The Gospel of John deepens one’s understanding of the Lord’s Supper by clarifying that union with Christ (John 6:56) by the Spirit (John 13–14) constitutes a reality of the Supper. Ignatius, drawing ideas that seem assumed by about 109 AD and so likely derive from much earlier, affirms the life-giving aspect of the Supper and... Continue Reading

Ignatius was a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of John himself; thus, since Ignatius explicitly identifies “the Lord’s Day” as that day “on which our life as well as theirs shone forth,” John’s more ambiguous reference appears more certain to describe the first day of the week as a special, dedicated sacred day.... Continue Reading

Sin seeps into the core of our being and makes detox extremely difficult. In fact, my gluten illustration breaks down here because it can be eliminated from a person’s diet. However, sin touches us at a heart level (Matthew 15:19, Jeremiah 17:9) and stays with us until our final breath. That being said, victory over indwelling... Continue Reading

God intentionally lets us grow hungry so that we realize how desperately we need him. If he does not speak the word, we will perish. If he does not prosper the gospel, it will fail. It’s this same sense of wild-eyed desperation that we hear in the voice of Peter in response to Jesus’s question:... Continue Reading

Praying at all times is nothing less than taking every opportunity to acknowledge our weakness and our need for the Lord’s mighty help against Satan. Prayerful dependence must be the consistent attitude of our hearts, both in difficult times that make us quick to run to God and when prosperous seasons tempt us to forget... Continue Reading

Jesus asked the following question of His Apostles,“But who do you say that I am?”  Is Jesus just a good man, or good teacher, or great prophet in your heart? Is He just the founder of the Christian religion? Or is He the Son of God, the creator of all things who went to the... Continue Reading

Let us also remember that Jesus taught the first and greatest commandment in Scripture is to love our God with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:36-38).  He quoted the “Great Shema” in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (Hear O Israel!) and we ought not miss this call to listen connected with the summons to obeyGod’s commands... Continue Reading

Christ challenges us, asking, “Are you truly salty? Or has the world leached away the Word from your heart?” If we lack the marks of saving grace that Christ outlines in the Beatitudes, we have no “saltiness”, and are  “good for nothing.” Henry said, “A wicked man is the worst of creatures; a wicked Christian... Continue Reading

Christians are called to show good kindness, modelled on God’s kindness. It is a compassion which doesn’t pay things forward, which isn’t interested in personal outcome, which isn’t predicated on the worthiness of the recipient, or their intellectual affinity with us. It is a love which tramples boundaries, which upends expectations, which hands a tunic... Continue Reading

Loving people who are hard to love involves perseverance. It is going to require a lot of prayer. We need to pray for patience in dealing with them. We need to pray for wisdom in handling them. We need to know when to speak and when not to speak. We need to ask the Lord... Continue Reading