Shun Division, Disunity, and Denominations in the Name of Jesus Just as church member status divides the church body into two groups, so does our doctrine. Instead of obeying Jesus’s instruction to love God and love others, we make a lengthy list of what we should do and shouldn’t do. We judge others according to […]
Discover 3 Tips of What to Do If Question Your Faith I hear people who have a crisis of faith, who question what they believe. It pains me to see the struggle they’re going through. Yet I’ve never been sure how to help them, except to encourage them to press forward and not give up. […]
We Should Praise God for the Many Ways He Loves Us Love is a recurring theme in Scripture (686 verses). It shows up in most every book of the Bible (60 out of 66). The word is most common in Psalms (157 verses). Psalm 136 leads the way with 26 mentions of love, all in […]
The Book of Deuteronomy Offers Surprising Insights into Our Relationship With God The book of Deuteronomy is never high on my reading list. The seemingly endless instructions about the form and format of God’s expectations for his people vex me, especially given that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament, and today we live under a New […]
Celebrating the New Year Just as I often make a post for Christmas, I do the same for New Year’s Day. These posts usually address making New Year’s resolutions. But instead of resolutions, why not work to make this year your best year yet. With God’s help, you can. Here are some of my past […]
Love versus Fear As we struggle with the paradox of fearing God and loving God, there’s another thought on the subject. John writes that “perfect love drives out fear.” Perfect love never fails. Perfect love is love that’s without fault, consistent and always present. God embodies perfect love. Paul gives us a list of what […]
Running Barefoot in the Snow In my book Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide, I tell the story of our children running barefoot in the snow. Here’s what happened. One day I painfully realized that whenever our children asked for anything, the default answer of my wife and me was no. It mattered not how legitimate their […]
God Cares for the Lesser Things of His Creation and We Are So Much More In one of Asaph’s Psalms he exalts God for his power, beauty, and perfection. In doing so Asaph envisions what God might say to his people, talking about what is important and what isn’t. God has no need for our […]
The Parable of the Lost Son Shows God’s Unconditional Love Jesus teaches us of his Father’s unconditional love in a parable. Some people call this story “The Prodigal Son,” but calling it “The Lost Son” is more accurate (Luke 15:11-32). In this allegory we have a man and his two boys. The older son is […]
Hide God’s Word in Your Heart God gave us the Bible so that we might learn about him and draw closer to him. While some people think of the Bible as God’s instruction manual for right living and proper performance, I think of it more as a love letter. Because God loves us (Romans 5:8) […]