More Than Bread

Send me a Text Message! In Mark 1, early in Jesus' ministry, the people are drawn to him from all over, great crowds. Why? Because they believe that they have found their defender. In this episode we will see Jesus go to battle for his holy calling and go to battle for the restoration of community. Where are you contending for community? In what way are you battling for your own holy calling?...

Send me a Text Message! John begins his gospel with a wedding story reminding us that the Kingdom of God is a party, a celebration. Matthew's gospel has more Christmas story but jumps quickly into Jesus' teaching of the radical way of life for those who follow Jesus. Luke's gospel highlights that the Kingdom of God is for all people, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, people in the mar...

Send me a Text Message! We've been looking at seven miraculous moments in the life of Jesus. There was the wedding at Cana for people in need of wine. There was a child that needed to be healed and a man who had been lame for decades. He needed to walk. There was a crowd that needed to be fed and a boat of fishermen who needed refuge from a storm. There was a blind man who needed sight and a...

Send me a Text Message! As we finish looking at the seven signs in the gospel of John, let this truth saturate your soul. In the early days after Jesus resurrection, when his followers turned the world upside down, they were not just inspired by a good story. They were changed; deeply, completely and forever changed. Jesus begin to do a resurrection rewrite of their story. Coming to see Jesus radi...

Send me a Text Message! This episode brings us to the last of the seven signs. And it’s a doosy. Is that still a word? Doosy. It’s a doosy! It’s my second favorite resurrection story. The story of Lazarus and even though the sign reveals Jesus in his resurrection glory, it also reveals a bit of his humanity. The story is found in John 11. And in the midst of Lazarus' death and Mary and Marth&...

Send me a Text Message! This episode is going to spend a few more moments with the sight-sign of Jesus. It's the sixth sign of seven and remember one amazing thing it reveals to us about Jesus; it points to the Jesus who has this amazing ability to see. Jesus sees the people we miss.  But there is something more in this sign...Jesus gives us the ability to see Him and see others with greater...

Send me a Text Message! The sixth sign is a miracle of sight. But if we are not careful we will settle for allowing this sign to simply direct us to the Jesus who heals or maybe the Jesus who gives sight. But I think we miss the destination a bit if we don’t realize that one of the amazing things about Jesus was the way he saw and still sees people. This sign is a reminder that God sees us and a r...

Send me a Text Message! Remember in the last episode I said, "Storms can drive us from God or storms can draw us to God. Don't let them drive you from God. Let them draw you to God." Whenever I get caught in a life-storm, I have two choices. I can stay in the boat, or I can find a refuge. Which must lead to the question, "So what’s my boat?" Your boat is anything that repr...

Send me a Text Message! This isn't the main truth of this episode, but it's so important. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't storm-proof our lives. In fact I guarantee you every life will face storms. In fact, getting to a life that thrives, will require some storms that thrive. But here's the deal storms can either drive us from God or draw us to God. Let them draw you to God....

Send me a Text Message! The miraculous sign of this episode is Jesus feeding a crowd of thousands, but... in some ways I wonder if it's not also the miraculous sign of a poor young boy who gave all the food he had, knowing that what he had to give would never be enough. And what did he find? He found that Jesus is more than enough. Listen Jesus isn't asking for more than you can give, bu...

Send me a Text Message! The miraculous sign moment we are pondering in this episode is significant not just because of what Jesus did, but when he did it. He did it on the Sabbath. And I guess, in those days, a miracle counted as work, and only rule-breakers worked on the sabbath. What we will see in this sign is a group of religious leaders who are so passionate about their rules that they could...

Send me a Text Message! In today's episode you are going to hear the story of a seventh-hour sign, a miracle of healing; a story of God's faithfulness and a story of the growth of faith. It's a good story, a healing sign that led to faith in the WORD. And when you get to the end, I will ask you, what is your seventh-hour story? If you have one, I would love to hear it. Just email me...

