The scars I bear in my body, my mind, my soul, the adversities and setbacks, the pains that may yet await me before I get to heaven, the relational wounds, the memories from which I struggle to recover, the darkness of doubt and the battles with unbelief, will not necessarily be removed when I get... Continue Reading

Exiles feel the tension of remaining faithful to their own culture while being immersed in the waters of a foreign culture. The Church is no different as we seek to live out our identity as citizens of the Kingdom while living in the midst of earthly kingdoms. Clark explains that, because of our heavenly citizenship,... Continue Reading

As many other English Protestants during Mary I’s reign, Bradford knew his prospects for martyrdom were high. To prepare himself and others, he wrote A Very Godly Prayer of one Standing at the Stake Ready to be Burnt for Christ’s Gospel’s Sake, where he remembered how Jesus also experienced “fear and need by the reason... Continue Reading

The underlying problem with the abortion-choice slogan “no uterus, no opinion” is that it equivocates between propositional knowledge and experiential knowledge. How so? When the abortion-choice advocate says something like “You’re a man” or “Men can’t get pregnant,” I understand them to be making the following claim: Men cannot know what it is like to... Continue Reading

Despite all of our modern pretensions to advancement, even though 1,500 years have passed since Augustine’s day, our so-called evolved society still has bloodlust and regularly lathers its hands in violence as a form of entertainment. Yes, our spectacle entertainments have slick advertising and shiny wrappers, but beneath this layer of respectability we find the... Continue Reading

Dependence on Christ through whom we can do all things is the lesson learned by Paul through the instrumentality of Satan (2 Cor. 12:7-10). Pride is an ally of the evil one and brings us to resist God rather than the devil. Humility gives ear to God and finds strength in the grace of God... Continue Reading

Being half-distracted seems better than being fully inattentive to God, though, right? But the Lord will not be treated like a beggar, happy to have the scraps of our thought life only after we’ve offered up the best of our focus and affections to media and advertisers. He wants it all. Our failure to devote our... Continue Reading

Cognition—knowing and understanding the truth—is the first step in pursuing spiritual growth through the Word of God. After cognition comes conviction. As we learn the truth of Scripture, we must begin to develop beliefs into convictions. Our lives are controlled by our convictions. As the truth of God’s Word begins to occupy our minds and... Continue Reading

As the Italian monk, Benedetto da Mantua, wrote in the early 16thcentury, “The Bride says, overwhelmed by joy: The realms and kingdoms of my beloved spouse are mine. I am queen and empress of heaven and earth. My husband’s riches—that is, his holiness, innocence, righteousness, and Godhead, together with all his virtue and might—are at... Continue Reading

Jesus who became an untouchable – the untouchable – for us. Then most gloriously, there is the final day touch, when we are told in Revelation 21 that God himself will wipe every tear from the eyes of his people.  He won’t send an angel down with a tissue to do the dirty work for Him.... Continue Reading