would like to encourage you to spend some time during these unusual days reconnecting with your faith, your God and your spirituality. And for those who are Christian, I’d like to introduce you, again, to FaithBuilders.

FaithBuilders is an easy-to-use tool that can be used by individuals who want to reflect upon their faith and revisit basic stories in the Bible, and FaithBuilders is something that parents can use with their children during these unusual times when children are not able to gather together in Sunday School classes.

We focus upon only one story in the Bible each week; and, as we’re doing that together, I provide some questions for you to think about (or even discuss with others). Some of the questions build bridges between the story you’re being asked to read and other stories in the Bible. Other questions help you to build bridges between your faith and daily living. Still other questions invite you to pray about challenges that you are facing in your own life and about some of the things that you’re seeing in other people’s lives. FaithBuilders is designed to help you to grow and to sense a deeper connection between God and daily living.

I hope that you’ll take some time to explore FaithBuilders and that you will be able to use this tool as a faith-building activity during these unusual days. As I indicated above, the spiritual leaders that I spoke with this morning agree that isolation has benefits. Why not use some time in these unusual days to revisit some of your beliefs and to become more deeply connected to faith-building activities? Perhaps, these difficult times can help you to become more aware of God’s presence and more able to hear God’s voice?

Click Here to Go to FaithBuilders

Read Through the Bible – Week 40

Posted on by
Reply

prayer-page

Welcome back to “Read Through the Bible”

This weekend, many Christians will enter the season of Advent – a time of hope when we listen to the promises of God and a time of expectation when we hear God’s promises to renew His creation.

The news is filled with many stories that create fear and uncertainty these days. We hear about gunmen randomly shooting innocent people, and we hear about bombs rocking mosques in the Middle East. We’ve all heard about the increasing tensions between the United States and North Korea, and we’ve witnessed missile launches. We’ve seen people of great prominence fall from public grace as the #MeToo Movement has exposed stories of sexual harassment, and we’ve wondered what Congress’ new tax bill will mean to our lives in the coming years. Fear and uncertainty seem to be all around us. Some of us are asking questions that we’ve never asked in the past. And we need hope. We need to find a source of hope and peace that reminds us that God’s still in control and that the forces of good are, ultimately, going to win.

Advent is time of hope when we listen to the promises of God and a time of expectation when we hear God’s promises to renew His creation. But Advent is, also, a time when we are called to reflect and to honestly admit that, at least sometimes, we’re part of what’s wrong. We don’t always treat other people kindly; and, when people step on our toes, we don’t always forgive quickly. We want to sit in the driver’s seat and self-direct the course of our lives; and, when we do that, we can be blind to opportunities that God sets before us. We sometimes misinterpret the actions of others and we’re not always willing to admit that people can change. That’s the story of Jonah. And that’s one of the stories that we’re going to encounter in this week’s readings.

Many of us are probably already familiar with this epic tale. We can almost picture the frightened mariners casting lots, and we can almost imagine the look on Jonah’s face when his compatriots decided that he’s the problem. We can easily picture Jonah being swallowed by a great, big fish and being vomited-out upon the dry land. Maybe, as you read the story of Jonah this week, you’ll be able to sense the anger that he felt when God decided to have mercy upon the 120,000 people that Jonah thought God would destroy? The story of Jonah is a short one; but it’s, also, a very human story in which we can all find a part of ourselves.

What if we began the season of Advent by honestly admitting that, sometimes, we are the source of the problems in our own lives? What if we began the season of Advent by just stopping for a moment to think about the times when we’ve thwarted God’s plan for our lives and futures because we weren’t willing to give God the reins? Have you ever had a time when you struggled to accept the fact that God can forgive people that you can’t? Can Advent mark a new beginning in your life this year and help you to prepare yourself to meet the Christ whose birth we’re going to celebrate in just a few short weeks?

Advent is time of hope when we listen to the promises of God and a time of expectation when we hear God’s promises to renew His creation. But Advent is, also, a time when we recall that the renewal of God’s creation sometimes begins with us. Perhaps, we can use the next few weeks to renew our relationships with people that we’ve hurt or with the people who have hurt us? Perhaps, we can use the next few weeks to more intentionally pray and ask for God’s guidance? Perhaps, we can use the next few weeks to allow God to work in our hearts and in our lives, so that we’re more prepared to meet the Christ as He comes to us on Christmas?

Here are this weeks readings:

Sunday: Hebrews 5-7 – Monday: Numbers 29-32 – Tuesday: 2 Chronicles 11-15 – Wednesday: Psalms 117-118 – Thursday: Proverbs 28 – Friday: Jonah – Saturday: Acts 3-4

 

 

Read Through the Bible – Weeks 34 and 35

Posted on by
1

prayer-page

Welcome back to “Read Through the Bible.”

