Paul commands us to “rejoice always” (Phil. 4:4, for example). We should understand “always” to mean “frequently,” and learn to find wisps of joy even in the midst of difficult circumstances. Our joy varies in intensity and pitch. This was true even in the life of Jesus. In Luke 10:21 we read, At that time Jesus, full... Continue Reading

One flaw of human nature is that we think we are right about almost everything. The Bible says, “Every man is right in his own eyes” (Proverbs 21:2). This insistence that we are right is rooted in pride, and it results in friction in marriage, in politics, between friends, family, and in the workplace. It was... Continue Reading

Lament cannot exist with self-sufficiency. The gospel of self-sufficiency says that I am enough, that I have within me what I need to endure and to fight back. It promises victory to whomever has the willpower to push through. Lament says the opposite: it boldly proclaims my weakness, my anguish, my inability to rescue myself.... Continue Reading

We get so fixated on the 10% that we fool ourselves into thinking God hasn’t spoken at all. He has, but we often aren’t putting ourselves in a posture to listen. We listen by doing the same old things we’ve always done – we read, we pray, we meditate, then we act on what we... Continue Reading

My dad was raised almost completely unchurched and I think he was getting at the dynamics I’m discussing here. He longed for his children to be raised knowing the word of God. True, we do not know when (or ultimately, if) the wind of the Spirit will blow and produce the miracle of the new... Continue Reading

Mobs often depend on general slogans, unspecified grievances, vague (if any) purposes for uniting, and little to no solutions for change other than destruction. They think with their rage, and many get caught in the tide. Something important seems to be happening — many seem to know why they gathered, so why not join? It... Continue Reading

The Lord has given us new life in Christ, raising our dead souls to life eternal so we give thanks to Him, we bless His name as the highest priority in our life. Before hugging her son, the Shunammite gave thanks to the Lord; how much more ought we give thanks to the Lord in... Continue Reading

Pelagianism arose because the early church had failed to define the concept of sin with sufficient precision. Everybody agreed that human beings were sinful and in need of God’s grace for salvation, but there was a difference of opinion about what sin was and where it had come from.   The Pelagian controversy takes its... Continue Reading

Religious services will be cut at bases where those services are readily available in the surrounding community outside the base. To the Rev. Jose Pimentel, a priest who has led services at Naval Base Coronado and North Island Naval Air Station for eight years, it isn’t just  a personal loss—it’s a loss of the First... Continue Reading

While fallen men make images of their gods, the true God made man in his own image—to image himself in the world. We humans are living, breathing, speaking, singing, moving images representing the invisible God to his world, so that others would remember and reverence him.   In the image of God — it may... Continue Reading