2021-09-24 15:52
I’ve been speaking on behalf of Compassion International at churches, concerts, conferences, and colleges for sixteen years now. In that time, we’ve seen well over 100,000 childr… Read More
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Shlog Commandment #1: No Bro-ing - Shaun Groves Blog
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Personal blog of musician, writer and speaker Shaun Groves.
2021-03-01 15:23
“Deconstruction” is a popular word these days. I see it used most often by famous(ish) Christians announcing through their social media channels that they’re leaving evange… Read More
2021-01-06 17:14
More than a dozen of my friends and neighbors are either sick with COVID right now, have loved ones in the hospital with it, or are grieving someone who lost their life to it in the last wee… Read More
2020-12-23 17:14
Sheep are anxious creatures frightened by anything that moves – even running water! They wander into danger, lose their footing and tumble down rocky inclines or walk right off of clif… Read More
2020-12-22 16:54
This fourth and final week of Advent is all about LOVE.
In Hebrew, ahava means love. But unlike here in the West, Hebrew love isn’t a feeling we fall into. It’s an affection t… Read More
2020-12-17 15:47
Zephaniah was a prophet – a man sent by God to deliver a message to God’s people. The message he brings is bad news. And the very best.
God’s people have been worshiping… Read More
2020-12-15 22:31
You remember the story of the Exodus, right?
Pharaoh enslaves and abuses God’s people in Egypt. They cry out for God to set them free. God sends the deliverer Moses and a bunch of t… Read More
2020-12-15 14:03
Still searching for the perfect gift for the kids in your life? This is the gift I gave every one of mine when they were five.
Click the image to play the videoVisit compassion.com/shaung… Read More
2020-12-14 17:26
The first week of Advent we reflected on hope: Hope is waiting for something good we believe is coming.
We’ve pondered peace: Peace is when none of our parts are missing, broken, o… Read More
2020-12-10 17:58
My morning began with a phone call from Uganda. Richmond and I speak often; he’s become like a brother to me. He’s always encouraging, teaching, and inspiring me.
He was born… Read More
2020-12-09 17:26
My dad is a great storyteller. One of his best is about a pig.
He was training Vietnamese villagers on how to fight against the communists. One day he took his newly trained “soldie… Read More
2020-12-08 16:49
The Bible doesn’t begin with God making everything out of nothing. It begins with God creating peace out of a mess.
In the beginning, God created the sky and the land. Now, the land… Read More
2020-12-07 15:23
This second week of Advent is all about peace.
What is peace?
To most of us these days, peace is the absence of conflict. Or it’s stress-free tranquility and relaxation. A time w… Read More
2020-12-04 15:54
This is a story about a boy named Elvis, his very grateful mom, and the man she says rescued their lives.
Elvis was four when I visited his home at the edge of a slum in Nairobi, Kenya… Read More
2020-12-02 17:23
I love Advent! Each week of Advent focuses on a theme from the Bible: hope, peace, joy, and love. This week is all about hope.
What is hope?
You know the feeling you had as a kid the n… Read More
2020-11-19 00:18
I’m coming out of retirement, dusting off the guitar, practicing the piano, and limbering up for the interpretive dance* portion of this EXCLUSIVE livestream event…
Come cele… Read More
2020-11-17 16:34
Wearing a mask isn’t just a mandate. It’s a mitzvah!
In Hebrew, a mitzvah is a command from God. A bar mitzvah is a son of the commandments and a bat mitzvah is a daughter of… Read More
2020-11-16 21:09
The words of the apostle Peter are just what I need right now.
Now that you have purified souls by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply… Read More
2020-11-06 14:55
Seems like everybody in Nashville has a side hustle. For years, mine was social media marketing. For several years I managed Compassion International’s blog marketing program, and I&rs&hell…Read More
2020-11-02 15:53
Sit here with me for just a minute.
Be still.
Take a deep breath.
And another.
Now, let’s read from Isaiah’s journal.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the… Read More
2020-10-06 15:24
On October 6, 1536, William Tyndale was found guilty of heresy, tied to a stake, strangled to death, and his body burned.
The last words of William TyndaleTyndale was a Catholic friar who… Read More
2020-09-25 17:31
What does a Spanish monk have to say about Breonna Taylor, the police who killed her, and imperfect human justice?
When Spain sent armed conquistadors to explore the New World, the native… Read More
2020-09-03 17:50
God promised to bless all people everywhere through one man named Abraham. How would God do this?
