Gleanings

When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 23:22) If you’ll permit me, I’d like to offer one more thought about evangelism before we press on to other topics. And while Leviticus may be a strange place to go for outreach advice, it’s where I am in my yearly Bible-reading plan. Leviticus is never an…

Waiting on Congregational Tables

In Acts 6:1-7, we read of a strange moment in church history. Some in the church have begun to complain (this is nothing new under the sun) because a certain group, it seems, has been privileged over another. They bring their complaints to the Twelve. And here is where it gets interesting.   Rather than mediate the dispute, offer counseling, throw a pot-luck dinner, the apostles send the complainers away—because they have more important matters…