Bret Hammond2 Loka 2023

Saul and the Witch of Endor; 1 Samuel 25

Our Bibles are not the clean, happy books we think they are. They’re full of scary stuff. Yes, there’s faith, hope, and love in those pages; but look hard enough and you’ll find witches, ghosts, dragons and things that go bump in the night. The Bible is full of strange things . . . and even stranger things. In 2016, I spent October, a month we normally look for ghosts and goblins, digging into some often ignored passages. I titled the series Stranger Things from the Bible after the Netflix series that drew us into the Upside Down. There’s much in the Bible that might also seem upside down. The Stranger Things series, set in the fictional small-town of Hawkins, Indiana. Hawkins doesn’t feel all that far removed from our own small-town in Illinois. I felt the similarities and the callbacks to the heydays of the 1980s would go over well with our crowd. I also hoped that the strangeness of the stories would disarm my hearers and allow the punch of the message to surprise them. And it helps that I love these weird Bible stories! These stories might make us uncomfortable, but that doesn’t mean they should be ignored. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16), right? The Bible’s stranger things deserve our attention. We can gain much from these stories. https://www.brethammond.com/2019/10/stranger-things-from-the-bible-saul-and-the-witch-of-en-dor/

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Jaksot(500)

Jesus Calls Them Neighbors; Jonah 4

John and I meet for coffee every couple of weeks. We don't really plan it; it just happens. John's in his 80s, retired, and has amazing stories. He also puts up with a lot of my questions (I'm still n...

8 Elo 25min

Seeing Who Jesus Sees; John 11:33-37

The announcement came over the PA system at school: "We're conducting eye exams in the office today." I didn't think much about it until I realized something. The other kids could read the chalkboard ...

23 Heinä 25min

Abounding in Love; Romans 12:9-13

Some mornings, coffee isn’t enough. A few years ago, after a late night and an early morning, I sat down at breakfast with friends and announced, “Listen . . . I’m barely functioning. If you have anyt...

20 Touko 20min

The Open Door; Revelation 3:7-13

The key was missing, and the door wouldn’t open. There weren’t many options for getting in. I suppose I could have tried to break down the door, but that would have been expensive (and probably painfu...

2 Huhti 24min

Give Thanks; Psalm 136

Some weeks, the loudest voice in your life isn’t God’s—it’s the one telling you what you’re not. It whispers before you’re fully awake. It follows you into the car, into the office, into the quiet mo...

26 Marras 202521min

Toto: The Spirit Has a Soft Side

In John 14:15–27, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit as our Advocate, Comforter, and Friend—the one who steadies our hearts and keeps us focused on him. Using imagery from The Wizard of Oz, Bret compares ...

6 Loka 202526min

Why Do You Worry? Matthew 6:25-34

Are you having a good morning? Let’s see if we can fix that. Did you know crocodiles can gallop like horses? They’re crazy fast! Did you know there are approximately 40 supervolwcanoes worldwide, and...

25 Heinä 202522min

What Is Your Name? Mark 5:1-20

"Who was that masked man?" I must have heard that line a hundred times growing up, watching reruns of The Lone Ranger. At the end of every episode, the townspeople would stand around in awe as the str...

12 Heinä 202522min