AnotherJohn.Com

  Exodus 2:11-15 Moses had grown up in Pharaoh’s house, but he knew the Hebrews were his people. One day, he went out and saw what life looked like outside the palace. He saw the forced labor, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Moses knew something was wrong. So he looked around, saw nobody was watching, killed the Egyptian, and buried him in the sand. The next day, Moses saw two Hebrews fighting. He confronted the one who was in the wrong, who then snapped back at him, “Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Uh-oh. “Surely the thing is known,” Moses thought. The sand might not be a great hiding place, after all. Think about Moses for a second. In this moment, he knows what injustice looks like and that his people were suffering. He even knew enough to recognize when one Hebrew was mistreating another. His problem wasn’t that he couldn’t tell right from wrong. His problem was that he didn’t automatically know what to do about it. Isn't that a part of growing up s...

1 Samuel 7:7-11 In 1 Samuel 4, Israel lost a battle against the Philistines. So, somebody comes up with the idea to get the ark of the covenant. Now, the ark represented God’s presence among the people, and when they brought it into camp, everybody started shouting, and the ground shook. Even the Philistines were afraid. Israel had to have thought, We've got them. But they didn't. Israel lost the battle, and the ark was captured. A few chapters later, in 1 Samuel 7, the Philistines are coming again. But this time, Israel can't get the ark, so they tell Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us.” Do you notice the difference? Before, the Israelites treated the ark almost like a lucky charm. It doesn't feel like they were asking what God wanted. They had already decided what they wanted, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The text doesn't tell us why the battle in I Samuel 4 happened; some have thought the Philistines started it. But it does ...

  1 Corinthians 6:1-8 We like to win. because winning feels good. Apparently, the Christians in Corinth thought so too. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul addresses church members taking one another to court. In the Roman world, lawsuits could involve more than settling a disagreement. Courts operated within a culture shaped by wealth, social status, and honor. The goal wasn't necessarily to find out who was right or wrong. Taking someone to court could be another way to show who had power and who didn’t. Scholars note that many of the conflicts in 1 Corinthians revolve around these kinds of divisions and expectations of social privilege. And Paul tells the Corinthian Christians to stop. But then he says something even more uncomfortable: “Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded?” Now, I don't think Paul is suggesting that injustice is okay. He's asking whether getting what we think we're owed has become more important than becoming like Jesus. How does that questi...

Genesis 45:25-28 “Don’t get your hopes up.” That’s something you’ve probably heard before. Maybe it’s advice you’ve given to someone. Usually, we mean well when we say that, because we don’t want someone to be disappointed by how things will most likely turn out. But if you hear it enough, “don’t get your hopes up” can become a way of life. Don’t expect too much. Don’t get too excited. Don’t believe things can change. That way, if things do fall apart, at least it won’t hurt as much. Like many of us, Jacob knew that kind of hurt. For years, he believed his son Joseph was dead. He had grieved him, mourned him, and learned to live with a hole in his life. So, years later, when his sons returned from Egypt, saying, “Joseph is still alive!” Jacob couldn’t believe them. Some translations of the Genesis text say that his heart became numb. He was stunned. Of course, that was something hard to believe, but I also wonder if Jacob had also been hurt too deeply to risk even hoping again. Then he...

  Isaiah 43:10-13 Cell phones are great. Except during election season. I've lost count of how many calls and text messages I've received from potential candidates. Each one is sure that this is the most important election in our history. Theirs is the most important. And, apparently, my opinion is extremely valuable. They want my vote. They want to know what issues matter to me. They want to convince me that they're the right person for the job. And choosing the right people matters. Still, I can't help but laugh at the thought that somewhere, someone is staring at a poll, trying to figure out what the rest of us want to hear. In Isaiah 43, God doesn't work that way. God isn't running for reelection. Through the prophet, God says, “Indeed, since that day I am he; there is no one who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can hinder it?” It's not arrogance when you're God. That should be our reassurance. Isaiah is talking to people whose circumstances...

  Acts 15:6-11 In my denomination, being ordained involves a process. Truthfully, it can be long and grueling. There are meetings, evaluations, papers, interviews, projects, and plenty of waiting. My process went pretty smoothly, but there are many stories. One criticism I've heard about the process, one I agree with, isn't really about the requirements. It's about an attitude. Apparently, parts of the process used to be even more difficult. And sometimes people who endured the old system want to ensure the next person has an equally difficult experience. You've probably encountered that attitude. Nobody gave me a break, so why should I give you one? Acts 15 describes a different form of this problem. Some Jewish Christians believed that Gentile believers should take on the requirements and customs that had defined their own religious lives. They essentially said, "If you're going to follow Jesus, you need to carry what we've carried." Peter didn't...