Jason Locke's Blog

I'm sharing a couple thoughts from the apostle Paul's first letter to the Thessalonian church. For five weeks in February and March, I had the chance to preach this short letter. I'm sharing a couple things that stood out and encouraged me as I lived in this text. Here's the second: (2) How we live in the world makes a real difference. I've caught a few episodes of a new show on the Food Network. It's called "Restaurant Stakeout." Have you seen it? This TV show features a restaurant expert named Willie Degel from NYC. Willie believes that cameras are a critical component of employee management. He believes that employees who know they are being watched have a better chance of living up to the expectations placed on them. The show highlights a struggling restaurant whose owners bring in Willie to advise them on how to turn things around. He places hidden cameras throughout the restaurant and watches for a day or two with the owners so that they can...

Just finished a preaching series on First Thessalonians. I hadn't spent much time in this, the oldest of Paul's letters, since seminary. According to the first verse, he co-wrote it with Timothy and Silas. We think they probably wrote First Thess from Corinth not too long after Paul had to leave Thessalonica (also known as Thessaloniki or Salonika) because of persecution. People have access to all kinds of commentaries and resource materials on First Thessalonians. Some of them are good. Others are not worthy of attention. As an approachable commentary, I like Beverly Gaventa's little volume from the Interpretation commentary series. Thought I would share a couple quick reflections on Paul's letter. I was refreshed by a new look at this short letter and enjoyed sharing 5 messages with our church. I'll share a couple things that stood out and encouraged me as I lived in this text. Here's the first: (1) God is incredibly pleased with us when we tune our ea...