Beliefs have consequences, false commitments held tenaciously over time (often for self-preservation) can lead to devastating results. Beliefs spill over to all of life, especially core beliefs (or presuppositions).   An amusing illustration of interpreting evidence in light of precommitment has to do with a deluded man who thinks he is dead. The doctor tries to... Continue Reading

In his book, Inventing the Dream, author Kevin Starr writes: “Hollywood, as Horace and Daeida Wilcot envisioned their city-to-be, would be a model Southern Californian community: Christian, righteous, and very dry—no saloons, no liquor stores, with free land offered to Protestant churches locating within the city limits.” (p. 284) The city incorporated in 1903, eleven years... Continue Reading

As Augustine explained, Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh so that our sinful flesh might be cleansed and purified. This shows that it is not the flesh itself at fault, but the sin that corrupts it. That sin must die so that we might live. Thus, Augustine affirmed the created goodness of the... Continue Reading

The loss of our jobs opens our eyes again to the fact that God is that something, that someone better. Or at least we have the chance to believe that’s true, or refuse to believe that’s true and become bitter. If our default is to see God’s role as merely to give us something better... Continue Reading

You tell me that the miracles of Jesus were supernatural. I tell you, they were always restorations of the unnatural to natural positions. When he cured disease, it was but the restoration of man’s normal physical condition. He was taking away the results of sin. So, all along the line of his miracles of healing... Continue Reading

We all feel alone at certain times. It’s common to human experience. Even if we aren’t alone, we feel it. And when we feel alone, we run to the wrong things, things that destroy us. What is it for you? Is it the chemical version? The relational version? The internet version? Or some other version?... Continue Reading

In the third verse of our hymn, given what appears in the first two verses, Christ’s redemption is cast in terms of the eschatological, or final, exodus. It is no longer the exodus from the tyranny of Pharaoh, nor is it the exodus from Babylon, that appears. Rather, Jesus brings an exodus from the oppressive... Continue Reading

The most significant appearance of Gabriel in the book of Daniel was in Daniel 9, and his most significant appearance in Luke 1 was to Mary in Luke 1:26–38. In the former passage he promised that the Anointed One would come, and in the latter passage he announced that the time of fulfillment had arrived. ... Continue Reading

The presence of God, represented by the angel Gabriel, appeared to Zechariah and to Mary. Next, we see the presence of God with an unnamed angel who proclaims Jesus’ birth to the shepherds. God interrupted their humble job as caretakers of sheep, which led to their assignment as the first evangelists to share the good... Continue Reading

Do we desire a Savior who will come into our lives, cleanse us, forgive us, renew us, change us, make us holy, and give us, in the end, eternal life? That’s the kind of Savior Jesus is. Christ, the baby born to Mary, is God’s gift to us, and His work of salvation is the... Continue Reading