Click here to listen to today’s devotional 2 Corinthians 12:14-18 “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours" sounds friendly enough. Helpful, even. You do something for me, and I’ll return the favor. There’s even a familiar Latin phrase for it: quid pro quo. This for that. But if we’re not careful, “this for that” can become the math we use for relationships. I helped you, so you should help me. I showed up for you, so you should show up for me. I gave, so eventually you should give something back. Paul wants nothing to do with that kind of relationship with the Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians 12, he tells them, “I do not want what is yours but you.” Then he uses the parent-child relationship as an example. “Children ought not to lay up for their parents, but parents for their children.” Paul’s not saying children never give anything to their parents. He's describing the direction of mature love. Mature love asks, “What can I give?” before it asks, “What am I getting?” Tha...
Click here to listen to today’s devotional Matthew 13:1-9 This weekend, we traveled to Corpus Christi to celebrate our son’s birthday. Well, that was the official reason. The real reason was to get our hands on our newborn granddaughter. Knowing I’d spend the day with our kids and then drive four-plus hours home, I needed to make time for some reading. So I woke up early Saturday and went downstairs to the hotel lobby. There was only one other person there. Breakfast was still being set up. And the Weather Channel was the background noise. I wasn’t paying much attention until I heard something that sounded familiar. I was reading about innovation in the church. One of the images was nurturing saplings. That is, planting something new, tending it carefully, and giving it room to become what it might become. At almost that exact moment, an apple farmer appeared on television. He explained that some trees produce more fruit than others. The same orchard can receive the same rain, su...