A gentle person can relate to all kinds of people. Even when situations are awkward or when difficult matters must be discussed, meek saints leave others knowing that they love them even in the midst of conflict. And that, indeed, requires great strength. Jerry Bridges wrote, “Gentleness is illustrated by the way we would handle... Continue Reading

Christmas reminds us that Jesus is the true temple, true sacrifice, and true priest. Yet those who are united to him by faith are, strikingly, formed by God to be the same things: in Jesus we are a spiritual temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells (1 Corinthians 3:16), spiritual sacrifices offered in worship to the... Continue Reading

The Son of God most High now hangs cursed for the sins of his people on a tree, suspended between the same heaven and earth he created. And in response, the heavens who before wept for the sins of man with a flood, now drape themselves in black garments of mourning for the murder of... Continue Reading

This song is a celebration of God’ delight in exalting the humble and opposing the proud. Jesus Himself taught this principle, saying, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). Christ’s humiliation to the point of death on a cross and subsequent exaltation (see Philippians... Continue Reading

Celebrating the incarnation of our Lord is a good and right thing to do, whether as individuals or as churches. The commercial and cultural celebrations are permissible observances for individual Christians, but they represent an unwarranted intrusion when they are introduced into the ministry and services of the local congregation. They are purely secular (and... Continue Reading

The book of Revelation, however, must be treated with particular care when it comes to updating distances and measurements and the number of uses of key words. Modern Bibles unwittingly entrench literalism by updating measurements and distances. Their updating practice actually limits the numbers and masks the numerical symbolism. Furthermore, they diminish the theological cross... Continue Reading

When we come before God, what bragging rights do we have? The person with the highest IQ in the world and the infant born yesterday are on a level playing field compared to what God knows. But this is more than acknowledging the distance between Creator and creation. We do not have to rely on... Continue Reading

How do we face up to the silence of God? Alain Emerson says we do so in prayer, as we learn to sit with God in the midst of pain. We learn this in Gethsemane, where Jesus asked for the cup to go from him and was answered, as best we know, with silence. This... Continue Reading

Chastity is the resolve to keep a heart pure and on fire for Jesus. It is not just the virtue that protects us from sexual sin. Chastity is the watchman that guards the heart from any passion that would douse or misdirect the love that belongs to the bridegroom himself.   In I Corinthians 6... Continue Reading

Christians, take heart! Though we may be surrounded by darkness, Christians do not LIVE in darkness. By faith (belief) in Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, we have been born again and are, in fact, indwelt by the Light of the World! We are children of God! Every year that passes brings us closer to the... Continue Reading