Send me a Text Message! So we come to see the first of seven signs in John's Gospel, and what a great first sign! He turned water into wine, to keep the party going. You know I love to laugh . I even love to laugh at church. Ask people to describe church and you will often hear the word boring. When's the last time you heard someone say, "Hey I'm going to have a great party at...

Send me a Text Message! When it comes to faith, many of us are looking for a sign, but we need to understand that while a sign gives directions, it's not the destination. In fact, once you reach the destination, signs are no longer needed. In John 1-11, John records seven signs. Those seven signs were given so that we might believe. They are written so that we will take that first step of fai...

Send me a Text Message! There is a unique relationship between sight and faith. We sometimes say, "Seeing is believing." But there is a gospel sense of "believing is seeing." In any case, that desired connection between faith and sight sometimes leaves us looking for a sign that God is real, that God cares, that God is able. And make no mistake there are times that the quest to...

Send me a Text Message! Jesus is truly amazing. Throughout his life, people used that word, AMAZING when talking about Jesus. But it didn't mean, "wow that's interesting, or odd; or even worth a second glance." No the words used about him meant heart-trembling, knee-quaking awe, almost fear-filled amazement, and mind-bending wonder. So in this episode we will take a quick tour...

Send me a Text Message! Of all the acheivements and accolades in his life, Paul considered knowing Jesus, his greatest treasure. He placed his confidence for all good things in Jesus. He was counting on Jesus. So I want to invite you to come and see this Jesus who is worthy of your life and who thought that your life was worth his death. Come and see this man who knows you intimately and loves you...

Send me a Text Message! For this episode I simply want to give you the words of the prayer I close with. It's a prayer from A. W. Tozer and is the response of a heart with a deep longing for God. I hope you will listen to this episode and make this prayer your own today. O God, I have tasted Your goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of...

Send me a Text Message! Christ is the treasure of God, the gift of God too often unrecognized and reject. A lot of people missed God's treasure because it came wrapped in such a plain package.  If we were to journey back in time to Bethelhem, ready to chronicle that starry, special night of his birth. I'm not sure that the video would go viral. We'd have a youtube video of two low-i...

Send me a Text Message! If you’ve been hanging out with me for long, you know that More Than Bread is passionate about the Word of God. The title comes from something Jesus once said, basically, “we cannot live bread alone, we need every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Thriving requires more than comfort stuff and family stuff and vocation stuff, we need God’s words. We need to listen to,...

Send me a Text Message!   John 14-16 is filled with some amazing prayer-promises. A lot of "whatever" promises, like "whatever you ask for I'll do." So why don't we pray like prayer is essential? I think most of us think prayer is important, but do we pray like prayer is essential? Listen, no matter how ruined you are...or how broken your city is...there is always a p...

Send me a Text Message! There r moments in time --the Bible calls them kairos moments-- moments in time  that are spiritually historic. In the moment, it doesn't always seem historic, but the  moments gather, and build, and something happens. I believe globally and locally we are in one of those moments. I believe that history will record these days as a kairos moment for the Kingdom of God;...

Send me a Text Message! Luke's gospel is filled with seekers? Are you a seeker? Probably at heart we're all seekers.  We're all on a quest.  We may each give the quest a different name.  The quest for meaning, the quest for purpose, the quest for knowledge, the quest for security, the quest for success, the quest for pleasure. But  I want to suggest that the longing behind every que...

Send me a Text Message! Some sociologists suggest that we are in a season where disappointment is the primary American emotion. We expected life to be always up and to the right, and then it wasn't. And even if it is, social media reminds us every day that it's not as far up and to the right as someone elses. But what if disappointment is a good thing? What if dasappointment is a signal...

Send me a Text Message! Can I tell you something?  It's not just the birth of Jesus that draws our hearts at Christmas.  It's not just that Jesus lived and died; it's how he lived and why he died, that draws a life-weary world to celebrate Christmas.  The greatest gift ever given, the most uncommon Christmas gift ever given was not found under a tree, it was found on a tree. Jesus w...