"I just want to know what the Bible means for me!" 

[She said that to me just yesterday.  So I wrote her the following letter this morning. It is almost verbatim, although I have removed her name.]

How can we bring new energy, new understanding, new vigor to reading the book of Revelation?  How, in fact, can we bring Revelation to life?

The video above is excerpted from the first session of the...

It really interests me how Christians often simply don't believe in the reality or possibility of physical, emotional, and spiritual transformation.  They look at this kind of talk as mere hype.  I've...

At the end of this post, I offer an entirely new song to sing—one that is based on seven principles found in biblical texts.  Whether this ever gets set to music, I cannot say.  But this much I can sa...

In Part 1 of this short series on “the new you,” I focused on the substance found in a couple of key biblical texts.  I explored how the phrase “the new you” in these texts goes beyond shallow or mere...

Have you heard the popular motivational saying, “To reach new levels, a ‘new you’ has to show up”?  We’ve all seen stats that show how “new you efforts” can fall flat on their faces :

• 43% abandon t
...

Sometimes, no matter how hard or how long you work at something, what you’re doing just doesn't get the results you had hoped for. You put in the effort, you follow the steps, and yet—the results are ...

Today, I've just returned home from a stellar 5-day trip to Kansas City.  And today, I have a January announcement.  But first, what leads to it...

The Publisher

I went to KC as an invited speaker f...

When reading the Bible, I am responsible for the kinds of questions I'm willing to ask and for the way I am willing to hear what a text is saying. I'll come back to that idea.  But first . . . 

A C...

The word “Godhead” in some English translations of the Bible is misleading, since people often equate it with the word “Trinity.”  The word “Trinity” never occurs in any English translation of the Bib...

Right now, we’re reading Ephesians—a small, positive, powerful little book.  So, to all of our reading partners, I’m suggesting that we approach it like talking with a friend.  (Most of us know how to...

For this reason, take up the full armor of God
so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day,
and having done everything, to stand.  

Paul (Eph 6:13)

Starting tomorrow (Saturday Septemb...

Our families, our churches, our towns and cities, our country, our society, our world—we would have to be close to blind, or in abject denial, not to see that, in many ways, we are coming apart at the...

It's sorely lacking in US and world politics, general society, churches, among neighbors, and, especially within families—to the point of a frightening urgency.  We all see it.  We all know it.  But w...

Before you watch the video, I have an important piece of information.    

This video might not be what you expect. 

All my life, I've heard the following questions—usually, in a title for a forthco...

Your Expectation

It is mouthwatering when we take with us through a day a healthy, vibrant, eager expectation for the good that is about to happen next. It dramatically affects how we experience ever...

Since most people have never heard of "Power-Reading the Bible" or of "engaging biblical authors in conversation through their texts," it's important to point out that this is not business as usual or...

Today, we continue with 2 more of the 5 strategies that Bible readers should seriously embrace to help create a mindset for entering into conversation with biblical authors through their texts.

2. Ke...

How do we consciously and strategically create a mindset for entering into conversation with biblical authors through their texts? That's our main question in this sub-series of 4 posts. Today, we'll ...

You got up late this morning after texting too long last night with your best friend about some random issue. Consequently, the kids and the dog were acting up this morning. Traffic was heavy and you ...

If you want to get depressed, go look up the "Flat Bible Believers" Facebook page. Its very existence helps to demonstrate that people read the Bible every which way they can, and every which way that...

In my previous post, I talked about self disciplines (or disciplines for the self) as specialty tools, and I noted that these tools are designed to do some things, but not other things. I especially n...

Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" came out in 1964;  a new version by the group Disturbed in 2015.  I only heard the Disturbed version two days ago—exactly 60 years after the original.  Wha...

"You just think everybody has to become a scholar to read the Bible!"  Occasionally, some feel uneasy with what I’m saying in the previous posts, and some even get offended by it, as if I don’t unders...