When You Feel More Like Naomi
Even when you feel more like Naomi, the Lord God is working on your behalf
Don’t get me wrong, I would rather be like Ruth. Ruth is kind and courageous. Ruth is hardworking and loyal. But in a recent desert season (though nothing as drastic as a famine or triple funeral), I notice that my response is more like the woman who said “call me Mara, for the Almighty has... Continue Reading
How Should We Be in the World but Not of It?
The Bible says we are not to be conformed to the patterns of this world
“Now, when we hear that as Christians, so often we think that all we have to do is to become obvious nonconformists. So if the world wears buttons and bows, we don’t wear buttons and bows, or if the world wears lipstick, we don’t wear lipstick. We try to show ways in which we are... Continue Reading
Final Destination: Maintaining a Heavenly Mindset
Can onlookers tell what your final destination is by the way you behave? Or do you live like this life is your final destination?
So pray for God to give you a heavenly mindset. Make deliberate choices in your life to prevent growing too attached to this life. If we are a church full of heaven-set people, willing to make decisions that would be nonsensical except in the light of heavenly reality, realm, and reward, then when we share... Continue Reading
In The Age Of Anxiety
One way to characterize the post-9/11 world is as “The Age of Anxiety.”
We are right to be anxious because our gods are dissolving right before our eyes. We are anxious in the same way Pharaoh was anxious after the third plague. We want to bargain with the mediators of this strange religion but we cannot. They are totalitarian. They will not bargain. They will not go along... Continue Reading
Theological Objections
Not everyone is a professional theologian, but we are all ordinary theologians.
When people say theology isn’t practical, perhaps they are not seeing the practical implications immediately. Sometimes, when we confront a theological principle, it takes time to see its practical implications. Think about these theological concepts: the goodness of God, the reality of future judgment, God’s sovereign control over the world. Aren’t those concepts practical? Is... Continue Reading
Is the Bible Foundational to Christianity? Engaging with Andy Stanley
What is the cure that Stanley has offered? In brief, Christians need to stop basing their faith on the Bible.
The sermon itself was deeply confusing and left many questions unanswered about the proper role of God’s Word in our lives. Unfortunately, much of the confusion in the sermon was driven by Stanley’s commitment to a particular methodology about how to reach non-Christians. For whatever set of reasons, Stanley has become convinced that the Bible... Continue Reading
Four Questions for Obeying the First Commandment
In the Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin insists that obedience to the first commandment means we owe God four things
That’s a helpful checklist, not only for obeying the first commandment, but for a number of expressions of devotion to God. What should we do in prayer? Try adoration, trust, invocation, and thanksgiving. What should we find in our corporate worship services? Plan for adoration, trust, invocation, and thanksgiving. What can we talk about with... Continue Reading
Don’t Waste Your Suffering #5: A Promise to Cling to
When you’re in the thick of it sometimes all you can do is cling to a single verse or a phrase.
In the middle of suffering, we need to fight to see life through the lens of scripture, and not allow our suffering to distort our view of scripture and God. In other words, we need to have the attitude that says, “Whatever else is happening to me for whatever unknown reasons, this I do know…”.... Continue Reading
Whom Will You Serve?
How often do we forget that God alone is the fountain of all good
When the devil and his children give this promise, “I will give you what you want if you will only serve me,” remember where it comes from. That which comes from God is pure and peaceable, brings joy and reconciliation, and gladdens the heart. the promise of the devil brings shame and guilt and bondage.... Continue Reading
Six Reasons Why Adultery Is Very Serious
Christopher Ash provides six reasons in his book Married for God
Adultery does no favors to the adulterer. To the contrary, it undermines and erodes character and integrity. “Like all secret sin, it eats away like some noxious chemical at the integrity of the one who commits it. The moment any of us drive a wedge between what we say we are publicly and what we... Continue Reading