135 Blessed Are the Peacemakers: What Forgiveness Isn't

In his letter to the Colossians, the Apostle Paul tells us that “as God’s chosen people,” we are to “forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Col. 3:13) Having been forgiven by God, we are to extend forgiveness to others.

Dave DeSelmJuly 9, 2023peace, peacemaker, blessed are the peacemakers, reconcile, reconciliation, forgiveness, conflict, confessionComment

134 Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Taking Care of the Plank

Jesus’ approach to peacemaking is to pursue reconciliation. There are three steps in that process that are important for us to understand and practice. The first step is confession.

Dave DeSelmJuly 2, 2023peace, peacemaker, blessed are the peacemakers, reconcile, reconciliation, forgiveness, conflict, confessionComment

133 Blessed Are the Peacemakers: The Slippery Slope of Conflict

While conflicts take place on a larger, collective scale, the bigger issue for most of us is the conflicts that take place on a smaller scale. Personal conflicts between work associates, friends, or even families.

Dave DeSelmJune 25, 2023peace, peacemaker, blessed are the peacemakers, reconcile, reconciliation, forgiveness, conflict, escape, attack, assault, withdrawal, suicideComment

132 Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Walls of Hostility

Relational breakdown is as old as the Bible, and none is more deeply ingrained as the animosity that exists between people of different races, religions, and ethnicities.

Dave DeSelmJune 18, 2023peace, peacemaker, blessed are the peacemakers, reconcile, reconciliation, forgiveness, regeneration, John Perkins, racism, ethnocentrism, new identityComment

131 Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Reconciled to God

One of the most daunting aspects of being a peacemaker is the challenge of peace-making in our own relational worlds. Our natural reaction to conflict is either fight or flight – punish or withdraw.

Dave DeSelmJune 11, 2023peace, peacemaker, blessed are the peacemakers, reconcile, reconciliation, reconciled to God, Team Adam, Team Jesus, forgiveness, salvation, justification, regenerationComment

130 Blessed Are the Peacemakers: They Shall Be Called Sons of God

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes two things: what life in the Kingdom of God is like, and what should characterize those who live in it. Specifically, He says that Kingdom people will be characterized as peacemakers.

Dave DeSelmJune 4, 2023forgive, peace, peacemaker, blessed are the peacemakers, reconcile, reconciliationComment

129 Christian Atheist: I Believe in God But Can't Forgive

We all know that Christians are supposed to forgive. Jesus said as much when He taught His disciples to pray, “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Dave DeSelmMay 28, 2023Christian Atheist, atheist, belief in God, inconsistencies, walk the talk, hypocrisy, hypocrites, knowing God, believing loyalty, forgiveness, forgive, forgive your enemies, Rwanda, genocide, Rwandan genocide, World ReliefComment

128 Christian Atheist: I Believe in God But Not the Church

One of the trends happening increasingly in recent years is a reduction in church attendance. People say they believe in God, but they’re not committed to a local church.

Dave DeSelmMay 21, 2023Christian Atheist, atheist, belief in God, inconsistencies, walk the talk, hypocrisy, hypocrites, knowing God, believing loyalty, church, the church, the body of Christ, why attend church, family of GodComment

127 Christian Atheist: I Believe in God But My Sex Life is My Business

You might be surprised at how much the Bible has to say about sex. In fact, the very first commandment found in the Bible is about sex!

Dave DeSelmMay 14, 2023Christian Atheist, atheist, belief in God, inconsistencies, walk the talk, hypocrisy, hypocrites, knowing God, believing loyalty, sexuality, sexual purity, one flesh, sexComment

126 Christian Atheist: I Believe in God but Don't Talk About It

When it comes to evangelism, we face pressure from our culture: “If you want to believe in Jesus, fine. Just don’t try to force that on me.”

