Do we have the faith, encouraged by Luke 15, that lost people, pictured as straying sheep, misplaced coins, and wandering sons, will eventually return to their rightful place? Do we anticipate rejoicing wholeheartedly when what is lost is found by Christ?     A few weeks ago, we returned home after a wonderful family vacation... Continue Reading

Jesus says that every branch aligned with Him that does not bear fruit, His Father the vinedresser will remove. When Jesus says the Father takes away a branch, he is not speaking of someone losing salvation because they were slacking in their efforts at obedience. Rather, fruitlessness betrays lifelessness. The vine and branches is a metaphor... Continue Reading

Undoubtedly, some in our church take our leadership’s lack of frequent and persistent addressing of current events as though we are just trying to avoid conflict, or that we are monks retreating from culture, or that we are ostriches with our heads in the sand. I don’t think such criticisms are valid. Really, we’re trying to... Continue Reading

Like Augustine, we cannot understand time entirely. Nevertheless, we know that we are creatures made to exist in and through time. We can’t even fathom what it would mean to be strictly timeless. Yet there is One who is timeless—God. “From everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Ps. 90:2).     “What time is it?”... Continue Reading

Jeremiah does more than describe the symptoms of the fear of man, though. He also helps us understand what it really means to fear man. “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord” (Jeremiah 17:5). The fear of man is not only fearing... Continue Reading

How is it possible to renounce God or not believe in His judgment?  As believers, we know that God sees, and will work justice.  On the one hand we know that Romans chapter one teaches us that fallen men suppress the truth.  On the other hand, as those whose eyes have been opened by the... Continue Reading

When it comes to social media, we seem to be taking on all the qualities of the double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. We are blown about by every thought, desire, opinion, and news story, even if it is completely (and quite obviously) fake. It isn’t enough for social media users to shout at... Continue Reading

The challenges faced by the pandemic has strengthened many people in the local church. Even the genuine believers who have not been able to return to normal life—including their church gathering. They have used technology to the best of their ability, made intentional connections with their church online, and refused to forsake the fellowship of... Continue Reading

Paul commands us to “rejoice always” (Phil. 4:4, for example). We should understand “always” to mean “frequently,” and learn to find wisps of joy even in the midst of difficult circumstances. Our joy varies in intensity and pitch. This was true even in the life of Jesus. In Luke 10:21 we read, At that time Jesus, full... Continue Reading

One flaw of human nature is that we think we are right about almost everything. The Bible says, “Every man is right in his own eyes” (Proverbs 21:2). This insistence that we are right is rooted in pride, and it results in friction in marriage, in politics, between friends, family, and in the workplace. It was... Continue Reading