Women of the Reformation: Katie Luther
"God’s highest gift on earth is a pious, cheerful, God-fearing, home-keeping wife, with whom you may live peacefully, to whom you may entrust your goods and body and life (M. Luther).”
Coming out of a monastic life, both Luther and Katie saw their wedding on June 13, 1525, as an act of confession and obedience to God’s act of creation. While Katie saw Luther as a liberator, Luther too found a freedom he had never known in his marriage with Katie. For this reason, Luther called... Continue Reading
3 Traits of a Biblical Leader
You can command followers by strength. But you can only draw followers by love.
You will never lead anyone into genuine, God-honoring, long-lasting, community-building, self-fulfilling obedience unless they are directed by love for God and his glory. Of course, we can’t create that love; only the Holy Spirit can. Still, true leaders know the importance of nurturing love for God by means of wise words and kind actions. True... Continue Reading
I Will Fight For Your Young People. Will You?
A Pastor’s Plea to Christian Parents
Some of the biggest challenges in ministry come from inside the church, particularly parents between the ages of 45–60. There is one issue that has produced the struggle: their young people are leaving the church. Many parents have watched for years the same old story happen over and over. As soon as a young person returns... Continue Reading
5 Ways to Read More of the Bible
Our days can be unpredictable, and that’s why our Bible intake often is too.
While it’d be great to have thirty minutes alone in the morning with a fresh cup of single-origin coffee from Kenya—you can’t rely on the setting to read the Scriptures. If you get the 6 am dream setting, fantastic. Enjoy. But don’t hitch your reading of the Holy Bible to that sketchy schedule. Life... Continue Reading
Union in Ephesians 1:3-14
The Reformed Church is in danger of being too systematic for its own good.
The opening sentence of Ephesians has been analyzed systematically by many. This work is profitable, good, and necessary for the church and fulfills the duties of the office of the minister. But, Paul did not deliver the topic of union to us in Ephesians 1:3-14 is a systematic fashion. As is commonly noted in... Continue Reading
The Lord is My Shepherd: What Does this Mean?
He does not promise to spare you from trouble, but he does promise to be with you in your trouble.
The Israelites to whom this was written often feared not having water and food provided for them, but for you, that may not be your struggle. For some, you might be struggling with the Lord’s provision and care in other areas. This Psalm is a reminder that the Lord will lead and guide and protect... Continue Reading
Argue with Your Pride
We strut through the streets of the earth as if our strength were not fragile, our knowledge not narrow, our lungs not rising only because God gives us breath.
We find pride persuasive for a reason. For a moment at least, pride gives us what we’ve grasped for: the admiration of our peers, the eyes of passing admirers, the laughter of the crowd, the pleasure of being part of the in-group. But the purchase is costlier than it appears, for pride offers us something... Continue Reading
How do you see people?
When we look at people, we should see exactly JUST that—a person in the image of God who needs a relationship with the Son of God. Nothing more. Nothing less. As we look, we must not allow the distractions of the “things” to keep us from seeing what is truly real, really important, and really... Continue Reading
What I Want to be When I Grow Up
Those being led astray should bring sorrow to our hearts, not snark to our lips.
During my cage-stage, I found a whole new world of Christianity that had been there all along that I was previously too blind to see, and it was wonderful. But there was a downside too. I had a few arguments, not too many though. I poked fun at Arminians and open-theists, and if anything broke... Continue Reading
Reprise: You’re Using It Wrong: Ephesians 5:16 & Time
If you think Ephesians 5:16 is about industriousness and time management, You’re Using It Wrong!
There are two enormous problems with this interpretation. First the ancients, including those who lived in Ephesus in the first century, didn’t think of time the way we do, as an asset to be squandered or spent wisely. That is entirely a modern, and more precisely western, conception of time. I would add, it seems... Continue Reading