When Love Is War
Extending Grace in Conflict
I have plenty of experience with relational conflict. If the options tend to be flight or fight, I’ve jumped into the ring almost every time. I’ve Rumbled in the Jungle, experienced the Thrilla in Manilla. I’ve thrown verbal uppercuts, and taken them. But in a premarital season, Christ’s grace has been training me to love... Continue Reading
Genealogy of Grace
It’s only when we’re living out of His grace that we find the strength to obey.
I wish I could say there was a step-by-step formula to follow that would enable us to live happily ever after for the rest of our Christian life here on earth. As one who struggles with perfectionism and idealistic tendencies, this formula is something I naturally long for. But a crucial step forward is to... Continue Reading
The Widow’s Gift of Everything
"As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die."
Sometimes I think we read the Bible too stoically. Sometimes I think we forget that the characters in the stories embedded in the Old Testament were people just like us. They had hopes and dreams; they believed and they doubted; they felt joy and experienced despair; they suffered real pain; they didn’t know what was... Continue Reading
Real Joy Comes from God
Real joy comes from God, who has invaded us, conquered us, and liberated us from eternal death and sadness.
Joy isn’t the absence of sadness—it’s the presence of the Holy Spirit. And although the Holy Spirit produces joy within us, He often does so by humbling us so that we would take our eyes off ourselves and fix our eyes on Christ. Real joy exists even amid real sadness, and real joy doesn’t always... Continue Reading
Christianity And Equality 1: Why Bother?
One reason why people abandon Christianity: equality.
“Is it fair that God sends people to hell? If fairness means equality, that’s hard to say. But if fairness means God giving us what we deserve, then the answer’s easy: yes.” There are certain ways of thinking about justice and equality that undermine historic Christian doctrines. People embrace a new kind of equality and... Continue Reading
Runner From To a Runner To
My conversion was a dramatic encounter that I resisted over several years with great effort
I was dead in my transgressions, but God made me alive together with Christ; my salvation was a completely passive endeavor: “…God…made us alive….” It suddenly made perfect sense to me that the word grace was mentioned in direct connection to my being made alive in Christ: I was dead and had to be made... Continue Reading
An Open Letter to Those Apathetic about Their Sanctification
God reminds us not to fall asleep or lose sight of what it’s all about
“The tiniest things we do, the most careless words we say, the smallest act of kindness towards another person—all these things actually count. We live in God’s world. From God’s perspective, there’s nothing we do that’s outside his concern or gaze.” How can I light a fire and get you engaged and active in... Continue Reading
Classic Theism: Is God Simple or Complex?
If God is so far beyond my comprehension, how could he be simple?
“Simplicity safeguards our understanding of God. The Trinity is not three Gods (tritheism). Neither is God comprised of 1/3 Father, 1/3 Son, and 1/3 Holy Spirit (partialism). We confess One God in Three Persons. Simplicity is also the foundation of God’s independence and immutability.” My Sunday school teacher posed this question during class a... Continue Reading
Four Plumblines to Parent with Grace
What does it mean to be a gospel-centered parent?
“Since Christian parents have been both saved and sanctified by God’s grace, Christ’s work, and the Holy Spirit’s power, we must recognize that it is impossible for us to be our child’s savior and sanctifier. We will never be the ultimate reason why our child is saved or their hearts are softened to delight in... Continue Reading
Living Under Authority
"Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good."
God delegates authority as He reigns and rules over His creation. God raises up human governments. It is God who instituted government in the first place (Rom. 13). That’s why Christians are called to honor and pray for the king, pay their taxes, and submit as much as possible to the authorities in all things—because... Continue Reading