The Widow and Her Bad Investment
Was the widow’s offering a bad investment? Not at all, and Jesus commends her for it.
So this poor widow “gave everything she had” to the Temple, and yet–as Jesus Himself immediately warns–in 37 years the Temple would cease to exist. What a bad investment! It would be like sinking all of your savings into a business that then goes bankrupt. Or like a pastor pouring himself into serving a congregation... Continue Reading
3 Mistakes We Make When Seeking the Will of God
God’s will isn’t meant to only be sought; it’s meant to be walked in.
Though we might posit the question under the guise of innocence, the vast majority of the time we’ve already made up our minds as to what we want to do. We aren’t really asking God what His will is, then – we are really asking God to agree with the decision we’ve already made. ... Continue Reading
The Bible Is Authoritative But Not Always Normative
Both the Old and New Testaments must be interpreted in terms of its respective historical contexts.
The Old Testament was written in the context of a Hebrew theocracy. The New Testament was written in the context of a small, persecuted church struggling in a pagan Greco-Roman culture. We do not live under the Old Covenant Theocracy, nor do we live as a tiny minority in a Greco-Roman culture. Although everything is... Continue Reading
An Historic Faith
The historical character of Judeo-Christianity is what distinguishes it from all forms of mythology
“To be historic it has to have special significance and special impact on life. So the Bible is the record of God’s historic works of redemption within the context of space and time. Take the Gospel and its message out of the context of history, and Christianity is destroyed altogether.” “Once upon a time….”... Continue Reading
What Gospel-Centered Prayer Looks Like
The ultimate purpose of these petitions is to bring glory to the God who redeems
First, Paul prays that the love of the Philippians “may abound more and more.” Paul provides no specific object. He doesn’t say “that your love for God may abound more and more” or “that your love for one another may abound more and more.” I suspect he leaves the object open precisely because he wouldn’t... Continue Reading
Three Important Contexts for Bible Study
Each book of the Bible was written at a specific time, and that historical background is important
“The best way to grasp the literary context of a passage is to read it yourself. Unlike historical context, where we mostly need to depend on experts, any ordinary person with a Bible can see the literary context. When studying a smaller passage of Scripture, it is a good practice to read the entire book... Continue Reading
The Most Dangerous Question You Can Ask When Studying the Bible
“What does this passage mean to me?”
“Why is this a dangerous question to ask? It’s because the question itself implies a level of authority for you or me that we simply don’t have. It supposes that you and I have the right to determine what a passage of Scripture means to us. And what it means to me might not be... Continue Reading
How God Excels In Our Weakness
God specializes in using the not-so-obvious candidate to show off His power
“Grace is the fuel in our tank that will never run out. Paul demonstrates to us that God’s grace not only saves us but sustains us. Grace is God’s presence and thus his provision for every circumstance, no matter how difficult or how sharp the thorn may be.” While there are so many things... Continue Reading
When the Future You Planned for Never Comes
Even if the journey ahead looks bleak, God invites us to find deep joy in him, often through stories like Job’s.
You may be thinking, Job’s suffering was worse than mine, but his story had a happy ending. God gave him back everything he lost. That’s never going to happen for me. You may be right. Often, God orchestrates deep losses that are never restored in our lifetime. That’s where we need to look beyond Job’s story —... Continue Reading
10 Things You Should Know About the Kenosis Controversy
The translation “he emptied himself” inclines many to ask the question: “Of what did Christ empty himself?”
It isn’t that God the Son ceased to be God while he walked and ministered on the earth. Rather he voluntarily and willingly suspended the independent exercise of those divine attributes that would have been incompatible with his living an authentic human life in dependence on the Holy Spirit. That title may have put... Continue Reading