Hell and the Wrath of God
Even though we struggle with ideas of judgment and hell, they are important expressions of God's own nature....
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What God Says About Diversity
Having just finished another study in the deeply meaningful, but often misunderstood, book of the Revelation, I couldn't help but reflect on how John's vision in chapter 7 speaks to our current, culture-wide conversation about race and inequality....
Fighting for Fellowship
Social influences, insecurities, selfishness, and many other factors can keep us from the faith-shaped relationships we read about in Scripture. Currently, it is the unexpected reality of a global pandemic that has not only distanced us socially, but also tempted many of us to fizzle rather than fight when it comes to fellowship. But why?...
100.4.15
From now until the end of the month, you can, amazingly, provide over 100 meals for a person in need in our community for just $15! We are pleased to partner with All Faith Community Services in Buckeye to bless so many who are struggling in light of the current crisis....
Where is God in the Best and Worst of Times?
Behind that question is one that's been asked for millennia. It's often referred to as 'the problem of evil'. Why does God's plan include the rescue of some and not others, the severe suffering of some and not others? Frankly, there are no easy answers to such questions. But the assumptions behind our questions can be helpful. Your piece assumed the value of all human life. You touched on the importance of gratitude, and the unwelcomeness of pain and suffering. In short, you, like most, assumed an 'ought'....
Easter Every Day
Resurrection apart from death is not resurrection. It is reconfiguration. It is reinterpretation. It is renovation and remodeling. But it isn't resurrection....
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7 Bible Verses to Consider in Light of COVID-19
Many people today are looking for answers. Pandemics, like most crises, have a way of driving us in that direction. But many seem hungry for more than just health advice, social guidelines, and up-to-date statistics... I would offer up that these people are looking for what we might call spiritual answers. That collection of ancient scriptures we call the Bible is (and for thousands of years has been) widely recognized as a place to find spiritual answers....
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NEW POST: Salvation Through Sickness, Not From It
At a time when sickness is on the minds of so many, the 'benefits package' offered by the often-termed 'prosperity gospel' might seem especially appealing. What is the prosperity gospel? It's the belief (popular in many Charismatic and Pentecostal circles) that Jesus came, not simply to save you from sin and self, but from disease and debt as well... But is this really what the Scriptures teach? Is this prosperity gospel the genuine gospel of the New Testament?...
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How Great Pain Can Point Us to a Great God
For many, painful circumstances drive us toward one of three, general stress responses: fight, flight, or freeze...But what if we added “faith” to that list? It was C.S. Lewis...who said: “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”...
10 Reasons Why, Though Awful, the Idea of Hell is Not Absurd
When we consider what the Bible tells us about hell, it is undoubtedly awful. But is it absurd? Is the idea of hell unreasonable? Some people believe so. But hell is clearly taught in Scripture. In fact, Jesus spoke about it more than anyone else. So what can we do? What should we do with this Christian concept of hell in a 'hell no' society?...
You May Be Wrong About the Lord's Prayer
How exactly should we use the Lord's Prayer? In some traditions, consistent repetition of the exact words of this prayer seems to be done in a mechanical way, as if the prayer were some kind of 'magical mantra'. Others have emphasized the idea that this prayer is not a mantra, but a model, intended to shape the broad contours of all our prayers. So which is it?...
Why the Cross? (Part Four)
Christ died to save a great diversity of peoples. Sin is no respecter of cultures. All peoples have sinned. Every race and culture needs to be reconciled to God. As the disease of sin is global, so the remedy is global. Jesus saw the agony of the cross coming and spoke boldly about the scope of his purpose: “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to ...
Keep ReadingWhy the Cross? (Part One)
Redemption is not good news if it only liberates us from bondage but doesn’t bring us to God. Adoption is not good news if it only puts us in the Father’s family but not in his arms...This is the greatest thing Christ died for. “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). ...
Keep ReadingWhy the Cross? (Part Two)
“Imitation is not salvation. But salvation brings imitation. Christ is not given to us first as model, but as Savior. In the experience of the believer, first comes the pardon of Christ, then the pattern of Christ. In the experience of Christ himself, they happen together: The same suffering that pardons our sins provides our pattern of love."...
Keep ReadingWhy the Cross? (Part Three)
There is no salvation by balancing the records. There is only salvation by canceling records. The record of our bad deeds (including our defective good deeds), along with the just penalties that each deserves, must be blotted out...
Keep ReadingOn Sinning Deliberately
"Our message this past Sunday from I John highlighted language the Apostle John used in 3:4-9 to describe those not 'born of God'; those who have neither 'seen him [nor] know him'. John described them as those who make 'a practice of sinning' (vs. 4, 8, 9)... While not addressing I John 3, Pastor John Piper's comments on Hebrews 10 can help us with this concept of making ...
Keep ReadingSuper Bowls Ads, MLK, and True Greatness
Funny how God works. He can even use the misguided pairing of Dodge and Dr. King, on a Super Bowl Sunday, to point us back to true greatness and the One who makes it possible....
Keep ReadingStanding for the Unborn
Abortion is an assault on the image, character, grace, gospel, and glory of God. For the Christian to see it as anything less than that is to reject a biblical view of God’s gospel and God’s glory...Every child in the womb is a masterpiece shaped by the master craftsman....
Keep ReadingWhat a Dinosaur Can Teach Us about Real Love
I Corinthians 13:4-7 is not necessarily a definition of love. Rather, it is a description of love, a description that challenges anyone who simply says “I'm loving,” or “I love you”. It tests the talk in light of the walk. And one of the ways it describes love is, "Love bears all things". But what exactly does that mean, and how can a dinosaur help us understand Go...
Keep ReadingThe Other "In Christ Alone"
For many, the phrase "in Christ alone" reminds them of the beautiful song by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty (from 2002)(opening line: "In Christ alone, my hope is found; He is my light, my strength, my song.). But there is an older song by the same name (from 1991), one that many may still remember....
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