It’s Thursday evening. Darkness falls on a Middle Eastern city and a group of men gather around a table. Some men want answers, others want power, others conceal their furtive motives and plans, and still others resign to die. Tonight is different. In the past, their times of feasting were filled with so much laughter…
Author: Matt Tullos
It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
Fresh ideas energize a church. I’m no church historian but somewhere along the line someone said: “Hey! Why don’t we meet on Wednesday night?” “For what?” “To kind of give ourselves a midweek shot in the arm.” “We could pray for the sick, discuss church business and have youth worship with fog machines in the…
Some Candidates Remind Me of Church Members
This has been a difficult political season for America to say the least. Campaign presentations are louder, angrier and crazier than this country has ever experienced. However, I hear a faint whisper in my head that says “I’ve seen these people before.” Most pastors have. Who would these candidates resemble if they joined the church?…
He Needs No One’s Permission
God’s standard of acceptance and love is not based on… weight, gender, race, history, genealogy, past achievements, financial status, nationality, location, IQ, mental health, preexisting conditions, athleticism, success in parenting, career, how high you can jump, how far you can run, your speaking ability, your creativity, your mileage, your grace and charm, your ability to…
He Forgives Them All
The tone of religion, more often than not, rings as a dirge of condemnation. We see the old crooked finger of legalism and malicious apologetics steadily pointing into the mass of stumbling sinners, almost relishing the chance to find a scapegoat for the brokenness of the world. But as we look at the cross and…
Fear of Aunts
As a child, I grew up as a concrete thinker. Honestly, most of us were. That’s just a fact about kids. They think concretely and are unable to process the subtle imagery adults use. I remember I had a deep fear of my aunt who told me that I was so cute she could just…
Jehu: A Character Study
Jehu storms his way through 2 Kings 9 and 10 with fury and reckless abandon. He stands in history as one who did God’s will but with dangerous and ungodly means. The story illustrates God’s disdain of evil and idol worship when it ravages God’s people. In verse 20 we see that Jehu had a…
Grace and Recompense
This Fire of Love unquenched by Eden’s wreck and flowing seemingly in perpetuity toward all that soon will be in all its violent beauty He shall hold all hell’s poison and heaven’s glory. Small beginning, love’s grandest story from the heartbeat in a virgin’s womb til one Sunday rising from the tomb One for all……
40 Things to Pray when Your child is Heading Back to School
Father God, would you…. Strengthen my kids’ resolve to follow You. Protect them from worldviews that will challenge their faith. Allow my children to be influenced by godly men and women within our school. Protect my student from bullies and others that would shame and destroy self-confidence and joy. Make my child bold and…
homeplace
My grandfather lived in a rustic house near a sloping cool branch with slipery stones and verdant woods I walked slowly toward the treeline where mystery lay and there in the shade of autumn’s bough i see darkness rising close of day. but death, a far closer angel visited then and will and again because…