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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How His Resurrection Reframes Your Reality
Jesus, who was crucified on a Friday two-thousand years ago, amazingly, rose again, rose to life on the following Sunday. This radical reality should, above everything else, reframe your reality. But has it? Does it? Strangely, many people today who accept Christ's resurrection as an historical reality don't seem to actually live in light of that reality....
Put Your Armor On
What is the Apostle describing in Ephesians 6:10-17? He's describing life on the battlefield. Conflict. Forces of Evil. Putting on armor. This is the language of warfare, of a battle taking place in which the Ephesian Christians are involved. And if we believe their faith is our faith, if we believe this was and is God's word to his people, then we are on that same battlefield....
Is Romans 7:14-25 Describing a Christian's Struggle with Sin?
Will a genuine follower of Christ, one who has truly been “born again”, a person genuinely filled with the Holy Spirit, struggle with sin? The answer from the New Testament is an emphatic “yes”. And there are many passages that speak to this reality of the believer's struggle with sin. But though many want to offer these verses as evidence and use their language, Romans 7:14-25 isn't one of those passages....
Why That Homeless Man Probably Isn't Jesus
Maybe you've heard this identification before: “Yes, when we were ministering to that homeless gentleman in front of the old firehouse, I knew we were ministering to Jesus himself, just like the Bible says.” Of course the individual in question could be any number of people in need: an incarcerated relative, a child in 'the system', a dying neighbor. But does the New Testament really teach that when we bless such people, we are actually blessing Jesus in disguise? ...
Visit Fantasyland, But Don't Stay
...When visiting the different, themed sections of Disneyland, Fantasyland is not typically high on my priority list. But even those who enjoy the Tea Cup ride or King Arthur's carousel know there's much more to the Disneyland experience. Think about it: who would pay full price for admission, but then simply cycle through just the ten or eleven rides in Fantasyland? No one. But God's word warns us that, too often, we're the kind of people who do something very similar when it comes to everyday life: we regularly choose to pitch our tent in a land of fantasy rather than reality....
7 'Christmas Story' Fallacies
The fallacies I have in mind are ones that have been circulated over the centuries by what some call popular or folk Christianity. Undoubtedly, these kinds of 'Christian' beliefs can be found in all sorts of categories, not just the one labeled 'Christmas'. But these Christmas fallacies are some of the best known, since they are promoted annually through things like nativity scenes/sets, television and movies, and even Christmas carols....
But What About Forgiving Myself? (Part 2)
In light of the moral universe revealed by the Scriptures, I suggested modern ideas regarding 'self-forgiveness' make very little sense. But this doesn't mean there are not areas of overlap between biblical concerns and modern, therapeutic concerns. Care for hurting individuals is the common goal. So where are the points of connection, and how does God's word address modern concerns?...
But What About Forgiving Myself?
Have you ever heard someone say, “I just can't forgive myself”? If you're a follower of Jesus, than this struggle should stir our hearts to help. But as I think many would agree, we must help in light of God's word. Here's the challenge: while it's a well-known concept in both counseling contexts and popular culture, attentive readers of Scripture know that 'self-forgiveness' is not an explicit concept in the Bible....
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Christians and Yom Kippur
While Christians are not called to keep the day, Yom Kippur can serve as a powerful reminder that this yearly ritual was only a picture of the perfect sacrifice God would provide and did provide through Jesus (cf. Isaiah 53:10)....
3 Spiritual Lessons from 9/11
As we mark the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, many people will undoubtedly be reflecting on the significance of what happened two decades ago and how it should shape our outlook today. While historians, security analysts, and those who focus on foreign affairs have had and will have a lot to discuss, it's just as important to reflect on the spiritual significance of those tragic events....
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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