There’s no Straight Line from Faithfulness to Blessing
If there is no straight line from sin to suffering, why should there any more be a straight line from faithfulness to blessing?
There is a direct line between faithfulness and spiritual blessing. As a believer in Jesus, you are counted as perfectly faithful and are, as a result, given every spiritual blessing. But there is no straight line between material blessing and faithfulness. You may have a lot of money and great health, you may not. But... Continue Reading
Judge Jesus
Whether you are investigating Christianity for the first time, or are a long-time follower of Jesus, these four questions are well worth pondering.
Jesus is hated by the world, claims to speak a message from God, lived a life that was uniquely beyond every reproach, and continues to transform lives all over the world. “Do not judge by appearances.” Sound advice. Sometimes people, books, and even foods can surprise you. But actually that isn’t a pithy proverb... Continue Reading
The Whims of Erotic Attraction and 1 Corinthians 7:1–5
In these verses, God tells us that sex should not be led by sexual arousal, at least not primarily!
The world and your own flesh are trying to seduce you into patterns of slavery to erotic attraction that will leave you empty, broken, discarded, and hopeless. Now is the time to learn to receive God’s agape love and give it to others. This love is your eternal inheritance; it, not eros, is the key... Continue Reading
When Speaking About Jesus’ Bride
To speak of the church with disrespect, harshness, malice and judgmentalism is to speak of Christ's bride in those ways.
When writing to Timothy, Paul explained, “I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (1 Tim. 2:10). The church (in every form in which it is manifested on earth) is certainly subject to criticism and correction; but, those things must always be done out of love and... Continue Reading
The Time to Come
To understand eternity, reflect on the benefits believers receive at death and at the resurrection.
Eternity teaches the hard but rewarding discipline of waiting. Waiting for the Lord is a way of submitting to Him. We wait for what we do not see with patience (Rom. 8:25)—by not losing heart while things seem to be against us. That’s hard. But eternity helps us wait with the right perspective. Jesus told His... Continue Reading
The Use of the Imperative in Jesus’ Preaching
Jesus himself is the Master Preacher.
Those listening that day expressed amazement over Jesus’s teaching, “for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matt. 7:29). The Lord did not just talk about the kingdom of God. He called His listeners into its reality and His dominion. Preachers today would do well not only to... Continue Reading
Let’s Think About This For a Moment
If you choose to drink from a sewer rather than from a clear spring, don't be surprised if you get sick.
If you are a follower of Christ, put your phone down some time. Turn off the television and laptop. Close this blog. Go outside. Look up. That big blue thing is called the sky. You might not have noticed it in a while. It declares the glory of the God who created it. The same... Continue Reading
Arrogant Leaders Will Be Dealt With
All proud and evil rulers will soon enough have to give an account.
Daniel 5 – and the rest of Scripture – make it clear that all unrepentant sinners will be dealt with, along with all arrogant and wicked rulers. That is good news indeed. So hang in there, even as you see evil and corruption and the abuse of power all around you. It will not last... Continue Reading
The Quiet Power of Ordinary Devotions
Ordinary devotions are not the enemy. Like the manna in the wilderness, they too are from God.
How good it is for us to be thrown back on God, knowing more deeply than ever that if we are to see at all, he must give us sight. How good to sing with the psalmist, “As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to... Continue Reading
No Justice, No Peace?
While justice may come before peace in the order of being, peace comes before justice in the order of politics.
Peace and order are possible without justice. Personal experience and human history alike prove that it is so. The order may be vicious—on a football team, in a barracks, in a banana republic. It may well be unjust insofar as it does not render to each what is due to him. But it is only... Continue Reading