Dave DeSelmMay 7, 2023Christian Atheist, atheist, belief in God, inconsistencies, walk the talk, hypocrisy, hypocrites, knowing God, believing loyalty, evangelism, witnessing, gospel, missionary, oikos, share your faithComment

125 Christian Atheist: I Believe in God but Trust in Money

This message is for those who are rich. That’s who Paul directs his instructions to in 1 Timothy 6:17. “Command those who are rich in this present world…”

Dave DeSelmApril 30, 2023Christian Atheist, atheist, belief in God, inconsistencies, walk the talk, hypocrisy, hypocrites, knowing God, believing loyalty, money, tithing, finances, generosity, rich and poorComment

124 Christian Atheist: I Believe in God but Can't Get Past My Past

Every one of us knows what it’s like to carry around a “sack of shame” – guilt over what we’ve done in the past. What do you do with the contents of that sack?

Dave DeSelmApril 23, 2023Christian Atheist, atheist, belief in God, inconsistencies, walk the talk, hypocrisy, hypocrites, knowing God, believing loyalty, confession, shame, guilt, Psalm 32Comment

123 Christian Atheist: I Believe in God but Don't Really Know Him

A Christian Atheist is someone who says they believe in God yet lives as if He doesn’t exist. As Titus 1:16 describes them, “They profess to know God, but their behavior contradicts their profession.”

Dave DeSelmApril 16, 2023Christian Atheist, atheist, belief in God, inconsistencies, walk the talk, hypocrisy, hypocrites, knowing God, believing loyaltyComment

122 Easter: Resurrection Relevance

One of the fallacies in our day is that all religions are pretty much the same. But the fact is, Christianity stands alone and apart. For one thing, no other major religion takes its stand and stakes its reputation on the bodily resurrection of its founder.

Dave DeSelmApril 9, 2023Easter, resurrection, the resurrection of Jesus, resurrection power, grace, God's workmanship, God's work of art, God's power, purpose, Kingdom purposeComment

121 Good Friday: The Way of Jesus

It was probably about midnight when Jesus led His men down from the Upper Room and through the sleeping city. Having shared the Last Supper together, Jesus and the Eleven left through the Fountain Gate, across the Kidron Valley

Dave DeSelmApril 2, 2023Good Friday, Gethsemane, take this cup from me, the way of Jesus, following Jesus, thy will be doneComment

120 Markers of Maturity

In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he tells this group of believers he had never met that he was agonizing in prayer for them. Why? What was he praying for so fervently? He was praying for their growth – their maturity in Christ.

Dave DeSelmMarch 26, 2023maturity, spiritual growth, discipleship, Colossians, resilience, unity, wisdom, knowledge, gratitudeComment

119 Jonah: A Tale Unended

You would like to think that by the time we get to the end of his story, Jonah has changed. That after all he’d been through, he was a better person, a better servant of God than he was at the start of the story.

Dave DeSelmMarch 19, 2023calling, Jonah, running from God, obedience, disobedience, difficult callings, second chance, God of the second chance, living a go life, go, great commission, Great CommissionComment

118 Jonah: Living a GO Life

There are certain words the writer of the book of Jonah uses to emphasize important elements of the story. Words like “great” and “down.” But there’s another important word that is in fact, one of the most fundamental words in the Bible.

Dave DeSelmMarch 12, 2023calling, Jonah, running from God, obedience, disobedience, difficult callings, second chance, God of the second chance, living a go life, go, great commission, Great CommissionComment

117 Jonah: The God of the Second Chance

“Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time…” (Jonah 3:1) To my way of thinking, this is arguably the most remarkable verse in the entire book of Jonah.

Dave DeSelmMarch 5, 2023calling, Jonah, running from God, obedience, disobedience, difficult callings, second chance, God of the second chanceComment

116 Jonah: A Prayer for When You're Sinking

In the journey of faith God not only frequently calls us to hard things but He will chase us down if we run from that call. In fact, what we’ve seen is a pattern that God uses to correct His kids.

Dave DeSelmFebruary 26, 2023calling, Jonah, running from God, obedience, disobedience, difficult callingsComment

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