Some argue that Moby Dick is Melville’s symbol of the incarnation of evil itself. Certainly this is the view of the whale held by Captain Ahab himself. Ahab is driven by a monomaniacal hatred for this creature, this brute that left him permanently damaged both in body and soul. He cries out, “He heaps me,”... Continue Reading

We sometimes have our hearts set on the wrong thing, and God lovingly brings people into our lives to help us stay the course. We are all prone to an incredible amount of selfishness and self-centeredness. The reason why we call it “blind spots” is because they’re blind. We literally cannot see them. We need... Continue Reading

Many pastors are feeling internal or external pressure to set those special measures aside, to once again start up all the programs and ministries, and to return to normalcy as quickly as possible. This is greatly complicated by the fact that in many congregations half the church considers this a public health emergency in which... Continue Reading

Like the “great sorrow and unceasing anguish” he expressed in Romans 9:2 over his Jewish kinsmen who had wholly rejected their Messiah, Paul wept over these self-professed Christians who had rejected the very core of the gospel and made themselves “enemies of the cross of Christ” (Philippians 3:18). He shed real tears over the “destruction”... Continue Reading

A true grasp of God’s grace is especially helpful for people who are afraid that God is hard and severe, as the man who buried his one talent thought (Matt. 25:24). Such a viewpoint of God is more than a little tinged by the rigor of the first covenant. And it is marvelous to see... Continue Reading

While we need not fear losing our salvation, this warning in Deuteronomy still drives us to action (Deut. 29; John 10:28–29; Rom. 8:35–39). We should choose safety—true safety. Safety is a word we may not quickly equate with righteousness. We tend to choose other words like holiness, godliness, goodness. Those are good descriptions, but we... Continue Reading

What was happening at Sinai was that God from his heavenly throne room was touching down to earth: the mountain was the place where heaven and earth met. There, Moses was revealed a heavenly blueprint for the tabernacle which was a terrestrial facsimile intended to prefigure the celestial authentic. That tabernacle was according to the... Continue Reading

Like those disciples, we are still on the way, and we are still arguing in many cases about that which does not relate to the true nature of the kingdom. And if that is so, then surely we also need a redirection from Jesus. We need a new posture as we continue to go forward... Continue Reading

We often think of Old Testament worship as full of requirements, laws, and sacrifices so that there must have been no joy in coming to worship. But here the psalmist is rebuking the idea that the worship of God was some sort of chore, or some hard demand God put upon his people. That is... Continue Reading

The three-paragraph letter warns against the illiberal “vogue for public shaming” that has destroyed countless careers in recent years. As we witness almost daily now, when the virtual mob descends, its purpose is to obliterate the reputation, credibility, and livelihood of a living, breathing person—all for the crime of venturing an unwelcome idea (or even... Continue Reading