Restore Us to Yourself That We May Be Restored
The consequences of breaking covenant with the Lord are dire. And yet, there is still hope for restoration.
The Israelites wondered whether God had rejected them. We may wonder the same. But in Jesus we have an emphatic, definitive answer. No. Because Jesus bore our sin, we are no longer subject to that same awful judgment that he suffered. Though we groan, we can look to Jesus, the Man of Sorrows. Because of him, our... Continue Reading
Does the Bible Limit Gender to Just Male and Female?
This whole attempt to force a non-binary interpretation into the Genesis creation account is anachronistic.
When God chose to remake the world, he only preserved males and females because those two exhausted the gender categories of both humans and animals. The reason behind this decision seems consistent with the reason found in the initial creation of Genesis: The gender binary was directly tied to procreation. Only a male and female... Continue Reading
One Spectacular Person
The "Admirable Conjunction" in Jesus Christ
All the fullness of God is found in this man Jesus. Full humanity and the fullness of deity. We marvel at his bigness and might and omni-relevance, and we melt at his grace and mercy and meekness, and all that comes together in one spectacular person. Not only do books change lives, but paragraphs... Continue Reading
God Scares Me to Death
God's sovereignty is both comforting and terrifying.
Keep turning toward him, whether that process is clumsy, awkward, brief, or a bit chilly. Your soul is close to the breaking point already. The one who now strikes fear in your heart is the only one who can assuage your fears and mend a soul in pieces. God is sovereign. He does as... Continue Reading
Pastors, Fight Against Fear of Man by Fighting for the Fear of the Lord
Ministry is a miserable place for a pastor who needs everyone’s approval.
Future pastor, local churches need unwavering leaders who fear the Lord. They don’t need you to meet their expectations, but they do need to see your hand tremble when you hold up your Bible. They need to know that you would rather have the whole room turn on you than utter one word that displeases... Continue Reading
The Paradox of Freedom
Freedom may not be what you think it is.
Political liberty is a tremendous social good. But it can only work when there is restraint on our appetites, and when we put limits to our cravings. Freedom, in the biblical understanding, is much different than what most folks think when discussing freedom. They believe that freedom means being able to do whatever you... Continue Reading
Judge Others as You Want to Be Judged
The measures we used to assess others will be used to assess us.
The day is coming soon when “we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (Romans 14:10)—great and small, rich and poor, well-known and unknown. And what will happen when we stand there? The rubric we raised against others will be raised against us. “Judge not.” Few words of Jesus are more familiar,... Continue Reading
What Should We Make of Paul’s Shipwreck Narrative?
The world’s salvation cannot be stopped.
Observations of the primary narrative tension and its accompanying resolution gave us hope that we could sift through the flood of details to discern the author’s main point in this chapter. When our church’s team of preachers decided to preach through Acts, I knew chapter 27 would be a doozy (notice how I cleverly ignored... Continue Reading
How to Read Scientific Papers Intelligently
Christians need to be wise when engaging with modern science.
Christians…should model humble engagement with scientific findings. Christians should not pretend that science is a perfect, objective, infallible source of truth. But they also shouldn’t have cynical attitude every time a scientific discovery is made. As an engineer, I read scientific papers quite frequently. I am convinced most people do not know how to... Continue Reading
The Holiness of God and the Sinfulness of Man
If we understand who God is, and catch a glimpse of His majesty, purity, and holiness, then we are instantly aware of the extent of our own corruption.
The portrait that we get in the Scriptures of man in his fallen condition is that he is utterly and thoroughly infected by sin in his whole person. In other words, sin is not an external blemish, but something that goes to the very core of our being. One word that crystallizes the essence... Continue Reading
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