The Backstory
In Genesis 18, the LORD said, “Abraham will surely become a great… Read More
2020-08-20 23:31
In the beginning, God built a Garden where people could live at peace with God and each other and enjoy God’s protection and provision. There was no conflict, no hurt, no want. It was… Read More
2020-07-02 19:41
The last time you and I talked, we learned that kings of old were to rule with “justice and righteousness” and how the kings of Israel failed miserably at that.
They were sup… Read More
2020-06-30 18:01
Do faithful followers of God experience anxiety and depression? David did. I have.
David models a way through mental illness in Psalm 42.
•David got REAL
David was honest with… Read More
2020-06-25 09:19
The Bible isn’t a modern Western book. It’s an ancient Near Eastern book. And so there’s a lot of stuff in the Bible that goes over my head…
• Why on earth d… Read More
2020-06-23 17:09
I was twenty-five and on staff at a church going through a lot of change.
In staff meetings, one of our pastors read the critical comments that had been left in the offering plates the pr… Read More
2020-06-18 19:58
In the ancient Near East, there were loads of creation stories. It seems like every nation had one to explain where its people came from, who their enemies were, and what their gods were lik… Read More
2020-05-18 17:32
I hit a wall of some kind mentally and spiritually last week and some embarrassingly bad stuff came spilling out. I squandered a few days being angry, putting on my judgy pants and scrolling… Read More
2020-05-08 17:42
As the flight attendant handed me pretzels and a tiny cup of Coke, the guy next to me said, “Wow, you can see for miles. Isn’t that strange?”
And I must’ve made a… Read More
2020-05-05 15:21
There are quite a few articles and sermons circulating these days claiming COVID-19 and events around it were foretold in the Bible’s book of Revelation.
I’ve heard from frien… Read More
2020-04-12 09:00
Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head a… Read More
2020-04-11 09:00
We thought Messiah had finally come for us.
But today his body lies in a tomb and the snakes who put him there are still in charge of our country and Temple.
Some of us are doubting… Read More
2020-04-10 09:00
33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sab… Read More
2020-04-09 09:00
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”Luke 22:19
It’s Thursda… Read More
2020-04-08 09:00
“She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she… Read More
2020-04-07 09:00
Let us make humans in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule…In the image of God he created them; male and female God created them. God blessed them and said to them, &ldqu&hell…Read More
2020-04-06 16:49
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.12 The next day as they we… Read More
2020-04-05 09:00
They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from… Read More
2020-04-04 09:35
Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not… Read More
2020-04-02 14:56
Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept.Genesis 33:4
5 So [Jesus] came to a town in Samaria called Sychar… Read More
2020-04-02 10:00
It was about noon. 7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy f… Read More
2020-04-01 15:37
And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store… Read More
2020-03-31 14:34
Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him… Read More
2020-03-30 13:55
When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High G… Read More
2020-03-29 09:00
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’Hosea 2:23
They went across the lake to the region… Read More
2020-03-28 09:00
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.Genesis 1:2
That day when evening came, he said to his… Read More
2020-03-27 14:10
The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.Zechariah 14:9
Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God i… Read More
2020-03-26 14:01
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. He said:3 “Blessed are the poor in spi… Read More
2020-03-25 09:00
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.Matthew 4:2… Read More
2020-03-24 09:15
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27&nb&hell…Read More
2020-03-23 09:00
When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build,&nb&hell…Read More
2020-03-22 09:00
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself d… Read More
2020-03-21 09:30
Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you… Read More
2020-03-20 14:14
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: ma… Read More
2020-03-19 15:56
And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. Th… Read More
2020-03-18 17:30
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”&n&hell…Read More
2020-03-17 15:54
“In that day,” declares the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master… Read More
2020-03-16 09:00
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength… Read More
2020-03-15 05:14
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength… Read More
2020-03-14 10:00
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength… Read More
2020-03-13 16:00
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength… Read More
2020-03-12 10:00
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength… Read More
2020-03-11 13:19
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength… Read More
2020-03-10 12:28
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin&nb&hell…Read More
2020-03-09 18:07
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have bee… Read More
2020-03-08 09:00
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. (3)Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he… Read More
2020-03-07 11:00
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were… Read More
2020-03-06 11:00
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.Luke 6:36
These words remind me of Rambo.
That’s what everyone in our middle school called him. Rambo wore a camoufla… Read More
2020-03-05 19:23
Israel wanted a human king, like all the other nations. And she got what she wanted.
