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The Mark of a Great Athlete and Christian Leader

August 30, 2018 by Peter Dubbelman 3 Comments

Christian leader, bear with all people, even as the Lord bears with you; endure all in love,… Press on in your race … the time needs you (as pilots [of a sailing vessel] needs winds and as a storm tossed sailor needs a harbor) … Be sober as God’s athlete … It is the mark of a great athlete to be bruised, yet still conquer. Read More »

My Father is the Gardener

August 22, 2018 by Peter Dubbelman Leave a Comment

The Christian knows God as a gardener, who works in his garden that it might bear much fruit.… God’s word can “prune/cleanse us,” so we can bear more fruit.… Hardships can have a similar effect.… With these thoughts in mind, perhaps the following thoughts and prayer are helpful. Read More »

The LORD Our Maker

July 11, 2018 by Peter Dubbelman Leave a Comment

The Christian knows God as “the LORD our Maker,” a name that is different from the Creator who creates “from nothing.” God invites us to join with him, as he both does good and makes good things. When someone does good, whether by a service rendered or a good produced, they participate with God, who is good. Scripture displays God as an architect and builder, composer and performer, carpenter and mason, metalworker and potter, garment-maker and dresser, farmer, winemaker and gardener. Read More »

By His Wounds We Are Healed.

June 27, 2018 by Peter Dubbelman Leave a Comment

The Psalmist declared, “In your name I will hope, for your name is good” (Ps 52:9). This post is one of many on the names of God. Clement of Alexandria declared, “Each name by itself does not express God, but all together are indicative of God.” Each of these names represents a dimension of God still exhibited today—somewhere, somehow. Read More »

Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now

June 9, 2018 by Peter Dubbelman 2 Comments

The title of this book sums up nicely a key theme of Sabbath, which Brueggemann expounds upon in an easily understood manner: “[Sabbath] declares in bodily ways that … we will not be defined by busyness and by acquisitiveness and by the pursuit of more, in either our economics or our personal relationships or anywhere in our lives. Because our life does not consist in commodity.” Read More »