Posts by Bryan Crotts
The Bottom Line
“Some people say a man is made out of mud, a poor man’s made out of muscle and blood, muscle and blood and skin and bones, a mind that’s weak and a back that’s strong.” These are the lyrics of a song made well-known by Tennessee Ernie Ford in the 1950s. It tells of the plight of the coal miner, working and working, only to “owe his soul to the company store”. A man is made out of mud (Genesis…
Christmas Characters: Angels
Christmas Characters: Angels By Bryan Crotts When you read the Bible cover to cover, certain verses stand out and grab your attention. I have several throughout my Bible that I’ve marked. These passages seem to have a brighter bulb than the ones around them. One of these bright lights is in 1 Peter 1, where Jesus’ disciple spends the opening of his letter to scattered Christians writing about the blessings of being found in the rescuing arms of God. He…
Christmas Characters: Mary & Joseph
Christmas Characters: Mary & Joseph By Bryan Crotts We had several manger scenes in our childhood home. An olive wood set from a trip to Bethlehem was a favorite. Another, from the annual crafts fair in Greensboro, was made of scrap wood and painted to represent the nativity. Different ones of us in the family would rearrange the characters to suit what we thought the configuration should be. I’m guessing none of us pulled out the Psalms, Prophets, and Gospels…
Christmas Characters: Zechariah & Elizabeth
Christmas Characters: Zechariah & Elizabeth By Bryan Crotts I wonder what Zechariah and Elizabeth’s neighbors thought of them? Was their house tidy? Did she plant seasonal flowers in the front porch pots? Did Zechariah get the trash out to the street on time? Did they get up their leaves before they blew into their neighbor’s yard? These things we don’t know, however, Luke (chapters 1-2) tells us in his Gospel about their spiritual habits. Zechariah and Elizabeth were people of…
Characters of Christmas: Prophets
Characters of Christmas: Prophets By Bryan Crotts I wonder if you can tell the whole story of the Bible in a few sentences? Impossible! After all, the Protestant Bible contains sixty-six books, 1,189 chapters, 31,202 verses and contains many types of literature (history, poetry, law, etc.) and would be a massive piece of literature to summarize succinctly. It can be done! French theologian John Calvin said that Scriptures gives us knowledge of God and knowledge of self. Others have said…
Fading Traditions
You’ve likely seen Lucy hold the football for Charlie Brown to kickoff at the annual thanksgiving day game, only to pull it away. His backflop, pain, humiliation, and despair have been felt by many. Once after completing her gag play on our poor comic friend, she states, “Isn’t it peculiar Charle Brown, how some traditions just fade away?” While she meant the tradition of a successful kickoff, we may think of the disappearance of our own observances. Do you remember…
Contentment
Are you content? Do you have enough? Have unmet goals, less-than-ideal circumstances, and unkept promises unravelled your heart? Navigating this present world can send a dissatisfied soul into dark places. We may even yell at God. (Psalm 73) Scripture gives plenty of counsel on guarding our hearts from covetousness, cultivating contentment, and completely trusting in God’s care over us. Solomon, a man who acquired it all, teaches “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on…
Running a Better Race
The Scriptures tell us that the Christian life is like running a race. The writer of Hebrews encourages weary runners, “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Paul tells the Corinthian church “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.” At the end of his life, Paul tells his Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have…
Looking Past Headlines
The surgeon general ought to require a warning on the banner of news channels. “Warning: Too much of today’s headlines may cause agitation, stress, anxiety, or depression. Some may experience mental and emotional paralysis.” Incessant reports on hurricanes, wars, human trafficking, political races, and spreading diseases are enough to drive us mad. One may wonder if there is any good news? Our world is bent, bruised, and broken by sin (Genesis 3, Romans 8). Both created order and people are…
Adam to Jesus
Adam and Eve lived in Paradise with everything necessary for “life and godliness” (2 Peter 1). They enjoyed the presence, fellowship, boundaries, and worship of the Creator. “Every tree of the garden” was theirs for food (Genesis 2). God made a covenant with them: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die.” Don’t eat and live; eat and die. Cut…
Sin is Crouching
East of Eden living was not so good for Adam and Eve. Satan could not deliver on the promise “you will be like gods”. Banished from the beauty and blessings of Paradise, they headed east into a world now cursed by sin. Work, family, relationships, productivity, and religion all were bent and broken. Life was difficult, godless, futile, and ended in death (Genesis 6). In time, godlessness, even murder, would characterize society, leading to God’s judgment by a worldwide catastrophic…
Credo: I Believe!
In a Christian high school class with three handfuls of students, all regular church attenders, only one had been in a church service with a creed. Don’t ask why we were on this subject, but I asked, “From where does the Holy Spirit come?” Most ninth graders know other trivia, however, one did blurt out “from the Father and the Son.” When my state of speechlessness ended, I said, “Oh yes, you’re Greek Orthodox.” Regularly reciting the Nicene Creed in…