CONNECT people to Christ and POUR into their lives His teaching so they'll OVERFLOW for the glory of God

Posts by Ben Simpson

Looking for Life Among the Dead?

On that first Easter morning, we read in Luke 24 that some of the women who had followed Jesus came back with spices for His corpse. To everybody’s surprise, they got an empty tomb instead. The angels who appeared there asked a pointed question: “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” That’s a…

Injustice to Redemption

Make no mistake, Jesus was innocent. Pilate, the Roman governor, said it twice. Herod, the Jewish vassal king, agreed. Yet, we read in Luke 23 that through the crowd’s influence, they released a murderer named Barabbas and condemned Jesus, the sinless Son of God, to death by crucifixion. By any measure, this is history’s greatest…

A Kiss and a Curse

We read in Luke 22 that Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss and that Peter denied Him with a curse. One act was perhaps confused but calculated. The other was born in a moment of sheer panic. But both men had a massive failure. Now, let’s be honest, we like to think we’re different. There’s…

Sustained through the Bitter Cup

The garden was quiet. The disciples were asleep. And Jesus, the Son of God, was on His knees praying, profusely sweating huge drops tinged with blood. That’s what we read in Luke 22:41-44. He cried out to the Father, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.” Jesus knew the suffering that was…

A Seat at the Table

Have you ever thought about how you want to spend the final moments of your life? As we near the end of Luke’s Gospel, in chapter 21, Jesus knew what was coming. The cross was hours away. His time was short. He was in His final moments of freedom before His suffering and death. And…

Stay Watchful

In Luke 21, Jesus didn’t sugarcoat it. Jerusalem would fall. Nations would rage. The sky itself would shake. But then… the Son of Man would come. Jesus Himself would return. But when? The answer is soon. Always soon. But that “soon” has been nearly 2,000 years since His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension in Jerusalem…

By Your Endurance

In Luke 20, they were admiring the temple’s beauty when Jesus said it would all come down. Not one stone left on another. That’s the kind of statement that shakes you. He didn’t stop there. He warned of wars, earthquakes, famines, persecution, betrayal by family, arrest, hatred. All because of His name. The road ahead…

A Dangerous Gap

The scribes in Jesus’s day had the robes, the greetings, the front-row seats. They could quote Scripture and lead prayers. From the outside, they looked like the most devoted men in the room. Jesus wasn’t impressed. He watched them devour widows’ houses while offering long prayers as cover. Religion had become a costume for them,…

Whose Image?

Well, tax prep season is back around again. Have you filed yours yet? I’m not sure if anybody likes tax season but accountants and politicians. Have you ever thought, “Man, my citizenship is in Heaven. I shouldn’t have to pay taxes on earth,”? Well, in Luke 20, Jesus clearly addressed that thought. The scribes and…

What Will You Do with the Son?

One of the most powerful stories Jesus ever told was in Luke 20 as He was wrangling with the scribes and chief priests in Jerusalem. The story was of a vineyard owner who leased his land to tenants. When he sent servants on three separate occasions to collect what was owed, the tenants beat each…