A slave does not remain in the household, but the children belong to it forever. John 8:36 In case you weren’t around, I had a cranky week to begin the month of May. Our new home is missing any semblance of landscaping, and the weather has prevented the situation from improving. Several encounters with customer...... Read More

A Canaanite woman from that area came to him, crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me, for my daughter suffers terribly from demon-possession.’ But Jesus did not answer a word. Mat. 15:22-23 To paraphrase the author of John’s Gospel, “If all the things that people have said about prayer were written down,...... Read More

4 The goodness and kindness of God our savior appeared to save us, not because we did anything righteous, but because he is merciful. He cleansed us, made us alive, and created us anew by the Holy Spirit, whom he gives to us without measure. This is all through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who makes...... Read More

This is what the Lord says: “The wise should not boast in their wisdom, the powerful in their power, or the rich in their riches. Let anyone who desires to boast boast in this: that they know me and understand that I am the Lord who reveals steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth,...... Read More

In all their afflictions he was afflicted, and the angel of the Lord carried them. (Is. 63:9). I’ve spent two posts tip-toeing up to and around this question of what is real and how we can tend to escape into fantasy rather than live in reality – the reality of who we are, what we...... Read More

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1). Certain ideas are more subject to becoming clichéd than others. Love, life, happiness – and our word for today, freedom – are all abstract, big-picture concepts that writers, singers, and casual conversationalists abuse every day. We constantly trivialize and banalize the fundamental questions...... Read More

The Father’s relentless, gracious pursuit of us is meant to deliver us from our consuming desire to love and serve ourselves above everything else. I don’t think that it would be shocking or controversial for me to say that Jesus is not particularly tolerant of unbelief or that he strongly opposes our indulging in or...... Read More

When God called him to go to a land he would later receive as his inheritance, Abraham obeyed and left his home, even though he did not know where he was going … and lived in tents as a stranger, even in the promised land, because he was looking forward to a secure city built and designed...... Read More

“By faith, Abraham heard the call to leave his home for the place he would receive as his inheritance, even though he didn’t know where he was going” (Hebrews 11:18). To me, the most obviously difficult aspects of faith are its unknowingness and seeming invisibility. The story of Abraham is cautionary and emblematic. Every piece...... Read More

Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). Jesus Christ is the same – yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews...... Read More