We face the peril of becoming flabby, uncourageous, and complacent pilgrims. Ease tempts one to love our luxuries and count radical living for Christ as “unwise” and “reckless.” Although I like to think I am more like Gandalf or Thorin — warriors who endure stone beds and scanty meals, biting weather and armed enemies for... Continue Reading

At the start of the Upper Room Discourse, Jesus does more than teach the practical way we’re to live as his followers. He exemplifies it. We’re to follow his example in serving others. That’s not redemptive but expresses the experience of redemption in following Jesus. He considered service essential for living as his disciples. Without humble... Continue Reading

You are fighting for the heart and soul of your fellowship. When the dust of the politics has settled, when differences are ironed out, when the pleasantries and politeness run their course, every friendship is left wanting: Either we will go deeper, keep things as they are, or move away (emotionally or even physically). Please... Continue Reading

I rigorously try to disprove myself. And if I cannot then I will, still with trepidation, pose my insight as a possibility. I do that because I’ve been convinced by the Proverbs that, it’s better not to exalt yourself before men and then be thrown down (Proverbs 25:7). If the insight is true than it’ll... Continue Reading

Remember that the presence of the Lord is found among his people particularly through the Spirit who dwells among us. Therefore, the fulfillment of Zephaniah 3:17 today is in the Holy Spirit’s presence among his people. The Spirit not only led the disciples into all truth, and he not only helps us to pray better than we... Continue Reading

The position of Dothan should remind us of the position of the Christian and the church. The Christian is in the world, surrounded by the world, and Christ’s church is always under siege by the world. The Psalmist speaks of this in Psalm 118, “All nations surrounded me…they surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me…They surrounded... Continue Reading

In other words, because we are justified before God by faith alone in Christ, we are secure enough to expend our lives in the cause of Christ. Heaven is secure. Now what? Let’s change things on earth. The finished work of Christ, and the completed aspect of our justification, liberates us for the ongoing work... Continue Reading

How could I express the anguish of watching the body of my firstborn be lowered into the cold ground, the agony of choosing the words that will be carved onto his gravestone, the torment of knowing that behind his still-closed bedroom door is all that evidence of a life lived and lost? Truly, the sorrow... Continue Reading

We may instinctively recoil from the idea of impassibility, as if by that world it is being suggested that God is cold, remote and apathetic. Such a God would be indifferent to the miseries of life in the veil of tears.    Reading through Anselm’s Why God Became Man I came across a remarkable passage on how... Continue Reading

Putman has produced an interdisciplinary volume that accurately assesses how Christians come to differing conclusions on doctrine and provides a roadmap for how Christians ought to live and interact in light of this doctrinal diversity. Christians, young and old, theologically trained and untrained alike would benefit from reading this volume and assuming the posture of... Continue Reading