AnotherJohn.Com

  Ephesians 4:17-24 Listen to today's devotional Have you ever noticed how you're always the best driver on the road? If someone else is going too slow, they’re clueless and need to get off the road. If they’re speeding past everyone, they’re a danger to society. But you, well, you’ve got your reasons. You’re just driving with confidence and common sense. Right? That kind of thinking is akin to the Dunning-Kruger Effect. That's a psychological phenomenon where people with limited knowledge or ability overestimate themselves. At the same time, those same people underestimate more capable people. Depending on the ability, this unwarranted overconfidence can come with negative consequences. And, when we're honest, that happens in our faith life too. Have you ever caught yourself being more graceful with yourself while demanding perfection from others? We see others' flaws as character issues or moral failures. Mine, though, are just me not being a perfect human being. ...

  Colossians 2:16-3:1 Listen to today's devotional As a sports fan, I’ve complained about umpires before. I get caught up in the emotion of the game, yelling at the screen because I think I see it better. Truth is, I’d make a terrible umpire. I’m too involved. I don’t always know the rules. I just focus on where I think the action is supposed to go. That’s a helpful image for what Paul warns us about in Colossians 2:18. He says: don’t let anyone disqualify you. In other words, the idea is don’t let someone else act like the umpire of your spiritual life, especially when they’re operating from a human rulebook. It’s one thing to have trusted friends or mentors speak truth into your life. We need that. But it’s another thing to let someone else tell you whether or not you belong to God based on their checklist. Paul mentions people judging others based on what they eat or drink, or how they observe religious holidays. Those can be meaningful disciplines. But they are not the fou...

  Romans 2:1-11 From time to time, I preach a good enough sermon that someone has a wish. Their wish is that so-and-so would have been there to hear it. That's a relative or friend they know. And the reason is always the same. They really should've been there because they really needed to hear it. Now, how many of us don't need to hear gospel-focused reminders? I like to remind my wish makers that so-and-so wasn't there. They didn't hear it. You did. And we're all accountable to what we have heard and what we will do with it. In Romans 2, Paul seems to be talking to a group of people who thought they were good with God. That is, whatever sharp words the apostle had to share, he must've meant them for so-and-so. They're the ones who needed to hear this drastic call. But Paul doesn't let his listeners off the hook. If you're reading this, whoever you are, this message applies to you. I can't help but wonder if Paul's audience would have tho...

Ezekiel 14:12-23 In Noah's story, depending on your sources, millions or billions of people died (Genesis 6-8). Those who opposed Daniel and his three friends were "torn limb from limb" or didn't last long in the lion's den (Daniel 3, 6). And just about everyone in Job's life died. All that to say, death surrounds these biblical heroes. A lot of death. In one of Ezekiel's visions, death would still follow them. The prophet's message was that of God's coming judgement. God's people had not been faithful, taking "their idols into their hearts" (Ezekiel 14:3). So much so, the impending consequence could not be avoided. Not even if Noah, Daniel and Job showed up together in one place! No ark, no lion's den and no dung heap would halt God's coming judgement. Humans and animals would be "cut off" from Jerusalem (14:21). But a remnant would remain. What a glorious reminder repeated in scripture! This remnant would offer con...

  The same boat Romans 2:1-11 It's helpful to distinguish the difference between judging and making judgement calls. Judging mandates a future only God can control. Judgment calls see current circumstances for what they are. Christians often get accused of being judgmental. To be fair, we've both probably known those kinds of Christians. They're always sure of what's in everyone else's heart. They know what God wants to do to every other person. Of course, the Lord is overwhelmingly gracious with them. That grace, though, finds its limits, apparently, in who other people are. Judging, then, is placing yourself in God's chair, so to speak. Only God is judge over our lives. And God judges according to truth (Romans 2:2). When we live to point out everyone's flaws and determine their eternal destinies, we, eventually, lose sight that we're in the same boat. We have the same kinds of attitudes in our hearts. It's an easy task to overly concern yourself w...

  Gotcha! Mark 7:1-15 We assume the group of religious leaders were hoping to catch Jesus in the wrong. Waiting for a  gotcha  moment. Well, they didn't have to watch him or his disciples long. Mark tells us they noticed "some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands" (Mark 7:2). That means they hadn't washed their hands before eating. In this context, washing hands had a spiritual meaning, at least to the religious leaders. It was their custom to wash a certain way, perhaps up to their elbows. As their luck would have it, they just happened to notice a disciple or two not washing properly. This made their hands, and I guess themselves as well, defiled. Mark's reading audience is Gentile. So, they probably didn't have much concern with defilement or uncleanness. That's why Mark offers parenthetical remarks as he tells the story. They wouldn't have seen the problem otherwise. Mark wanted them to know what was of most concern to Jesus. Whereas the...