God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and we are not the arbiters of truth. God is the arbiter of truth. Instead, we must come to God’s written Word humbly, bowing in joyful submission to its every letter. To do less is to deny God.   It is evident in our culture today that many people... Continue Reading

He is the shoot from the stump of Jesse, the promised Messiah, the eternal King who brings fruit from what was once thought dead. And here’s where hope floods the story: after the pressing, after the crushing, after the death—new life sprang forth. Jesus rose from the grave, just as Isaiah foretold. And when He rose,... Continue Reading

Don’t believe every accusation. I’ve learned in ministry that there are always two sides to every story, and I make it my habit to never form conclusions about a situation until I have spoken with all parties involved. Advice like “believe all women” sounds compassionate and caring, but it ignores the element of human sin... Continue Reading

Jesus died the same day the sacrificial Passover lambs were slaughtered. The Perfect Lamb without spot or blemish had suffered the wrath and condemnation of God in the place of his people. His blood covered them, the angel of death would mercifully pass over them.   Five Centuries before the crucifixion of Jesus the prophet Zechariah watched... Continue Reading

We tend to divide events in the world between the ‘natural’ (those caused by natural or physical means) and the ‘supernatural’ (those events that in some way are caused by non-natural agents). But Scripture doesn’t do this, since God is sovereign over both. There are no non-supernaturally caused events as far as the Bible is... Continue Reading

The principle of resting one day in seven to worship God is a permanent moral law (the Fourth Commandment, rooted in Creation). However, the specific requirement to observe it on the seventh day of the week (Saturday) was a ceremonial aspect tied to the Old Covenant. With the resurrection of Christ, the ceremonial shadow of the seventh day expired, but the... Continue Reading

You cannot follow Jesus halfway. You cannot hold onto control and still call it obedience. You cannot keep negotiating with what God has already made clear.   “You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!” (Acts 7:51) Stephen stands in front of the... Continue Reading

Read as a whole, Jonah is not chiefly a story about the fish. It is a story about the Lord dealing with a servant who does not want God’s mercy to go where God has chosen to send it. From the opening command to the final question outside Nineveh, the same issue remains. Jonah wants... Continue Reading

Left to ourselves, the pattern holds. It always has. But Easter declares that we are not left to ourselves. Past behavior may predict future performance. It often does. But it is no longer the final authority. Because the One who stepped into history, took our past upon Himself, and walked out of the grave now... Continue Reading

Maybe people were so overcome by grief that they had a mass hallucination—something that defies the extremely private nature of hallucinations. Or maybe Jesus wasn’t really dead, but only very badly injured. Despite all of these alternatives stretching credulity to its breaking point, they still circulate today. But what if the best explanation is the... Continue Reading