I Can’t Do This, God
God is only impressed by one human strength: strong faith.
“Oh, my Lord, please send someone else” (Exodus 4:13). Please send someone else. This is the fearful response of a person who not only feels but knows he is too weak to do what God is assigning him to do. Yes, the response lacks faith, but it is an accurate assessment: in his own strength, Moses will not be able to... Continue Reading
Abortion, Human Dignity, and Jesus
In a world that has embraced a culture of death, here’s where God would have us look: on his Son, Jesus.
When you lose dignity and purpose, death is lurking nearby. The Scriptures are clear that God condemns the slaughter of children and will judge it. He abominated the ancient pagan practice of child sacrifice in the Old Testament (2 Kgs. 17:17), and the early Christian church repudiated the common Roman practice of child exposure, whereby... Continue Reading
3 Crosses of Discipleship
It's important to return to the basics regarding the Christian life, which starts with discipleship.
Christian discipleship is a call to renounce our affection for this present evil age. As the author of Hebrews states, we do not have a permanent city in the world, but we are looking for the city that is to come (cf. Hebrews 13:14). We know that this present evil age is under the sentence of... Continue Reading
Two Went Up to Pray
The parable is setting out two ways of salvation, the way of merit and the way of mercy.
What we need to realize after hearing this parable is that the thing that makes the difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector is the One telling the parable. When the tax collector beat his breast and cried out to God for mercy, he was really asking God to give him an atoning sacrifice... Continue Reading
A Short Dictionary on Trinity Words
For the sake of knowing God, our faith, and avoiding error, consider then the following short dictionary of Trinity words.
One reason to use Trinity words is to know God. They provide a big picture understanding of God based on the whole Bible and spiritual reflection on the Bible’s meaning. Since the Bible’s story unfolds over centuries and its themes unfold across sixty-six books, it can be hard to keep track of everything. That’s why teachers... Continue Reading
Honor and Its Decline
Honor once served as a barometer of the virtue and vitality of both men and nations.
It is important to remember that any attempt at sundering truth into separate upper and lower categories is merely a pretext for unbelief. The decline and fall of honor in our day is not the second- or third-order consequence of the new fundamentalist dogmas of our abortion-affirming, LGBTQ+, or postmodern soothsayers. Instead, it is unbelief... Continue Reading
The Time Jesus Shared Depressing News
“Jesus, might there be a way to serve you that doesn’t include pain and suffering?”
When we comfort loved ones going through suffering, we tend to focus on the here and now. We encourage the sick with the hope of restored health. We encourage the unemployed with the hope of finding a job. We encourage the imprisoned with the hope of release. While helpful and encouraging, these things stop short of our... Continue Reading
Precept Upon Precept A Common (and Serious) Problem in Bible Study
This kind of Bible study is a catechism that specializes in missing the point.
Isaiah 28 pronounces judgment on God’s people. They are drunk and proud. And although there is much for them to learn from God, they are like foolish, immature children, learning in such a way that they never really learn. When they hear the teaching, it’s like a foreign language. This “precept upon precept” learning, this “here... Continue Reading
Five Clichés You Won’t Find in the Bible
We should replace each of these with biblical wisdom.
Instead of offering people more bad advice via Cliché-anity, let’s turn to offer them the whole truth, being fully honest so that we can always lead them toward the good news of Christianity. Let’s refrain from using clichés in our conversations with others. Let’s put “Christ” back into Christ-ianity. This is news that you’ll always find everywhere in the... Continue Reading
He Won’t Be Silent Forever
He is giving men and women, boys and girls time to repent of the evil of their ways.
No veneer of moral rectitude will stay the hand of the infinitely holy Judge of all the earth. While God seems to have remained silent in exercising judgment, He has not remained silent in Scripture. Whatever judgment He withholds and whatever judgement He will send, Scripture teaches us that we are meant to turn from... Continue Reading