Sadly, I have caught myself doing it. When opening up the Bible and discussing a passage with someone I can find myself saying something like: What Jesus was trying to say . . .What God tried to communicate . . .What the Spirit was attempting to convey . . . And I have come to […]
You can’t escape it. Political ads on the radio and television. Broadcast debates and newspaper editorials. Discussions at work and home and disagreements between friends. America is in the midst of the election cycle. Even in church we can’t escape the subtle pressure and the questions: Will you vote? Who will you vote for? What are you looking for […]
It’s convenient. You see it everywhere. People aren’t reading print books; they are reading electronic books—looking at words on screens, whether on a cell phone, a tablet, or an e-reader. Should that raise a question for a Christian—for the person who believes that God inspired a book? In the late 1960s, Marshall McLuhan wrote Understanding […]
Augustine, in The Confessions, addresses a profound and simply prayer to God: “O God, command what you will, and give what you command.” I think what he captures in that short cry is becoming increasingly more important to my understanding of how God intends to draw us into a full and rich experience of intimate life. And I think […]
Have you ever wondered what God is doing in your life? Most people do. If you have some sense that you are in relationship with God through what Jesus has done for you, you will likely have those moments when you say to yourself: I thought God was up to something in my life! What […]
Reflections on Easter Throughout Easter Sunday, Christians hear the proclamation: Jesus is risen! The message—whether online or in other ways—share a fundamental common theme: Jesus is alive! Without a doubt, that is the right and proper declaration on Easter. But what are the implications for us? For those who were not there to visit the […]
Here are the givens. The coronavirus is spreading; many will become infected and some will die. That is a sad reality. The magnitude of the spread and the fatality rate is still being debated, even among those who know the most. But it is certain that the disease will spread and that it will leave […]
If you’ve ever heard someone talk about “the Lord’s prayer” (Luke 11:1–3), you’ve likely heard them explain about how that model prayer begins: “Father, hallowed by Your name.” Attention is given to addressing God as “Father.” That, indeed, is rather unique. There are a number of times in the Old Testament where God is referred […]
Jesus explained that everyone, when fully trained, will be like his or her teacher (Luke 6:40). Among other things what this might mean is that no one does the Christian life originally. We all do what we do because we’ve learned from someone, we’ve followed a model we have seen. That is at the heart […]
There is a common and prominent “myth” about reading the Bible that gets in the way of Christians becoming good readers of Scripture. The myth? “The Bible is very difficult to understand.” This myth summarizes the idea that the Bible is so difficult to understand that only a highly-trained, seminary or Bible college educated person with […]
