As you grow in your conformity to the law of God, you grow in Christlikeness.  As you grow in your manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit, you demonstrate God’s transforming power and the very nature of God.  As you are changed from “one degree of glory to the next” you are “glorifying” God!  ... Continue Reading

Entering someone’s grief doesn’t mean we have nothing to offer. We have God’s promises, the hope of the resurrection, and the good news of Jesus Christ. But there is an order to how we offer care. What do we offer first? We show up.   Billy Crystal recently said he has stopped talking to God.... Continue Reading

As we seek to be led by the Spirit, carefully following his guidance, we’re not just discerning our outward actions but also our inward motivations. In this task we need God’s Word to guide us and to instruct us on the right path.   Read: Galatians 5:16-25 I am not a Christian perfectionist because the... Continue Reading

We need to grasp that key foundation to the work of the Spirit. We still confuse power, charisma, the big and spectacular, gifting, with true spirituality.  Instead we need to see the Holy Spirit at work always leads us to hear and see that Jesus is Lord.   We all know it. And yet again... Continue Reading

The world as originally made was very good, but sin has radically corrupted it. Nevertheless, though sin pervades everything so that nothing is left untouched or remains completely pure, things may be distorted, but they are not as bad as they might ever be.   As we read the first three chapters of Genesis, several... Continue Reading

Whatever else may be true about you today, if you belong to Him, you are loved, redeemed, adopted, held, and destined for a world in which the things that have wounded you will no longer have the power to wound anyone again.   There are seasons when sickness feels less like something happening to me... Continue Reading

Paul says that when believers live without grumbling and disputing, they stand out “as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life” (Philippians 2:15–16). What if that described us?   It’s noticeable. In almost every conversation I find myself in, the conversation eventually moves toward complaint. If you don’t believe me, listen... Continue Reading

The total state has always sought God-like powers. Indeed, its aim is not to rival God but replace Him altogether. And they know that the best way to do this is declare war on religion and on family.   I just saw an advert for a new film being promoted by the Daily Wire. The... Continue Reading

Halloween can teach us to trivialize the spiritual realm, and make light of what is serious. In far more troubling cases, it can begin to blur the line of good and evil, and muddy our hearts perception of that which is worthy of our affections, and that which should be rejected.   Our family does... Continue Reading

Trust God. He will do a better job of dispensing justice than you will. In the meantime, do good to those who hurt you. The result is that you will heap burning coals on their heads.   Big Idea: When faith brings hostility, bless, pursue peace, and leave justice to God. Imagine someone taking a... Continue Reading

The Spirit illumines us to the meaning of Scripture, not only so our minds will grasp the meaning, but so that meaning will permeate our lives and transform us from the inside-out. God has given the Spirit to Christians so we might know, understand, and experience the things He has freely given us in the... Continue Reading

There is tension and mystery in the relationship between the divine and the human in the choices we make. Scripture usually emphasizes the divine or the human side of the equation. Sometimes both perspectives are placed side by side. In either case, the two always go together. God is completely sovereign, and we are responsible... Continue Reading

Christians are no longer characterized by hypocrisy.…salvation entails a genuine inward change so that a person’s outward religious life matches, to a significant degree, what is happening on the inside.   You’ve heard it before. One reason people give for not being a Christian is that the “church is full of hypocrites.” Why believe the... Continue Reading

The study of church history informs us about our predecessors in the faith, those who have helped shape our Christian communities and thus make us what we are.   Human beings are historical beings. Our lives are inextricably tied to the past, our own immediate past obviously but also that of other humans. As V.... Continue Reading

Discerning and voicing truth is not an enemy of love. Because no human being can live without forming opinions, we must learn to distinguish the unavoidable evaluation of human practices from the unjust, prideful condemnation of human hearts.   In my previous post, I isolated a deductive argument regarding the biblical restrictions on attending same-sex... Continue Reading

Try to figure out what you’re thinking while in the midst of temptation. What do you really want? What do you think this immoral act will give you? This is difficult because immorality is not particularly logical. But your thinking provides the avenue to your heart. You and I must identify the lies before we... Continue Reading

As the head of the church, the beginning and firstborn from the dead, Jesus is not to have the preeminence in some things, but in all things. Let us give Him that honor by putting Him first in every area of life.   In the United States, we show respect for the highest office by... Continue Reading

Romans 9:10–12 says that God’s choice of Jacob but not Esau is a striking case of divine election because the boys were twins and neither had a proper interest in the covenant at first.   My grandparents were legally permitted to leave communist Russia in the 1930s, in an era when borders were sealed. Almost... Continue Reading

What is most promising for an adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew is that Lewis’s use of narrative supposal ensures that discussions about Aslan, even if seriously flawed, will maintain meaningful points of connection to Jesus.   Early in the first century, a former skeptic turned devout Christian entered Athens. As he wandered the streets, the... Continue Reading

When morality is no longer undergirded by a definitive moral standard it can be redefined in all sorts of supposedly reasonable and rational ways, which leads to almost anything being accepted and justified.   During a trip to South Africa last year, I visited the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. In one section, a wall lists... Continue Reading