Though God Slay Me: COVID19 and the Believer
These same catastrophic losses that we are facing mirror the biblical story of Job.
The book of Job doesn’t just tell the story of natural disasters but also reveals what was behind the scenes—a very real Devil. At this point, many people may scoff and dismiss the book of Job as outdated. After all, this is a day where we believe in science. Christians do not and should not... Continue Reading
How to Share Scripture While Respecting Context
One of the most loving things we can do for our friends is to connect them with God’s word.
Respecting context is particularly important when we talk about the Bible with others. In these situations we are not only communicating the meaning of the Bible but also the proper use of the Bible. I’ve argued that the context of Scripture is so important that ignoring it is dangerous. One might conclude that I... Continue Reading
A Purposeful and Proactive Pursuit
Jesus still takes the initiative.
Jesus knows what it is to be human in this hurt and broken world, and he is very proactive in initiating acts of grace in our lives. Sadly, just like the man in John 5, we are also often slow to respond. At first glance, John 5:1-18 looks like any other healing narrative in... Continue Reading
Slow Motion
The events of that one single day are reported in meticulous detail.
When it comes to the crucifixion we have the sequence frame by frame; almost, indeed, an hourly bulletin. The crucifixion narrative goes into slow motion. “When it comes to Good Friday the Gospels go into slow motion. They have passed over in silence whole decades of Jesus’ life, and even when they pick up... Continue Reading
Weeping Without Joining the Dirge
We have a golden opportunity to cut through the violent extremes and condemn racism and lawlessness simultaneously with biblical clarity.
Up until now, we have not been wielding the two-edged sword of the Spirit, law and gospel, to contend against the powers facing us. Our action has looked the same as the secular activism around us as we seek conversations with dialogue partners rather than proclaiming the word of life. We are peddling all the... Continue Reading
A Confessional View of Adoption
There is not a justified person in all the world who does not receive the tremendous blessing of being brought into God’s family.
The writers of the Confession describe those who are adopted by God as “all those that are justified.” This is important to understand because while justification and adoption are separate doctrines, as previously mentioned (the former being a legal blessing of salvation, the latter being filial), they are always linked. The point is, all whom... Continue Reading
Finding God in Our Distress
Do we know who our God is? Do we know we can bring all our cares to Him?
Counterintuitive to our Western individualism, it is in the corporate worship of the Lord and in a meditation on His eternal perfections and His condescending mercy that the psalmist receives the divine medicine needed for his woes. In the first post in this two-part series, I showed how the Psalms—in particular, Psalm 102—give us... Continue Reading
Contending for a Culture of Life: Abortion in the Work and Witness of the Early Church
Revisiting the historical record of the church’s encounter with the practice of abortion.
The purpose of this article is to resource just such a robust Christian response by revisiting the historical record of the church’s encounter with the practice of abortion and by re-presenting the culture of life for which these believers faithfully contended. The issue of abortion is never far out of the news. This perennial... Continue Reading
What Can We Know and How?
The "finite Is not capable of the infinite."
What do we know? We know what God reveals to us in creation and in Scripture. When do we know it? We know it when God reveals himself to us. We are always and only the recipients of revelation. We are never the originators of revelation. Further, revelation is always accommodated to human finitude the... Continue Reading
Jesus in the Gospel of John—the True Vine
Only through faith in Him can we have life and that abundantly.
Jesus wants us to bear fruit that is authentic, arising from union with Him, much fruit that abounds by His workmanship of grace, and lasting fruit that endures to the glory of God. I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser (John 15:1, NKJV). We’ve seen Jesus described as the Word,... Continue Reading