Q: I'm sick of the word "love." It's so overused in our society, or it's prissy. What does Jesus mean by loving others, including enemies, or loving others as myself?

A: One great definition: "Love is serving others to bring about God's will in their lives." Love your enemy? Serve him creatively, with a prayerful blend of firmness and compassion, leading him to a knowledge of God's will for a purposeful life, and then guide him to pursuing it. Same with fellow Christians and, likewise, such a pursuit is good for oneself. In other words, serve others and serve yourself toward finding God's will for purposeful living. See "Books of Interest" (tab on left) and pick up a copy of "The Dream Giver," and ask God to awaken His dream for the rest of your life.

Q: I confused about the use of the term "religion." People ask me if I'm "religious." To me this is a turn-off. How can I respond?

A: I like this quote: "The church (or, for that matter, the Men's Roundtable) is "a community of astonished hearts, proclaiming the end of religion in Jesus." --Robert Farrar Capon. The dictionary defines religion as supernatural constraint, sanction, religious practice, perhaps from religare: to restrain, tie back...institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices...scrupulous conformity. Someone said, "My faith is not a religion; it is a relationship. As we spend more time with Jesus and discover who He is and what He is doing in the lives of others and ourselves, it can blow us away. We can proclaim a relationship with Jesus as an ongoing, living adventure that is full of wonder, awe and, yes, astonishment. See our "Books of Interest" to help you learn how to relate to Jesus in this way. Or see the Q and A highlighted in red below.

Q: I'm a busy guy. And Saturday is the only day I get to sleep in. What can I gain from attending the Men's Roundtable?

A: One brother told about how his marriage got a jump start when he changed his habit - before, when his wife asked him to do something, he'd think, "Yeah, when I'm through reading the paper or doing whatever I wanted to do at the time." But, he was inspired by an elder brother in the Roundtable to respond to his wife's requests immediately. Wow! What a difference that made! Every week, we find iron sharpening iron. Roundtable is not for sissies. We see the Holy Spirit breaking through in ways we least expected. However, if you have a perfect marriage, perfect relationship with Christ, perfect relationships with other brothers, kids, family members and co-workers,  you're right. No need to attend. But if you're still learning like the rest of us, welcome! Have a donut and cup of coffee and enjoy being with other guys who understand you (as a guy) better than anyone else on this earth!

Q: I hear that the Bible is a living book and that people learn something fresh from a verse even if they have read it a hundred times before. I don't get that kind of uplifting spiritual experience from reading the Bible. Sometimes it seems boring. How can I know it as a living book as some men say?

A: God will answer your question in a way you least expect it, but let's pass along two thoughts. One Christian said he uses a variety of translations and devotionals to keep God's Word fresh. See Bible Gateway, Online Parallel Bible and Our Daily Bread. But something that blew me away came from Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller:

(Dr. Bill Bright is the late, great leader of Campus Crusade for Christ).

"...as a final question he asked Dr. Bright what Jesus meant to him....Dr. Bright could not answer the question. He said Dr. Bright just started to cry. He sat there on his big chair behind his big desk and wept...he knew Jesus in a personal way, so well that he would cry at the very mention of His name.....I knew then that I would like to know Jesus like that, with my heart, not with my head.... The speaker guy asked us to go outside and find a quiet place and get reacquainted with the Book, hold it in our hands and let our eyes feel down the pages....When I got back from the conference, I felt like my Bible was calling me....So I started reading in Matthew....and Mark, then Luke and John. I read those books in a week or so, and Jesus was very confusing, and  I didn't know if I liked Him very much, and I was certainly tired of Him by the second day. By the time I got to the end of Luke, to the part where they were going to kill Him again, where they were going to stretch Him out on a cross, something shifted within me.... I don't know what it was that I read or what Jesus was doing in the book, but I felt a love for Him rush through me, through my back and into my chest. I started crying, too, just like that guy Bill Bright. I remember thinking that I would follow Jesus anywhere, that it didn't matter what He asked me to do.... I loved Him and I was going to follow Him."

Q: It seems until recently, there was all kinds of talk about the imminent return of Jesus. People speculated that the Rapture must surely occur within a 40-year generation since the reestablishment of Israel in 1947. Lately, I haven't heard much preached about the soon-coming Jesus, with the possible exception of the popular Left Behind books. What's holding Jesus up?

A: A Bible teacher once said, "The more I hear people try to nail down the day of Jesus' return, the more I know they're wrong - we know not the day nor the hour." Here's a thought-provoking essay on one reason the Lord hasn't come back quite yet: click here.