Scripture Focus: 1 Thessalonians 1.2-10
2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

John 15.5a
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches.

Reflection: The Fractal Church
By John Tillman

How does the message of the gospel reproduce despite hardship? How does good news echo in a chamber of suffering? 

Fractals occur often in our universe. They are repeating patterns that are self-similar regardless of scale. Among the many places we find these recursive patterns are the shapes of shorelines and rivers, the limbs and leaves of plants, and the bronchi and bronchioles in human lungs.

In a tree, the branches are like the trunk. Their width and shape have a mathematical relationship to the trunk’s width. The limbs are like the branches, and the stems are like the limbs. The leaves on the stems contain veins that repeat and repeat the same shapes and mathematical patterns seen in the trunk, branch, limb, and stem. In a human lung or a river system, we can see a nearly identical fractal pattern.

Within the church, a self-similar, recursive, repeating pattern should occur. The church should be a fractal that repeats the pattern of Jesus. He is the vine. We are the branches.

Regardless of scale, the pattern should be the same. Whether there are tens of thousands or only two or three, Jesus, and the pattern of his life and teaching must be present. Jesus is the trunk, and the churches and people of different eras are the branches, limbs, stems, and leaves. At each stage and in every age, we are intended to reproduce the trunk’s pattern. If it is not so, then our gatherings are deformed. They are aberrations and mutations. 

Paul lived among the Thessalonians, demonstrating the pattern of Jesus. They imitated him, reproducing the same pattern. That message and example rang out throughout their country, inspiring within other communities a self-similar group to begin repeating the pattern.

When the church becomes an imitator of Jesus and each member becomes an imitator of Jesus, the gospel’s message rings out beyond our communities to distant cities. The fruits of faith are carried to other climes where their seed is dropped.

The church cannot look like Jesus when her members fail or refuse to follow his pattern of life. Paul celebrated the Thessalonians’ faith, love, hope, and sacrifice that mimicked Jesus. May we celebrate and imitate it in our own lives and churches.

Faith produces work.
Love produces labor.
Hope produces endurance. (1 Thessalonians 1.3)
Plant these seeds in your life and your church’s life, be fruitful, and multiply.

From John: There are many ways of “doing church.” The church I am part of has a pattern of planting other churches and sending out our own members rather than only growing larger and larger. I will not disparage other churches’ strategies, however, I find this one “self-similar” to the pattern of the early church. This fall, one of the staff members I’m closest to will leave to start a church approximately an hour away. We won’t be joining the new church, but will you pray with me that not only their church plant, but many others will become self-similar imitators of Jesus within their communities? And will you pray for the church planting and evangelism efforts within your own denomination or church?


Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
The Lord lives! Blessed is my Rock! Exalted is the God of my salvation! — Psalm 18.46

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.


​Today’s Readings
Jeremiah 16 (Listen 3:52)
1 Thessalonians (Listen 1:27)

Read more about The Branch and the Branches
Christ’s righteousness flows into us and we are able to create holy space, shade under the limbs of God’s tree.

Read more about Readers’ Choice
Tell us your faves of the past year via email, direct message, or the linked form and we will repost them during Readers’ Choice in September. 

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Scripture Focus: 1 Thessalonians 4.1-2, 9-10
1 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 

9 Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more

Reflection: More and More and Less and Less — Guided Prayer
By John Tillman

Paul uses the term “more and more“ twice in the fourth chapter of his letter to the Thessalonians. Both times he is pleased with where the believers are currently, yet hoping for and encouraging them toward more. 

Sanctification is easy to confuse with moralism. 

To the moralist, “more and more” means more rules and ratings.
To those being sanctified, “more and more” means fewer outward rules and more inner change.

Through sanctification, we are slowly transformed by influences beyond ourselves—the Holy Spirit’s power and the reading of God’s Word. In sanctification, we focus on change in our lives, not others.

Through moralism, we transform scriptures into affirmations of our faithfulness and condemnation of others’ sinfulness. In moralism, we focus on others’ lives, measuring ourselves against them instead of scripture. 

Sanctification and moralism both introduce change, but only one is spiritual and is powered by the gospel. Let us pray this prayer that we may not be more “moral.” But that, instead, we may be more like Christ.

More and More and Less and Less
Gracious Father, we know…

We cannot do “more and more” of the things Christ calls us to without doing “less and less” of some other things.

More and more of Christ in our life means less and less of us. He must become greater and we must become less.

Give us more and less, Father… 
More of Christ’s love for others less of our love of self. 
More of Christ’s grace for others and less of our grudging forgiveness. 
More of Christ’s hatred of sin and less of our hatred of those whose sins differ from ours.
More of Christ’s Word, the Bible, and less of the algorithmic sales machines that social media has become.
More of spreading the gospel’s good news and less of spreading the worst news we can find about our enemies.

We know that we will be at our happiest, at our most fulfilled, and at our most true self when we continually surrender more and more to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

No Christian is ever perfect until perfectly conformed to Christ. Conform us, Lord.
No Christian is ever righteous without the righteousness of Christ. Make us righteous, Lord.
No Christian can say, “It is finished.” Christ came to say it for us. Finish your work in us, Lord.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Purge me from sin, and I shall be pure; wash me, and I shall be clean indeed. — Psalm 51.8

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Numbers 24 (Listen 3:37)
2 Thessalonians 1 (Listen 1:52)

Read more about Balaam’s Success
Balaam’s strategy of people-pleasing pandering to powerful politicians is still alive today. So are his methods of deceit and temptation.

