Agape Gals

This is one of my favorite parables, as it has so much to unpack and think about.  In this parable, recounted in the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 20, verses 1-16), Jesus tells of a landowner who hires workers throughout the day to work in his vineyard. Some are hired early in the morning, while others are hired later in the day, even as late as the eleventh hour (at 5pm when the workday ends at 6). When evening comes and it is time to pay the workers, the landowner surprises everyone by giving each worker the same wage, regardless of how long they worked. Naturally, those who worked the longest hours feel slighted, while those who were hired last are overjoyed at receiving more than they expected. At first glance, this parable might seem confusing or even unfair. Why should those who worked only an hour receive the same pay as those who were there all day?  It makes sense that the landowner represents God, who is extravagantly generous and merciful. His actions challenge our human notion

 The parable of the Sower (Matt. 13:1-9) is one of the most common parables of the Bible. It talks about someone who is planting seeds, and he sows them in three different types of soil.  The first place the seeds fall is a rocky ground, where they're immediately picked up by birds. The second falls among thorns, which choke the plants out. The third is good soil, where they produced a harvest. This parable has to do with our hearts and how receptive they are to the Gospel.  In the first situation, the Devil is the birds. If the seed of the Gospel doesn't have time to really take root in your heart, the second the enemy puts doubt in your mind, the seed is gone.  The second situation occurs because the plants had no roots, similarly to the first situation, if there are no roots holding you in place you can get easily blown away. Think also of the thorns. If there are weeds where something is planted, the plant is competing with the weeds for soil nutrients. This is like our ido

 Your testimony is a very important part of your Christian life! It's your story about how you found Christ, and how He's working in your life. It can relate to people, and testify why God is so good. I just recently put mine together for the first time, so lets dive in.  I was not raised in a Christian household. We would go to church maybe once every few months, inconsistently, and pray at Christmas and Easter. When I was younger I always wanted to go to church, but it just never happened and eventually I forgot about it.  A lot of people's testimonies include some sort of horrible event that they went through that taught them they can't do it alone and need God. And these stories are so inspiring and emotional, and for a while I thought maybe I was weird for not having that. But I actually found Jesus at one of the highest points in my life.  I was a senior in high school, 3.9 GPA, full scholarship to college, and a state track qualification in the works. I was havin

 Dating is not something that is talked about enough in the church, and it's something that can have disastrous consequences when not done right.  First off, the Bible doesn't talk about dating, it talks about marriage. So that's step one. If you're not going to marry the person, and you know that, don't waste their time by getting into a relationship.  In the extensive information about marriage in the Bible, one of the most important things it says about choosing who to be with is that you should be "equally yoked".  A yoke is a piece of equipment that went over two ox when they were pulling a plow. The two ox had to be equally yoked, otherwise one would get ahead of the other and the plow would fall over. It's similar in dating. The person you're dating should be just as dedicated to God as you are. Otherwise, your relationship is going to be unbalanced and one of the relationships- either the one between the two of you, or the one between you a

 Moralistic therapeutic deism, or as it was explained to me, Chipotle Christianity.  Lets break down what this really means.  Moralistic is the idea of a moral compass, of "good" and "bad", and at the end of your life you just want the good to outweigh the bad.  Therapeutic is something that makes us feel better.  Deism is the belief in a higher being who no longer acts in the world.  This is a new type of fad going around the Christian community, and it brings to light some really important issues.  MTD, or cultural Christianity, or Chipotle Christianity is when you decide what of Jesus you're going to follow.  It's like all of the Bible is laid out in front of you, and you're trying to customize it like a Chipotle bowl.  "Yeah I like the while forgiveness thing, I'll take a lot of that, just keep that forgiveness coming to me. Eternal life? Yeah I'll have some of that. Praying for my enemies? Turning the other cheek... nah, I'll pass o

 There is a common saying in the Christian community that says "God will never give you something you can't handle". I regret to inform you that is completely untrue. In the short way- yes, God will give you more than you can handle. But lets look at the long way.  Corinthians 10:13 is the verse many people draw this conclusion from, which states "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."  It's true, God is faithful. He will provide a way.  But our ability to handle temptation does not come from our own ability. Notice the phrase "common to man". It is common, it is in our nature (since the fall) to be tempted, and to give in. All temptation is too much for us to handle.  But it also says God will provide a "way of escape" or an ability to "endure

Fact: sometimes we like to make really stupid decisions.  Fact: sometimes those decisions have consequences that make us realize they were stupid.  A "come to Jesus moment" is what people sometimes say when they've realized they've made a stupid decision; maybe a good, Christian friend gave them a wake up call, or maybe the Sunday service preached about exactly what they did. But a "come to Jesus moment" is when you realize and realign with Jesus. And we need to have way more of these.  John 6:60-63 talks about how some of Jesus's teaching were too hard for people to understand. He did not water down the truth, and that was really hard for a lot of people to handle, which caused them to stop following Him.  A pastor by my college has said something multiple times, and it is so true and so important for this message, and it hits me every time. He says:  "If Jesus never said something that was harsh for your life, you're not truly following God, b

 Chapter 10 of the Gospel of Mark tells a story of a rich man, who asks Jesus "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  Jesus's response may be confusing to some, as He says "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone." He then goes on to tell the man that he knows the commandments, and to keep them. When the man says he does, Jesus tells him that there is one thing stopping him from getting eternal life, and says "go, sell all that you have and give to the poor".  While this is a valuable lesson on greed and treasure in Heaven instead of treasure in the world, that's not what I want to talk about.  The man's issue wasn't that he was rich. The man's issue was that he valued his money and wealth more than he valued Jesus and the gospel.  The human heart is a throne room of sorts. Your heart is filled with all sorts of things, some good and some bad, but whatever sits on the throne is what controls your life. It controls wh

 If you've grown up in church, or if you've been around Christians for long enough, you may have heard the phrase "carry your cross". This comes from the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, verse 24, which says: "Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me".  Well, we come after Jesus, and we strive to be like Him! So what does that mean in terms of cross carrying? Well, if you know anything about Jesus, you've probably heard about the crucifixion. It was the horrible way that our Savior had to die in order to justify us from sin. Most people know about the crown of thorns and the way he was nailed to the cross, but what some people don't know (people meaning me before I started pursuing faith) is that the Romans made Jesus carry the cross they were about to crucify Him on. He had been severely beaten, and had not had any food or water, and at one point it got so heavy that He