Roger Severino

Category: Culture

Why Paul Had to Rebuke Peter

January 2, 2021
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. 12 For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. 13 Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas...more

God Loves the World: Red and Yellow, Black and White.

September 25, 2019
 John 3:16-18 16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not...more

Countercultural Leadership: What Jesus Taught Us before Jim Collins

July 30, 2015
Reflections on John 13: 1-17 In his best-selling book Good to Great, Jim Collins and his research team discovered something perhaps surprising about the CEO’s who led companies to beat out their industry competitors over a given period of time. They tended not to be the bombastic, charismatic types that were larger than life, and had egos to match....more

Reasons Church People May Love Jesus Much or Little

July 16, 2015
Reflections on Luke 7:36-50: Religion vs. the Gospel Religious people tend to observe certain rituals (i.e. church attendance) and follow a code of morality that makes them feel they are good, or at least better than others. Often, they see themselves (subconsciously) in a contract with God, and that God is fortunate to have them on His team. When...more

Jesus’ Resurrection: Myth, Metaphor, or History?

July 2, 2015
Reflections on 1 Corinthians 15:1-14 A myth is generally thought of as something that is untrue (or not entirely true), that develops as a legend over time. A spiritual metaphor is something that takes something we know—like light or bread—and attempts to teach a spiritual truth or practice, correlating the literal to the symbolic truth. Is this how we...more

Christ-like Character: Courage

June 17, 2015
I remember watching the opening scene of “Saving Private Ryan” several years ago when it first came out. I recall the horror of seeing these young men getting out of their seaborne crafts and thrown onto the beaches under fire of flying bullets. I put myself in the boots of those soldiers’ and felt the fear I imagine they...more

Why You Should Cultivate Both Love and Hate

March 25, 2015
In 1 John 4, the Apostle John tells us two different times that “God is love” (vv. 8 and 16). What a wonderful message! How glorious to realize that the God of the universe is motivated by love and is the origin of love. In fact, we learn that “we love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19)....more

Does God’s Love Mark Your Identity?

March 4, 2015
Love as our Identity 1 John 3:1 says: “Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are!” Whatever background filters or lenses you bring to the idea of a father-child relationship, please know that God is the perfect, benevolent Father who loves you very well! In Matthew...more

The Persuasive Power of a Loving Christian Community

February 24, 2015
In 1 John 2:7-11, the author seems to be reminding his readers of Jesus’ command to love one another and that “by this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (see John 13:34-35). In fact, the 1 John passage puts it bluntly: the one who loves his brother remains in...more

Power Lessons from the Movie Selma

January 9, 2015
I recently had the privilege of being invited to watch a pre-release of the movie Selma set to be released in theaters this month. As I watched this powerful movie about events in our nation’s history, certain thoughts came to mind and, personally, I walked away stirred by some lessons that are found in Scripture. The Power of Courage...more
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