The Most Important 5-letter Word in Calvinism
You mind if I brag about the Lord for a minute? Join me.
Jesus literally holds the entire universe together, and yet he’s never too busy for me. My Jesus walked on a Galilean sea, in the middle of a raging storm, and acted like it was no big deal. And another time, he told the wind and the waves that enough was enough: “Be still!” I can’t... Continue Reading
Christians’ Sin Problem and Its Mortification Part 2
I find that genuine regenerate Christian walk as joyous not a burden.
There are two ways to attack our sin nature. The first way is useless. It involves trying to stop doing the sin. It is equivalent to picking the fruit off of a bad tree in an attempt to kill it. That, of course, is silly, but that is what trying to use will power to... Continue Reading
Review of Confessions by St. Augustine
Augustine’s theory of knowledge first relies on the senses, but understands them to be limited.
“No one can tell me the truth of it except my God, who enlightens my mind and dispels its shadows.” (p. 52) And, he says, “In those days my mind was corrupt. I did not know that if it was to share in the truth, it must be illumined by another light, because the mind... Continue Reading
Trusting When I Don’t Understand
Oftentimes, the Lord works in ways we don’t understand.
It’s easy to trust the Lord when he works the way I want him to. It’s easy to trust the Lord when my life seems to be going well. It’s easy to tell others to trust the Lord when they don’t understand. But, the truth is, when I don’t understand what God is doing, trusting... Continue Reading
Has Your Hope in God Changed You?
Now live with a different hope than what we lived with before.
Whatever may have defined them before, because of God’s love, by the power of God’s Spirit, they now were born again. And what identity comes with this new birth? Hope. Hope is the family resemblance people recognize. Hope is the family culture. And hope is the family birthright. In 1 Peter 1:4, Peter explains this hope as... Continue Reading
The Long Night of Sorrow – Psalm 6
Find refuge, comfort and help in Psalm 6!
If David’s deep woes enabled him to share in all Israel’s pangs, how much better equipped is Jesus as your sympathetic High Priest: Jesse’s Son’s sorrows are but a drop in the ocean of Christ’s ‘Marianas Trench’ of tears – His life-long tunnel turned ink-black at the Cross. He has tailor-made grace to fit and... Continue Reading
An Interview With Jesus About Forgiveness
Forgiveness of others’ sins is not an option–it is the natural response of someone who has experienced eternal forgiveness.
When we won’t forgive fellow humans we are telling God that they have wronged us more than we have wronged God. In other words, we look like fools who have misunderstood the Gospel. Any offense we face in this life at the hands of fellow humans is nowhere near as significant as our offense against... Continue Reading
He Sold All His Pearls for One
Together the short parables contribute to one picture, seen in the obvious repetition: the man sells all he has to obtain the newfound treasure.
Neither parable minimizes the cost. In fact, both draw attention to it: literally, “all things, as much he has.” There is a cost — a great cost — to this discipleship. But the Discipler, who is himself the Treasure, so far outstrips the cost that we gladly say, “Gain!” This one great pearl is so... Continue Reading
Does God Surprise You?
God surprises us especially, of course, in the redemption He secures for us in and through Jesus Christ.
The Bible is full of more surprises. God calls a man named Abram from the city of Ur in Genesis 12. He tells him to leave home and go somewhere that God will show him. We are left asking ourselves: Who is this Abram? How did he come into the picture? Where is God taking him? We are... Continue Reading
God’s Hidden Purposes In Your Suffering
Suffering is both for you and for others.
Thrown into a pit by his own brothers and then enslaved to Egypt, he faced not only the physical suffering of brutal slave labor (at least in the early years), but he also suffered the mental and emotional trauma that comes from being abandoned by his family. No doubt he spent many days and nights... Continue Reading