Deep Darkness Before Dawn
The prophets are not always immediately applicable unless we broaden our view of application and consider the story behind the symbols.
My family has endured the most difficult year of our lives. We’ve experienced unexpected grief and have, at times, felt overwhelmed by darkness. But in the midst of our sorrow, we have found hope in this image from Isaiah. The picture of new life emerging from the old stump has helped us place the sorrows... Continue Reading
Marriage in a “Me” Culture
Man indeed has defined marriage according to our own terms.
We see marriage determined by our opinions on gender and sexuality, marriage for convenience, divorce because we’re bored, and websites that have profited from selling affairs to married people. So much of our world’s approach to marriage is concerned with how it affects “me,” “my truth,” and “my desires.” Just recently, my local church... Continue Reading
Womanhood Without a Checklist
Wouldn’t it be so much better if we put up just a little more law to keep women in line?
Whether you’re prone to jump on the hamster wheel and chase down the unattainable goal of perfection, or more like me, and find yourself laying down on the hamster wheel and being trampled by the more motivated hamsters, you’ve probably experienced the shame of not achieving all that you feel you ought. There is... Continue Reading
Loving the Church
What do you think love inside a church is? Do you love your church? How?
Love in a church also involves mercy and forbearance, even as we have received mercy and forbearance. Love covers a multitude of sins. Some of your fellow members are easy to love. Some are difficult. And that’s just the point. The easy-to-love teach us how to love the difficult-to-love. The annoying ones. The immature ones.... Continue Reading
“Engaging the Culture” Doesn’t Work Because Christian Beliefs Are a Mark of Low Status
In spite of the resources poured into these efforts, American culture has increasingly embraced the cultural and sexual Left.
What this plan never took into account is the dynamics of social status. Evangelicals sought to engage the culture by being relevant, by creating works of art, by offering good arguments for their positions. None of these addressed the real problem: that Christian belief simply isn’t cool, and that very few people want to lower... Continue Reading
De-Conversion
While some creep away from the faith like a gliding glacier, the de-converted are glaciers calving off, crashing into the sea with devastating effect.
De-conversion stories seek to convince Christians that their ‘outdated, naïve beliefs’ are no longer worthy of assent. People tell how they once thought like you, but have now ‘seen the light’. Christianity has never lacked people, who once in the fold, later left. They tell their stories with a conviction, passion, and evangelistic zeal to... Continue Reading
Preparing Young Men for the Ministry
What do I look for in a young man who thinks that he might be called to the ministry?
Second, is he teachable? It is unfortunately the case that many young men, especially in Reformed circles, go through “cage-stage” Calvinism, in which they think themselves to be the one appointed to cure all the ills of the church. But young men need to learn. They need to learn that a good grasp of the... Continue Reading
How to Wait for the Lord When Life Feels Like Garbage
How do we wait for the Lord in a way that honors him, fills us with hope, and gives us strength to carry on even when we feel like we’re in the dark?
David waited in faith, but he certainly wasn’t quiet, meek, and mild while he was waiting. He was constantly crying out to the Lord for deliverance. At times, you could even mistake the intensity of his requests for irreverence. But David knew that God was good, faithful, and kind. He knew that God loved to... Continue Reading
You are enough.
Praise God that Christ is enough when I feel like I’m drowning.
Feminine ideals vary within the Christian community. Although purity is still given the highest premium, and some form of courtship is a must, maybe you imagined becoming a Christian mom and effortlessly balancing work, home, and PTA meetings. Perhaps you imagined being on the mission field and falling in love Elisabeth Elliot style. t’s... Continue Reading
Developing Healthy Prayer Lives
It has been said that prayer is like breathing, communing with God as an essential of life. Redemptive respiration.
Prayer is a skill that can be learned and cultivated. It may become reflexive through constant use, where turning to God in times of great trial is the natural response of having walked with Him in the ordinary course of events. But, like all skills, practice and perseverance are called for in the development. ... Continue Reading