I’m not saying that I have already achieved these things or that I have reached perfection. But I press on to gain that for which Christ Jesus first took hold of me. Although I have not achieved it, I focus on one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to...... Read More

When the goodness and loving kindness of God our savior appeared … Titus 3:4 In 1741, Jonathan Edwards – one of my two or three favorite theologians – preached his famous sermon, “Sinners in the hands of an angry God.” His words remain one of the preeminent Protestant examples of what I call “Wrath Theology,”...... Read More

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

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

O Lord, you have searched me and known me … and in your book every one of my days is written before they ever come to pass (Psalms 139:1, 16). I grew up in a house that looked like a miniature library. My parents believed that reading was a kind of sacred exercise and experience...... Read More

 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1). For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who, though he was rich, became poor for our sakes so that we might become rich in him (2 Cor. 8:9). (The first in a series on freedom from avarice and greed to...... Read More

Abraham believed God, and this was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). It is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). I would say that I experienced a blessed childhood. I had good parents, a stable family environment, lots of friends in the neighborhood and at school, no real fears to assail me....... 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

The Alelyon (one another) passages in the New Testament: Do not lie to each other but speak the truth to each other in love. (Ephesians 4:14, 25; Colossians 3:9) – Part 4 Over the past month or so we’ve been developing an evolving response to Pilate’s question of Jesus on the matter of “what is...... Read More