The gospel frequently challenges systems of privilege, oppression and injustice. Such was the case in Paul's encounter with the slave girl at Philippi. She was in a situation with seemingly no options, when Paul delivered her from demonic oppression. The girl's bosses reacted to their loss and Paul paid for her liberation by going to jail. Are you willing to pay the price to bring equity or justice to others who are suffering?

The gospel frequently challenges systems of privilege, oppression and injustice. Such was the case in Paul's encounter with the slave girl at Philippi. She was in a situation with seemingly no options, when Paul delivered her from demonic oppression. The girl's bosses reacted to their loss and Paul paid for her liberation by going to jail. Are you willing to pay the price to bring equity or justice to others who are suffering?

Simon's request was motivated by the same illusion of power that drives so many in today's business, political, and entertainment arenas. Popular culture invests actors, sports figures and other celebrities with the appearance of unusual significance. But God's power has little or nothing to do with outward appearances or worldly acclaim. Simon adopted the world's perspective on power. How much do we allow status and position to define who we are?

Simon's request was motivated by the same illusion of power that drives so many in today's business, political, and entertainment arenas. Popular culture invests actors, sports figures and other celebrities with the appearance of unusual significance. But God's power has little or nothing to do with outward appearances or worldly acclaim. Simon adopted the world's perspective on power. How much do we allow status and position to define who we are?

The longer we live, the more certain we may become about things in our life. It becomes easy for our thoughts and viewpoints to become solidified to the point where we become difficult to influence. The risk we run here is an unhealthy judgment of others. Judgment belongs to God alone, and our happiness will increase when we leave God's work to God.

Everyone experiences a daily interaction between internal thoughts and the words we choose to speak. Although sometimes we use our words carefully, other times we can be quite careless. James tells us that with our tongue we are capable of blessing or cursing others. How important in the overall picture are the words we choose to share?

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. There are a lot of things that we improve upon as we do them more. But the most important task is the task of love. God doesn't just love us and forgive us so that we can continue to be the same person; God invites us into a new way of living that is full of love. This is our journey, the journey to love.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. There are a lot of things that we improve upon as we do them more. But the most important task is the task of love. God doesn't just love us and forgive us so that we can continue to be the same person; God invites us into a new way of living that is full of love. This is our journey, the journey to love.

Because we are imperfect human beings, we make mistakes. We make choices that hurt others, we do things that are counter to God's desires for us, and we do things that are harmful to even ourselves. When we make mistakes, it can be easy to identify with the mistakes, and misidentify who we are. But in Christ, we experience a different message: the message of grace and love that forgives.