We’ve been traveling through the Gospel of John in the last few weeks. John is the last of the Gospels in the Bible and was, chronologically, the last of the gospels, too. The Gospel of John contains stories that we don’t find in the other gospels. This is where we’ll find the story of the wedding at Cana in Galilee, the Samaritan woman by the well, and a lot of stories filled with theological statements. John’s famous for the “I AM” statements that we find throughout his gospel, and we’re going to encounter two of those statements as we read from John’s Gospel this week: “I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:7) and “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:14). But, carefully tucked between these two statements, we find one of my favorite verses in the Bible.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)

What kinds of things are stealing energy and enthusiasm from your life right now? What parts of your life do you find most difficult? None of us can live our lives without facing some challenges and obstacles, but there are other things in life that drain us (almost on a daily basis) and that leave us with weighted-down spirits and heavy hearts. Do you find yourself praying about those things? What’s God been saying to you? Jesus tells us that the “thief” comes into our lives to steal and kill and destroy – but God is mightier than the “thief” that Jesus describes, isn’t He? What do you need from God right now? How might God be working in your life to take away the power of the “thief” that’s stealing energy and enthusiasm from your daily life?

Jesus also tells us that He has come that we may have life and have it abundantly. What kinds of things make you feel close to God right now? What kinds of things send you into the world filled with energy and excitement? St. Ignatius of Loyola tells us that God is a God who spurs us on in life, and who creates deep passions and excitement. What are you most excited about right now, and how can that excitement be a clear sign that God’s doing something big in your life? Perhaps, that’s something that you can lift-up to God in times of prayer this week, too? How can the excitement and passions that you feel about certain things help you to understand God’s plan for your life and your future?

I know that I’ve asked a lot of questions. But, as we travel through the Gospel of John, we’re brought face-to-face with a God who’s come into the world to bring life, to restore hope, to give peace in difficult times, and to give us strength to face the challenges in life that we’ll all face at some point. Where are you finding God in your life right now, and what do you need the most from God at this point in your journey? Why not take some time to talk with God about that today?

Week 34

Sunday: 1 Timothy 4-6 – Monday: Numbers 5-8 – Tuesday: 1 Chronicles 10-14 – Wednesday: Psalms 99-101 – Thursday: Proverbs 19 – Friday: Hosea 1-7 – Saturday: John 7-9

Week 35

Sunday: 2 Timothy 1-2 – Monday: Numbers 9-12 – Tuesday: 1 Chronicles 15-19 – Wednesday: Psalms 102-104 – Thursday: Proverbs 20-21 – Friday: Hosea 8-14 – Saturday: John 10-12

 

Read Through the Bible – Weeks 32 and 33

Posted on by
Reply

prayer-page

Life’s been a bit crazy in the last few weeks….

I guess that a man doesn’t realize how much his wife does to support and to care for him until she decides to go away for ten days. I spent time at a coaching conference while my wife was away, and came home with a 3-hour homework assignment and a small pile of books to read. And, of course, ministry continues.  First Communion classes have started and our Catechism program is underway. We’re getting ready to celebrate Harvest Home this weekend with an Oktoberfest – and with a special Sunday that’s devoted to focusing our attention upon how God’s using us and the ministry of our congregation to do His work in a quickly-changing world. And, quite honestly, it’s all pretty overwhelming….

You could probably be writing something very similar, right? There are times when we find ourselves burning the candle at both ends and trying to light it in the middle. We all have times when we realize that there’s just not enough of us to around. And it’s hard for us – because we don’t always like to admit it. I often joke about the fact that I once asked God for an extra day each week – and He responded, in great mercy, by saying, “No!”

And yet, as we travel through the book of Proverbs, we find encouragement.

“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” (Proverbs 16:3)

“The heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)

How is God helping to establish your plans? How is God leading you and guiding you in your life right now? Are you trying to do it all by yourself? Are you struggling because you can’t figure-out how to find the time to do all of the things that you think God wants you to do? Perhaps, it’s time to step back and commit your work to the Lord? Maybe, it’s time to step back and admit that you don’t really know the exact path forward, and ask God to guide you and strengthen you?

We all face overwhelming times when we’re not sure about the future and when we are even less sure about how to get there. Why not take some time to pray about that today – knowing that God has a wonderful plan for your life and that God will open doors that will lead you in the direction that He wants you to move?

Here are two weeks of readings:

Week 31

Sunday – 2 Thessalonians, Monday – Leviticus 25-27, Tuesday – 1 Chronicles 1-4, Wednesday – Psalms 93-95, Thursday – Proverbs 16, Friday – Daniel 1-6, Saturday – John 3-4

Week 32

Sunday – 1 Timothy 1-3, Monday – Numbers 1-4, Tuesday – 1 Chronicles 5-9, Wednesday – Psalms 96-98, Thursday – Proverbs 17-18, Friday – Daniel 7-12, Saturday – John 5-6