One String: Recent Episodes
Brian Onken
One String is an outgrowth of The River, a ministry committed to helping people learn to read and understand the Bible for themselves.
In teaching His disciples to pray, Jesus told a parable about persistence. But what is that persistence really all about?
Abram walked with God. But how much did he know of God's will? Can his journey help us think well about knowing God's will?
Turning again to the "Lord's Prayer," we read His challenging words about asking for forgiveness "for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us." Does this mean we're supposed to strike a bargain with God for forgiveness? Of course not! But what does it mean?
Sometimes our familiarity with Jesus' teaching makes it challenging to really listen to what He is saying. Let's dip into a well-known parable and practice listening well.
Sometimes, because of what we think we know, we might misread a passage . . . even misread Jesus' instructions on prayer.
When we read the "story" of someone's life in the pages of Scripture, sometimes we think we know better how they should have lived, what they should have done. But maybe that's not the best way to read a narrative.
Although we have learned to ask "Your Kingdom Come," could we be confusing our thoughts about the coming of the kingdom with what Jesus was teaching in this prayer?
You've probably heard "The Lord's Prayer" before; maybe even repeated the words when you have prayed. But there might be more to what Jesus said than we realize!
We explore the challenge of reading a familiar text–the call of Abraham–with attentiveness.