Read The Bible With Us
It’s never too late to join our Bible reading plan. Immerse in the Bible with us at a sustainable, two-year pace.

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Scripture Focus: 1 Thessalonians 3.3-5
3 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. 5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter had tempted you and that our labors might have been in vain. 

Reflection: Intercepting Deconstruction
By John Tillman

Paul mentions twice that he can “stand it no longer.” The tension of wondering what had become of the fragile, new faith of the church in Thessalonica was too much for him. Deciding to stay in Athens alone, Paul sent Timothy to check on the believers and report back.

To put that in context, Paul could stand a lot. He could stand imprisonment, stonings, beatings with rods, and many other indignities and sufferings. But to suffer the nagging doubt about the faith of those he cared for was beyond him.

Paul’s concern is two-fold. He was concerned that news of his troubles would distress the believers and that “the tempter” would take the opportunity of distressing news to short-circuit their faith.

Faith, like young plants, is vulnerable when immature. A young plant may be choked out by thorns but a mature tree barely notices their clutching at its bark. Plants mature over time but faith matures only through active cultivation.

However, even mature faith can be harmed and even great trees can be felled. Many in our day have backed away from faith or are reexamining it. Some irresponsible pastors have attacked “deconstructing” Christians as being fooled by or being tools of Satan. Some of these pastors are the same men who caused, endorsed, or ignored the abuse, hypocrisy, and suffering that has fueled the deconstruction movement. They stand throwing gasoline on the fire and blame the devil.

While it is true that spiritual forces and powers attack individuals and the church at opportune times, (Luke 4.13) we can’t ignore the tangible causes. When we find abusive pastors, sweaty and holding an axe by a felled tree, we don’t need to blame the tree for giving in to Satan.

Paul preferred to prevent, rather than condemn, deconstruction. And when faith faltered, Paul intercepted those who strayed correctively but always compassionately. His strongest words were directed at deceivers, not the deceived. 

In our age of social media and instant messaging, we don’t need to send Timothy on a hazardous journey to stay in touch, although sometimes discussing faith can feel like a hazardous journey.

Like Paul, let us take the risk and put our energy into cultivating, maintaining, and repairing faith. Who do you know, weak in faith, who needs encouragement? Who do you know strong in faith, who you can turn to?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
I call with my whole heart; answer me, O Lord, that I may keep your statues. — Psalm 119.145

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Numbers 21 (Listen 5:03)
1 Thessalonians 3 (Listen 1:44)

This Weekend’s Readings
Numbers 22 (Listen 5:55), 1 Thessalonians 4 (Listen 2:24)
Numbers 23 (Listen 4:01), 1 Thessalonians 5 (Listen 2:37)

Read more about Cultivation Means Tending
We must carefully plant and nurture the early growth of gospel teaching so that it grows strong, healthy, and productive.

Read more about Cultivation Leads to Harvest
How are you dividing up your spiritual harvest? To whom are you passing on biblical knowledge?

Scripture Focus: 1 Thessalonians 2.1-4
1 You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results. 2 We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition. 3 For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you.

“Pray……we don’t get fooled again.” — The Who

Reflection: Fear of Being Fooled
By John Tillman

People don’t like being tricked. I don’t even like surprise parties. 

Perhaps our fear of being fooled goes all the way back to Genesis? After the serpent fooled his parents, the Lord told Cain sin was a crouching creature to be mastered. (Genesis 4.6-7) We won’t be fooled again…we hope. Yet, over and over again, like Cain, sin masters us. The serpent fools us.

There are many stories we tell ourselves about our world being a deception. Free Guy, The Matrix films, and The Truman Show are just a few examples. In these stories, someone is living within what they think is real, what they think is normal, and what they think is good. But eventually, they find the truth.

Neo wakes up. Truman sails his boat into the wall of the sky. Guy learns about his creator and his imprisoner. In all these stories, someone is trying to fool the protagonist and someone is trying to free the protagonist. There’s a deceiver and a truth-teller at work.

Is it possible to go through life and never be fooled? I doubt it. If you never trust or put faith in anything, every time a true thing comes into your life and you refuse to believe it…you fool yourself. If you’ve been living with or inside a lie, being told the truth can feel like a trick. Sometimes, the skepticism that we think is protecting us, is actually keeping us imprisoned.

Neo, Truman, and Guy had truth-tellers who worked to free them from what they thought was normal, good, and real. These stories in our culture show our fear of being fooled and that searching for truth is arduous and risky. 

Skeptics aren’t usually out to try to harm believers. Most of the time they’re just trying to keep from being harmed. 

Skeptics in our lives need safe places and time for journeys of discovery. We need to allow them to work things out slowly, but that doesn’t mean the work isn’t urgent. We, like Paul, need to ensure skeptics that the gospel we share does not spring from error or impure motives. Words won’t be enough. It will take meals, time together, sharing experiences, and having difficult but respectful conversations about what is true.

As we help them search for truth, the truth will set them free.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. — Psalm 90.12


– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.


Today’s Readings
Numbers 20 (Listen 4:15)
1 Thessalonians 2 (Listen 2:53)

Read more about Last to Believe
Far from putting Thomas down, John treats Thomas’s journey from doubt to faith with respect and tenderness.

Read more about When Skepticism meets Kindness
Sometimes we look at kindness and assume there is a scheme of self-promotion or self-preservation behind it all.