When Shame Keeps You Away
If you feel unlovable, unsure about Jesus and how he’ll respond to you, please hear this: Jesus welcomes you.
The leprous man who came to Jesus couldn’t have physical contact with others, because doing so would make them unclean. Can you imagine the shame he felt? And the leper doesn’t deny his problem. His manner of approaching Jesus communicates great humility and desperate need. Luke tells us, “When he saw Jesus, he fell on his... Continue Reading
Love is Blind: Loving the Unseen Savior
Though you have not seen him, you love him.
Peter’s readers had not been as privileged as Peter, who had been personally discipled by Jesus for three years. And yet their love for Christ was no less real. Love for Christ is not based on the normal reasons we love other people. The reasons we love Jesus have nothing to do with his personality, or... Continue Reading
Judas Exposure
Judas doesn’t believe Jesus is the answer to his sins.
The great tragedy in this story is not so much Judas’s lack of repentance, rather his unbelief. Judas made a choice. He sinned. He knew it and confesses to it. But look where he goes to find reconciliation. He has a choice. He can go to Christ (whom he’s walked with for a few years)... Continue Reading
Disowned for Jesus
What I Lost and Found in Christ
God taught me that if I do take up my cross and lay down my life, then I’ll find my life. Over time, I have come to experience this truth. My life of following Jesus has not been the life I envisioned for myself, but it has become the life I want: a life used... Continue Reading
The Running Type of Obedience
Philip ran because he figured this was why God pulled him away from a revival in Samaria to go out to a desert.
I’ll get a pretty distinct impression that I ought to go talk to somebody, or do some thing, and I’ll debate forever whether or not its actually the Lord. I suppose I’m worried about being seen as a fool—or maybe even being a fool. I don’t want to be one of those loons who gets... Continue Reading
Cling to Christ
Sometimes 'holding fast' is a life and death experience.
I’m reminded to cling to Christ. More specifically, I’m reminded to cling to the good news of Christ—the gospel. It is life and death. The wind is howling, the waves are building, and life is coming at me with all its fury. What have I to cling to? Hold fast to the gospel. Cling to Christ. ... Continue Reading
Canons Of Dort (19): Unconditional Atonement
Christ did not die in order to create the mere possibility or the potential of salvation. He died to accomplish salvation.
The atonement was not conditional. Like election, it was unconditional because the love of God is unconditional. Christ did not atone for those who do their part. The atonement is not effective when we meet a condition. Rather, Synod celebrated Christ the Bridegroom who came for his bride, who redeemed her, who sent his Holy... Continue Reading
Baptism: When Heaven Meets Earth
Christian baptism is where heaven meets earth.
God gave certain signs to point to his promise and his acts of redemption to make certain people pure enough to be with him. It takes death to bring life, washing to be clean, and surgery to make well. Only the God of heaven can make that happen to people on earth. Do you... Continue Reading
3 Ways to Navigate Difficult Passages of the Old Testament
Reading habits that may start well in Genesis and Exodus often go astray when the assigned readings move into Leviticus which focuses heavily on Old Testament law.
Humans are radically corrupt because of the fall. Our sin problem goes much deeper than any outward, “do it yourself” remedy can fix. What we need most is a rescuer, not a role model. We need a substitute, not a better version of ourselves. Reading the Old Testament through a “moral of the story’ lens... Continue Reading
Reformed Churches, Frank Reich, and the Sabbath
Confessional churches have understood the Fourth Commandment not as the least of the Ten Commandments, but the very lynchpin (or the bridge) of the moral law.
The issue is especially important when one realizes that, contrary to our own generation, earlier Presbyterians and Reformed, confessional churches understood the Fourth Commandment not as the least of the Ten Commandments, but the very lynchpin (or the bridge) of the moral law, addressing both love for God as well as love for one’s neighbor.... Continue Reading