Faithful Christian Service Lines Up with Faithful Christology
Jesus calls us to delight in the mundane for his glory and to reflect his heart to serve. How does service reorder our lives?
At the start of the Upper Room Discourse, Jesus does more than teach the practical way we’re to live as his followers. He exemplifies it. We’re to follow his example in serving others. That’s not redemptive but expresses the experience of redemption in following Jesus. He considered service essential for living as his disciples. Without humble... Continue Reading
The Heart and Soul of Christian Fellowship
The heart and soul of Christian fellowship hangs in the balance of how we honestly respond to this question in our fellowship circles.
You are fighting for the heart and soul of your fellowship. When the dust of the politics has settled, when differences are ironed out, when the pleasantries and politeness run their course, every friendship is left wanting: Either we will go deeper, keep things as they are, or move away (emotionally or even physically). Please... Continue Reading
On Being a Berean With Ourselves
Being a good Berean means questioning ourselves first and foremost.
I rigorously try to disprove myself. And if I cannot then I will, still with trepidation, pose my insight as a possibility. I do that because I’ve been convinced by the Proverbs that, it’s better not to exalt yourself before men and then be thrown down (Proverbs 25:7). If the insight is true than it’ll... Continue Reading
God Delights to Dwell in Us: What We Still and Will Believe
The Holy Spirit is a person who interacts with us in personal ways.
Remember that the presence of the Lord is found among his people particularly through the Spirit who dwells among us. Therefore, the fulfillment of Zephaniah 3:17 today is in the Holy Spirit’s presence among his people. The Spirit not only led the disciples into all truth, and he not only helps us to pray better than we... Continue Reading
Surrounded!
Encirclement is where we live the Christian life.
The position of Dothan should remind us of the position of the Christian and the church. The Christian is in the world, surrounded by the world, and Christ’s church is always under siege by the world. The Psalmist speaks of this in Psalm 118, “All nations surrounded me…they surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me…They surrounded... Continue Reading
Grace-Loving, Hard-Working, and Happy: Christian Resolves for a New Year
The decisive event has happened in the coming of Christ, and work remains to be done, in us and through us.
In other words, because we are justified before God by faith alone in Christ, we are secure enough to expend our lives in the cause of Christ. Heaven is secure. Now what? Let’s change things on earth. The finished work of Christ, and the completed aspect of our justification, liberates us for the ongoing work... Continue Reading
Singing in the Dark
Sometimes there are, quite literally, no words.
How could I express the anguish of watching the body of my firstborn be lowered into the cold ground, the agony of choosing the words that will be carved onto his gravestone, the torment of knowing that behind his still-closed bedroom door is all that evidence of a life lived and lost? Truly, the sorrow... Continue Reading
Anselm on the Suffering of the Impassible God
The impassible God loves without sentiment and burns with wrath against sin without the least irritation.
We may instinctively recoil from the idea of impassibility, as if by that world it is being suggested that God is cold, remote and apathetic. Such a God would be indifferent to the miseries of life in the veil of tears. Reading through Anselm’s Why God Became Man I came across a remarkable passage on how... Continue Reading
When Doctrine Divides: A Credo Review
The command to love one another cannot be cast aside when we disagree over doctrine.
Putman has produced an interdisciplinary volume that accurately assesses how Christians come to differing conclusions on doctrine and provides a roadmap for how Christians ought to live and interact in light of this doctrinal diversity. Christians, young and old, theologically trained and untrained alike would benefit from reading this volume and assuming the posture of... Continue Reading
China’s Threat to the Bible
Thanks to American publishing decisions, American Christians rely on a state that represses Christianity for their Bibles.
Regulations two years ago censored the Bible from the Chinese Internet, banned youth from church services and Bible camps, and authorized the burning of Bibles possessed without state authorization. The Bible is America’s best-selling book, annually outpacing the top 20 best sellers combined. Yet a single Chinese company has a near monopoly on Bible... Continue Reading
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