Luke 17:7-10A few years after we were married, Dena and I discovered that one of our favorite pizza places held a regular trivia night. We had only one kiddo at the time and family babysitters close at hand, so we decided to make trivia night a standing date — just the two of us, a pizza, and a growing group of friends and strangers. The rules were simple: Every team had a clever name. No one was ...  Read More

Another classic parable. The story of the prodigal son is sometimes referred to as the 'lost son' as it follows the parables of the 'lost coin' and the legendary story of the 'lost sheep'. There are some common home runs in this story that I have heard over the years. There is the beauty of the loving Father who accepts all who return; teaching us that God will always welcome us if we 'stray away'.  Read More

“Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fas...  Read More

Have you ever wondered what makes someone do something or what their reasoning is behind their actions?In Luke 12:13-21 we find a situation where someone puts Jesus on the spot and asks him to do something that would be of benefit to them; “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me (Luke 12:13, ESV).” Jesus’ response is confrontational, as he asks this person who had decided that ...  Read More

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  Luke 10:29 ESVJesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw...  Read More

When I was 11 years old, one Saturday night a group of older guys from my church took me and a few of my friends into the city to see a Motocross race. Motocross is a sport where a group of people on dirt bikes (motorcycles) line up in a row, and they race through a course filled with twists, and turns, and huge jumps through the air. I had never been to an event like that before, and I loved dirt...  Read More