Author: Dave Dishman (Page 145 of 474)

When I was at the University of Missouri I enjoyed playing pick-up basketball. Our rec center held multiple courts, and games went on morning to night. Several friends from my dorm and I played most every day. Over lunch one afternoon a new kid touted his basketball abilities. In fact, he claimed to have played a game in high school against our university’s All-American center and held him to a season low. We walked to the gym later that day excited to add a talented player to our gang of hoopsters.

It only took a trip or two down the court to realize our new friend stunk at basketball. He could hardly dribble. He flung the ball and clanged it off the backboard. He guarded his opponent like a matador, swinging out of the way. Absolutely ridiculous. We ungraciously called him out for his story of high school stardom (remember, college guys carry few filters). He lost the invite to join us ever again.

Why did we blow up in frustration? The kid claimed to be something he was not. He was a hypocrite. He bragged and bragged, but failed to back up his claims. The sad part is that if he would have just said, I’m not very good, but I like playing basketball, he would have fit right in. Lots of guys at the rec center weren’t any good, but they never claimed to shut down All-Americans.

I avoid hypocrites as much as possible, and most everyone feels the same way. Even King David wrote, I do not sit with the deceitful, nor do I associate with hypocrites.

Hypocrite = actor. The same root leads to both words. While I enjoy actors on stage or screen, I don’t want to live with false people in my day-to-day. A hypocrite displays concern but their heart is elsewhere. A hypocrite says one thing and does another.

A hypocrite, when discovered, loses trust and rarely gains it back.

In my experience, the religious hypocrite turns people off to faith in Jesus more than anything else. Which is why it’s so important to avoid that role (easier said than done). We all carry a whiff of the hypocritical.

I’m at my best when I ask the Holy Spirit to reveal hypocritical ways within me, and then take care to match my pontificating with how I play the game.

Psalm 26 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Tom Briskey

Occasionally when I travel I see someone wearing a t-shirt with a message about Jesus. While not my style, I stop and tell that person their shirt encourages me. This believer chose that particular shirt to reveal to fellow travelers their faith in Jesus. So the least I can do is encourage them in their wardrobe choice.

We can all use a little encouragement, but it can be hard to find. Which is one reason the writer of Hebrews pushed encouragement on the church in Rome:

See to it, brothers and and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Our natural inclination is to drift away from the Lord. Most everyone who goes off on their own gets weird. We need the encouragement of our fellow followers of Jesus.

Encourage others toward the Lord. Encourage toward belief, toward faith, toward truth. Encourage daily, because each one of us needs encouragement every day. We read the Bible for inspiration and motivation, but hearing a word from a friend in the faith adds a layer to our soul.

Say a kind word, support someone in distress, or encourage for no reason at all. I need it and you need it. By doing so we keep the faith, and help others do so as well.

Hebrews 3 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Savannah W.

If you watched the Super Bowl this past Sunday (as a Chiefs and NFL fan my eyes were glued), you may have noticed an ad for Jesus. The organization He Gets Us sponsored the commercial. A bit weird surrounded by commercials for snack foods and mobile phones? But when I remember that Jesus appeared at feasts, weddings, and holidays, it doesn’t seem a stretch to show up on the screen of the most watched television broadcast of the year.

Jesus indeed gets us. The writer of Hebrews laid out the biblical case:

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death…For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Jesus became completely human in every way. He suffered pain and felt the angst of a broken heart. He laughed at jokes and celebrated wild kids running around. I’m sure he enjoyed a good meal, and would have been great fun at a Super Bowl party.

In so many ways Jesus is just like you and me. Of course, in other ways he’s not. Which makes following him gratifying. He understands where we are, feels our pain and frustrations, and can also do something about them. As you go through the day, think about how he gets us, and consider how Jesus might present in each situation.

Because if you open yourself to him, he just might show up.

Hebrews 2 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Sasha Freemind

As I travel internationally and engage with college students, I hear different forms of these questions a lot—How can you believe in science and God at the same time? What about evolution? Doesn’t science disprove religion?

The short answer to the question is that God created science. The writer of Hebrews describes the role Jesus played in the creation and still plays in our physical world:

In these last days God has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

While not meant as a science text, we gain insight into the role and power of Jesus as he relates to the universe surrounding us. He was present at the start of it all, and even today hold the universe together by his word. Words matter when it comes to forming galaxies. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Genesis 1:3).

I sat with a biologist recently who shared how the overwhelming complexity of the tiny slice of the world he studies leads him to greater faith in Jesus. How did this magnificent creation get here without a magnificent Creator? It’s a good thought to ponder, and an insightful question for one who doubts the connection between a gracious God and the lives we live.

The Word created and the Word sustains. Most wonderfully, we can turn to the Word as we walk through his world today.

Hebrews 1 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Eilis Garvey