We Need the Verb “Repent”
When the apostles were sent out to preach by their Rabbi, what did they preach? What was the content of their message?…
Share
Christian Living
100 posts
Who Do We Think We Are? Correcting God and Presuming We Know All
At the end of the book of Job—the story of the innocent suffering—the main character Job is charged with trying to “correct” God (Job 40:2, NIV). After reading the book through pretty swiftly, I read that verse and agreed that that was essentially what Job was doing much of the time. He was complaining, confused, and correcting and contending…
Share
The Gospel and the Satisfied Mind
The Christian gospel satisfies the total man. Of course it does. We were made for it. The gospel is what all of history is about. Would a good God create us a certain way, love us, and then plan and accomplish anything but what he knew would totally satisfy us?..
Share
The Presence and Vision and Enjoyment of God in Prayer
C.S. Lewis has a short yet compelling essay on prayer entitled, “The Efficacy of Prayer,” in the collection known as The World’s Last Night. In the ten page essay, he argues well concerning the true, causal efficacy of prayer. It is a worth-while short read. But here, I want to quote something he said about the different aspects of prayer…
Share
Can I Hear God?
Do you want to hear God? Or specifically, since he is the one Jesus sent when he left (John 14:16) and since he is God in us (John 14:17), do you want to hear the Holy Spirit? It is good and right to answer yes. We should want to hear from our God and be close with our God. We are meant to have a personal and experiential relationship with Christ by the Spirit…
Share
Learning to Deny the ‘Shiny Wrappers’
Erik Raymond, in his book Chasing Contentment, spends a chapter teaching us where discontentment originally entered the earth, and where it now occurs for all of us…
Share
4 Characteristics of Contentment
What is contentment? Is it actually possible? What does it look like (and not look like)? These are questions I have always wanted to dig deeper into. Who doesn’t want to know how to feel more constantly at peace and more consistently content? So, as a result, I have started reading Erik Raymond’s book Chasing Contentment. In this work, he leans on the Bible and other impactful church thinkers to help us see what contentment is…
Share
Your Screens Can Blind You: Finding Joy in the Unseen
*Article originally published on Desiring God. “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). In the current technological world, these famous words by the apostle Paul are becoming increasingly difficult to follow. Sight has always been one of humanity’s primary senses. But now, in the age of colorful screens constantly vying for our attention, it is becoming tougher and tougher to trust in what we cannot see and walk by faith. It is a battle we each fight every day…
Share
Our Hearts Get Crowded
When the apostle John urged his readers, “Do not love the world or the things of the world” (1 John 2:15), he was not being legalistic, or a crotchety old man focused only on morals, or a negative Nancy. Rather, he was caring for those he was writing to. And God, through him, was loving us…
Share
Is it the Word vs. the Holy Spirit?
Jerram Barrs, in his book Shepherds & Sheep (which sadly doesn’t appear to be in print anymore!), explains how the Holy Spirit and the Word of God relate in the New Testament. These insights are very helpful as I think this is a frequent issue today. He sets up the issue by writing…
Share