Christian discipleship is a call to renounce our affection for this present evil age. As the author of Hebrews states, we do not have a permanent city in the world, but we are looking for the city that is to come (cf. Hebrews 13:14). We know that this present evil age is under the sentence of... Continue Reading

What we need to realize after hearing this parable is that the thing that makes the difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector is the One telling the parable. When the tax collector beat his breast and cried out to God for mercy, he was really asking God to give him an atoning sacrifice... Continue Reading

One reason to use Trinity words is to know God. They provide a big picture understanding of God based on the whole Bible and spiritual reflection on the Bible’s meaning. Since the Bible’s story unfolds over centuries and its themes unfold across sixty-six books, it can be hard to keep track of everything. That’s why teachers... Continue Reading

It is important to remember that any attempt at sundering truth into separate upper and lower categories is merely a pretext for unbelief. The decline and fall of honor in our day is not the second- or third-order consequence of the new fundamentalist dogmas of our abortion-affirming, LGBTQ+, or postmodern soothsayers. Instead, it is unbelief... Continue Reading

When we comfort loved ones going through suffering, we tend to focus on the here and now. We encourage the sick with the hope of restored health. We encourage the unemployed with the hope of finding a job. We encourage the imprisoned with the hope of release. While helpful and encouraging, these things stop short of our... Continue Reading

Isaiah 28 pronounces judgment on God’s people. They are drunk and proud. And although there is much for them to learn from God, they are like foolish, immature children, learning in such a way that they never really learn. When they hear the teaching, it’s like a foreign language. This “precept upon precept” learning, this “here... Continue Reading

Instead of offering people more bad advice via Cliché-anity, let’s turn to offer them the whole truth, being fully honest so that we can always lead them toward the good news of Christianity. Let’s refrain from using clichés in our conversations with others. Let’s put “Christ” back into Christ-ianity. This is news that you’ll always find everywhere in the... Continue Reading

No veneer of moral rectitude will stay the hand of the infinitely holy Judge of all the earth. While God seems to have remained silent in exercising judgment, He has not remained silent in Scripture. Whatever judgment He withholds and whatever judgement He will send, Scripture teaches us that we are meant to turn from... Continue Reading

Paul didn’t have a bound Bible like ours today with all 66 books of the Bible. But he did have what we call the Old Testament. He preached Christ from the Old Testament. Being in their synagogue, he probably used their copy of the text. Although we do not know what text he used, the... Continue Reading

I remembered a friend who resides in a church tradition that rejects any notion of creeds. He saw creeds as man’s conscious or unconscious attempts to bend Scripture to suit his own desires. Indulging another metaphor, I assured my friend that, although the historic creeds of the church are not infallible, they provide a deep... Continue Reading