One of my favorite parables (and perhaps one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted) is the parable of the “prodigal” son. The word prodigal means basically means ‘wasteful.’ Prodigal does not appear in the Bible. Jesus simply tells the story, or parable. Parables are illustrative stories that do not give us much detail, names, dates, or places—they simply illustrate a point. The story of the prodigal son is a story of two lost boys…
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (Matthew 5:9).
This earthly life we lead is fraught with misunderstanding, miscommunication, and hurt. There are times when people deliberately hurt us. There are times when people do so accidentally. And there are times when we do one or the other to other people. What comes next is important. It is important to Jesus Christ.
Where does addiction end (lead)? How does it end? Before moving on, you may want to read my first two posts on addiction. The first post was The Morality of Addiction. The second post The Physiology and Psychology of Addiction.
Regardless of the expense, location, duration and method…rehab success rates hover between 17% and 21% over five years. Don’t believe me? Click here. Which leads to our next question.
How does an addict lose her way (or her mind)?In other words, how is it possible that a drunk or a person addicted to illicit or prescription drugs reaches the point where they will effectively kill themselves and all their relational connections?
Living in California has its benefits, namely weather. It’s also an incredible mission field. The world has come and is coming to California. This is especially true of the Bay Area, Silicon Valley. My neighborhood is quite diverse. It’s up to 40% Indian (from India). There are large numbers of people from China, Korea, and other ethnically similar countries. My is diverse neighborhood. That’s the Bay Area. That’s California. Aside from these wonderful attributes, California has its share of woes.
I am asked this question often. Depending who you are you either love or dislike expository preaching. The problem is most people don’t know what expository preaching is. Some mistakenly think it is reading a Bible verse and then talking about it, then reading the next Bible verse and talking about it, repeating the process until you’ve run out of time or move through an entire chapter or book of the Bible. If this was your understanding of expository preaching, click here.
Have you every entered a room or a church and sensed the presence of God? Have you ever entered a room and felt that God was not there? How many times do we hear someway say, “I really felt God’s presence today in this service (or in this place or that place)?” I remember hearing a pastor (on television) once say, “I’m about to call down the Holy Spirit on this place!” Have you every considered the implications of such statements?
