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After being in a dark room, we can’t help squinting when a bright light is illumined. Staggered, our eyes try to adjust as the brightness exposes how dim it’s been. We pay attention to the light we’re seeing, but simultaneously, we can’t help but focus on our struggle assimilating to the light…
A favorite quote of mine came from the late pastor and apologist Francis Schaeffer. Summing two Christian truths he affirmed, “He is there and he is not silent.” God is real—just as real as the phone or computer you’re reading this on; and he speaks—he communicates to us in his word. Whether we adhere to these makes or breaks our worldview, feeds or bleeds our faith…
My wife is laying on a hospital bed beside me recovering from surgery as I write. Twenty four hours ago, we were planning on waking up and celebrating our daughter’s one year birthday. Now, it’s seven at night and she’s trying to cope with the pain. It began at 2:30 a.m. for her: vomiting, stomach pain, cramps. Her pain built until 10 a.m. when we drove to the emergency room with our two daughters. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. she was in more severe, escalating pain—likely the most I’ve seen her in. Finally at 2:30 p.m. she was admitted into surgery. The diagnosis was appendicitis—and she’s pregnant, so her health and our son’s life is at stake. The surgery went well—to the praise of God, from the fruit of many’s prayers. But now she’s in recovery. Not the day we planned; but it was his. In it all, he was faithful still…
When the apostles were sent out to preach by their Rabbi, what did they preach? What was the content of their message?…
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…
The plagues and the Exodus. These are famous displays of the wonders of God. Much has and could be written about this pivotal season in history. But I want to focus in this short post on the flies and the chariot wheels. Yes, those pesky flies, and yes, just the chariots in the story. These might seem like they aren’t anywhere near the main point of the story, but God used these flies and chariot wheels for his glory. Yet what I want to meditate on here is how he did so…
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?..
Jonathan Edwards was one of the best theologians in history to (rightly) emphasize the glory of God. He wanted God to be praised above all and in all. And because of this, when it came to mankind’s actions, Edwards also heavily emphasized man’s dependence upon God. He saw this is as the biblical flip-side of God being glorified in man…
It’s a difficult topic to discuss. I don’t want to say things that are incorrect. But more importantly, I especially don’t want to utter any slanderous statements about God and his love. God is love (1 John 4:8)—wonderfully so. It will take forever for the saints to understand the infinite love of God (Ephesians 3:19). I, a small mind, cannot fully grasp the grandness and grandeur of God’s love. I look forward to forever swimming in that ocean. Yet while reading the Bible, we come across some strange statements—remember, from God himself!—that describe God’s love. They’re declarations that I know I wouldn’t make if I were to write a treatise on the love of God. These statements particularize his love. And they do so to such an extreme that it can be jarring.
Evil is thwarted, undermined, and outdone by the love of God. This is true especially at the cross where the love of God defeated the darkness that has spread over the world. By dying in the place of his people, God in his love enabled sinners to be genuinely forgiven, reconciled to him, and transformed. There, God’s love won…
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