If our intention is to persuade others that what we mean is true, why would we camp out on a phrase so open to misinterpretation and that is frequently misheard as saying something altogether different? People may use whatever language they choose to use and it is not for the rest of us to dictate... Continue Reading

Remember, the Christian calendar is like no other. Certain ancient calendars had no day of rest. The West typically follows a five-plus-two calendar: work five days, then enjoy a two-day weekend. The Jewish calendar is similar, with a six-plus-one pattern: “Six days you shall labor,” then Israel rested. By contrast, the Christian calendar is one... Continue Reading

A Christianity that is still reeling from Enlightenment rationalism and from contemporary technopoly tends to see the faith in informational terms. Christianity becomes a set of ideas to be transmitted, and if one can see and hear what is being communicated, then worship is thought to be largely occurring. Everything can be reduced to sights... Continue Reading

Having spent hours pouring over scientific expositions of the silent sermons of the starry hosts, I first want to put my hand over my mouth. I want to say with Job that far too often “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know” (Job 42:3).... Continue Reading

Sometimes lies are more convenient to be believed than the truth. If Jesus was actually resurrected, then He is God and you must submit to His Lordship. And the fact of the matter is that those who put the conspiracy together actually knew that Jesus had risen from the dead. There was no doubt in... Continue Reading

I enjoy being on sabbatical alone. I don’t enjoy trying to work alone. The occasions when I hate living alone are when I have a day of demanding meetings or decisions- and nobody with whom to share them. Those are the times when anxious thoughts tend to work around my mind and a sense of... Continue Reading

There has been some triumph amidst all the sorrow, some heroism amidst all the pain, some bold decision-making amidst all the uncertainty. But so far the great story of COVID-19 is not one of wisdom or accomplishment or the triumph of the human spirit. The great story has been our lack of knowledge, our lack... Continue Reading

Sawyer, of course, was able to handle more than he thought he could. He endured all of the pain and the fear and the blood and the needles. He limped out of the ER with a story to tell. When the worst of the pain came over him, he kept his eyes clenched tight and... Continue Reading

We must rely on our people—both those in our congregation and also members of the larger body of Christ—to plan for how to protect our churches. Fortunately, we are up to the task. As Paul says in Ephesians, when Jesus ascended on high, he “gave gifts to his people” (4:8). We can trust that the... Continue Reading

The virus is not the only judgment we face at this time. So is the fear that has fallen on so many. The Book of Leviticus recounts what happens when people turn away from God to the idols of the nations. One punishment the Lord brings is the removal of mankind’s natural bravado. He says... Continue Reading