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But Seek First His Kingdom
An excerpt from Chapter 6 An excerpt from Chapter 6 Giving, Praying and Fasting We all like to be noticed. To have someone recognize your efforts feels good. As the Sermon on the Mount continues, Jesus turns his attention to three acts of devotion common among faithful God followers—giving, praying and fasting. He warned that,… Continue reading
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Proverbial But O’ the Week
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, BUT a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12) Hope can be hard on the heart when we’re waiting—for an answer, a change, a healing, a reconciliation, a door to open. The longer the waiting stretches, the heavier hope can begin to feel. But this proverb reminds us that waiting is… Continue reading
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The Pivot: But Caleb Silenced the People
“The people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large… But Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.’”—Numbers 13:28, 30 The other spies weren’t wrong. The people really were powerful. The cities really were fortified.… Continue reading
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Loosening Our Grip
Acts 4:32–37 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.—Acts 4:32 What a beautiful picture Acts paints of the earliest believers. They shared a life-changing bond in Jesus. They had become a family of faith, moved by grace and… Continue reading
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Attention Writers: They May Forget What You Said
Dr. Buttersworth has encountered a problem. Perhaps you’ve seen this quote floating around the Internet: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” It is almost always attributed to Maya Angelou. There’s just one little problem. She probably didn’t say it.… Continue reading
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But in the Future He Will Honor Galilee
Read Isaiah 9:1–7 & Matthew 4:12–22 Sometimes familiarity causes us to miss the wonder. Jesus walks beside the Sea of Galilee and sees Simon and Andrew casting their nets. “Come, follow me,” He says. Farther along He finds James and John working with their father, and He calls them too. We’ve heard the story so many times… Continue reading
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But Hypocrites …
An excerpt from Chapter 7. The word hypocrite first appeared back in chapter six. The term referred to an actor—someone playing a role on a stage. There, Jesus applied the word to people who had learned how to perform spirituality. But hypocrisy takes more than one form. Sometimes it appears as public displays of devotion… Continue reading
Darin Michael Shaw
In addition to being the world’s foremost expert on the conjunction but, author and freelance writer Darin Michael Shaw (he/him/his) identifies as a post-evangelical, free-range Jesus Freak, taking Jesus seriously when he says, “Follow me,” while inviting others to come and see for yourself.
Big Buts of the Bible 