Her first king, Saul, was succeeded by his son-in-law David. David’s reign is summarized in 2 Sa… Read More
2020-03-05 11:00
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you m… Read More
2020-03-04 11:00
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom… Read More
2020-03-03 11:00
“Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods; follow her back home.”(16)But Ruth replied: “Do not urge me to leave you… Read More
2020-03-02 11:00
Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. (8)That same night they are to eat the meat… Read More
2020-03-01 14:41
Philippians 2:7,8 Jesus made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obed… Read More
2020-02-29 11:00
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, (39) neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creatio… Read More
2020-02-28 11:00
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. (4)Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests o… Read More
2020-02-27 20:59
“But all my friends have one!”Every parent of a teenager has heard these words. And every parent remembers being a teenager who said these words.God’s children – the… Read More
2020-02-27 11:00
John 21:15-17 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, &ld&hell…Read More
2020-02-26 17:38
EZEKIEL 36:16-20 The word of the Lord came to me: (17)“Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me… Read More
2020-02-19 19:25
Ben Azzai was a renowned Jewish sage at the time of Jesus. Once, while he was teaching, mysterious flames appeared around him.
I was linking up the words of the Torah with one another, an… Read More
2020-02-13 20:37
What’s so special about foreigners, orphans, widows, and the poor? Why are these groups of people mentioned so often in scriptures that deal with justice?
It goes back to the early… Read More
2020-02-07 18:01
Who said THAT?
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that y… Read More
2020-02-06 19:16
For 430 years the descendants of Abraham were enslaved in Egypt. Their sons were killed, their backs whipped, their ankles shackled, and their prayers unanswered.
But then God sent Moses… Read More
2020-02-05 17:24
We’ve been talking a lot about justice here lately (or, really, I’ve been writing a lot about it and you’ve kindly put up with it).
For instance, I wrote recently about… Read More
2020-01-30 21:12
When you hear the word justice you probably think of the legal system: a courtroom, a judge presiding, the law being read, a jury deliberating, a verdict announced, a reward or punishment gi… Read More
2020-01-23 15:46
Adam and Eve (and their descendants) chose to order the world their own way instead of God’s. Scarcity and harm spread across creation until God flooded the earth.
I would have quit… Read More
2020-01-16 15:48
We’re continuing to build a biblical theology of justice together that will eventually lead us to Jesus and the part He has given us to play in doing justice.
First, we talked about… Read More
2019-11-07 19:53
First, we looked at the ancient Near Eastern practice of calling kings “the image of god.”
As the image of god, the king represented the character of his god and ordered his k… Read More
2019-10-28 18:54
It was common in the ancient Near East for kings to claim to be the image of a god. The king ruled on behalf of the god, ordering their kingdom on earth their god’s good way.
Over t… Read More
2019-10-15 17:06
First, we looked at what (little) the bible has to say about church music styles. Then, we explored what the word “worship” means in the bible and what (little) music has to do w… Read More
2019-09-13 20:49
Last week we looked at what (little) the bible says about church music styles. We saw that Christians have always bickered loudly over church music styles and we ended by wonder…That… Read More
2019-09-05 23:10
Pliny the Younger, the governor of Bythinia, wrote a letter to the Roman emperor Trajan around 112 AD seeking advice on how best to persecute the Christians. In that letter, he said Christia… Read More
2019-08-30 14:28
The Bible says our God is the “God of gods.” Does that mean there are other gods? Sort of.
Who Created Everything?
The Bible begins by telling us that “God” cre… Read More
2019-08-13 15:06
Before moving to Washington, DC, Vince Foster had been a partner at Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he worked alongside Hillary Clinton. A friend of Bill Clinton’s since… Read More
2019-07-30 16:17
There were two main political parties in Israel when Jesus arrived. He didn’t side with either of them, but chose a disciple from each of them.Herodians supported the Roman occupation… Read More
2019-07-12 15:19
How is your eye?
Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full o… Read More
2019-06-24 11:09
Scholars now believe that 80% of Christians living in Jerusalem in Paul’s day were “poor.” Not poor like I was in college, surviving on Ramen and Kool-Aid. Biblically poor:… Read More
2019-06-19 01:22
“If I wrote a book called The Men of Easter it wouldn’t be a great story. It would be Judas betraying, Peter denying, and Thomas doubting, and the disciples not believing. I hate… Read More
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