Serious About Scripture

Mentoring and motivating Christ’s people to live his words

Rational Forgiveness

According to the ESV calculation for a talent (“a monetary unit worth about 20 years wages for a laborer”), the master in Jesus Mt 18 parable forgave a debt of ten thousand talents equal to 200,000 years of labor, which is equal to 73,000,000 days of labor. The forgiven man however would not forgive a debt owed him worth 100 days of labor (100 denarii) which is 730,000 times less that he was forgiven. Jesus intends for his listeners to…

The Hospice Bed: A Letter From Jim

Dear CCW family, The year is 2028. A man drove up in a paneled truck, parked in the driveway, then introduced himself at the front door as “the man with the hospice bed.” They were expecting him. Everything had been done that could have been done, according to his choices, and now there was nothing left but to die. He was a very old man, but was conscious and could communicate — a remarkable privilege for almost all of those…

The Whining Christian Schooled by Paul

Amazingly, the Apostle Paul seemed never to have worn the mantle of victimhood as a redeemed man, regardless of the physical suffering or social condemnation he experienced. It was antithetical to his “in Christ” perspective. He would not be put to shame as a person for whom Christ had died, risen, and ascended. He had it all! He could enumerate his insults and beatings to instruct, sure, but he wore them like a badge of honor. To suffer for Christ…

Figuring Out Christian Freedom: What Romans 14 Does and Does Not Say

Have you ever disagreed with another believer about whether or not something was allowable behavior? Your disagreement might have been about whether Christians may, or should not, watch sports on Sundays, watch R-rated movies, or hold jobs where serving alcohol is required. Christians on the “may” side of such disagreements usually argue that these types of activities are not specifically forbidden in the Bible. Christians on the “should not” side either point to a passage of Scripture they believe does…