Iron Curtain Diary
Big things start small.
What follows is a record of the consequences Christians encountered because of an idea nearly half a century ago in a far-off place. They are also consequences we are encountering now in our own country and in our own communities. I want to tell you a story. It is a glimpse into a totalitarian... Continue Reading
Lord, Make Us Diligent and Desperate
A Prayer for the Pursuit of Holiness
Some of us hesitate to associate the sanctifying work of the Spirit with a word like diligence. We can be prone to think of the Spirit’s ministry in terms of spontaneity and flexibility, not discipline and diligence. But unless we read the Bible attentively, pray devotedly, and gather for worship regularly, the holiness that comes... Continue Reading
Singing in the Dark
Sometimes there are, quite literally, no words.
How could I express the anguish of watching the body of my firstborn be lowered into the cold ground, the agony of choosing the words that will be carved onto his gravestone, the torment of knowing that behind his still-closed bedroom door is all that evidence of a life lived and lost? Truly, the sorrow... Continue Reading
Anselm on the Suffering of the Impassible God
The impassible God loves without sentiment and burns with wrath against sin without the least irritation.
We may instinctively recoil from the idea of impassibility, as if by that world it is being suggested that God is cold, remote and apathetic. Such a God would be indifferent to the miseries of life in the veil of tears. Reading through Anselm’s Why God Became Man I came across a remarkable passage on how... Continue Reading
When Doctrine Divides: A Credo Review
The command to love one another cannot be cast aside when we disagree over doctrine.
Putman has produced an interdisciplinary volume that accurately assesses how Christians come to differing conclusions on doctrine and provides a roadmap for how Christians ought to live and interact in light of this doctrinal diversity. Christians, young and old, theologically trained and untrained alike would benefit from reading this volume and assuming the posture of... Continue Reading
China’s Threat to the Bible
Thanks to American publishing decisions, American Christians rely on a state that represses Christianity for their Bibles.
Regulations two years ago censored the Bible from the Chinese Internet, banned youth from church services and Bible camps, and authorized the burning of Bibles possessed without state authorization. The Bible is America’s best-selling book, annually outpacing the top 20 best sellers combined. Yet a single Chinese company has a near monopoly on Bible... Continue Reading
Kingdom Kindness
Kindness is the hands of love, with the mind of Christ.
We can follow in Christ’s steps and bring relief to others. We can bear their burdens. We can help shoulder the weight of life. In so doing, we can testify to the kingdom of God that we serve and seek to advance. I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and... Continue Reading
“Amen and Awoman”: Emanuel Cleaver’s Prayer Mocks U.S. Civil Religion
The Gnostic pretense that biological reality can be surmounted by subjective thoughts and feelings leads to absurdity.
Cleaver, D-Mo., is an ordained United Methodist who pastored a church in Kansas City for many years. His two-minute prayer was otherwise conventional, full of biblical references and King James cadences – until the very end, when he appealed to the “monotheistic God,” the Hindu creator deity “Brahma,” and the “god known by many different... Continue Reading
Love Actually
We must run with God—and not the world—in our understanding of love.
Christians of all people should certainly seek to be loving—but loving as defined and delineated by God himself, and not by the world. Biblical love is always about willing the highest good of the other person. No, this article is not about a popular and shmaltzy 2003 film, actually. It is in fact trying... Continue Reading
Always on God’s Mind
His providential care surrounds us.
Even when you feel lost in the darkness—when all your senses tell you, “God has abandoned you,” and all your circumstances scream, “All hope is gone!” Even that darkness is not dark to Him, and night is as bright as the day (Ps. 139:11–12). “I’ve been thinking about you,” we say to people we... Continue Reading
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