A life is wasted when it is spent chasing things, even good things. But the life that is hidden with Christ in God, that life has no waste. Marriage, singleness, talents, and times, those things are the gift, not the prize. You waste your life when you live for those things. But you enjoy life... Continue Reading

Though the wicked foolishly live as though God has not seen what they have done and that there is no justice coming to them, God has seen and will repay them to their face for every evil act and even every evil intention of their heart. As the psalmist concludes his song, “He will bring... Continue Reading

To call suffering “wrong” is to invoke a framework in which “ought” and “ought not” have real purchase, and that framework does not come free of charge with materialism. The atheist does not merely borrow the word. They borrow the entire architecture that gives the word its force. Injustice, violation, the conviction that things have gone... Continue Reading

The Gnostic Jesus, like the Buddha, Lao-tse, or Sufi masters, offers deep teaching on esoteric spirituality—techniques that quickly become salvation by works. What attracts me to the biblical Jesus is that he came not just to teach but to accomplish a task I cannot accomplish myself. By his actions alone, in obedience to God his... Continue Reading

Why do Jews today fail to see Jesus as the promised Messiah? Doesn’t this show that Jesus is not clearly portrayed in the Old Testament as we think he is? While differences in interpretation and tradition certainly shape how people read these texts, I would like to argue that, in cases like this, the reason... Continue Reading

When Jesus died on a Roman cross, he had just a few dozen followers. He’d claimed he was the great King whom God had promised to send to the Jewish people. But instead of being crowned, he’d been killed. A reasonable observer might have thought this little Jewish sect would fizzle out—extinguished like a cigarette... Continue Reading

Hearing is a natural faculty that all mankind still possesses, but the Fall bent our hearing toward idolatry. Idols are lies, and fallen mankind naturally trusts the lies. Yet when we hear the Word, God is able to open our ears so that we may receive new life. God ordinarily works through means. If we... Continue Reading

So the counselor told the king to plant four acorns. The king did, but then he fell asleep for 80 years. When he awoke, he was amazed that the four acorns he had planted had (to him) instantaneously become four fully-grown trees. He thought a miracle had occurred because to him, it had only seemed... Continue Reading

In Prov 6:1, Solomon writes to the person who has become the surety for another. He addresses the one who “put up security” and gave a pledge to repay someone else’s loan in case of default. What’s at stake for this person?     Proverbs 6:1-19 describes three kinds of fool. The first fool is... Continue Reading

When difficult days arise in our life, we will feel the sting of a world broken by sin…broken by our sin. Those days will hurt and feel quite dark and scary. We will feel like giving up. But hear the psalmist who waited on the Lord.      The intrusion of hard providences in our... Continue Reading