I am often surprised and dismayed when I hear Christians speak about the way God feels about them. So many believers live with the conviction that God is generally displeased with them, that he regards them with a sense of disappointment. They may even believe he has a sense of regret that he reached out…
Everybody knew the local blacksmith. Everybody knew him because no matter where the townsfolk went, they could hear the sound of his hammer as it beat against the anvil. No matter where they were they could hear the sound of his bellows as it spurred the fire to burn and roar with fresh intensity. Day…
I have long observed that it is the rare individual who values completing a task as highly as beginning one. We are all good at setting out with great gusto, but so often, whether through poor planning or waning interest or even the vicissitudes of providence, we fail to complete what we’ve begun. If this…
It’s a detail that is easy to overlook, a detail whose importance may be lost in our many readings and re-readings of the story. But it’s a detail that is full of significance and flush with encouragement if only we will notice it and if only we will meditate upon it. In the first chapter…
We are at an interesting point in history in which, when people look to the past, they seem more likely to cringe than to celebrate. It has become customary for people to look to their forbears and then disavow them or apologize for them in what has become almost a ritualistic purgation. There are many…
We have a natural tendency to attempt to understand what we don’t know by extrapolating from what we do. This works well in much of life, but not so much when it comes to theology, for God comes before comparisons and supersedes them all. When it comes to Christ, he is more unlike than like…
Some of the most stirring but also the most tragic images the Bible gives us are of great crowds surging toward Jesus so they could be healed. At a time when humanity had only the most basic knowledge of the human body and knew of only the most rudimentary medical treatments, there were always many…
“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do,” promised Jesus. And ever since that day, his followers have prayed in his name. Parents teach their children, pastors teach their parishioners, evangelists teach their new converts to close their prayers with the familiar words, “In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.” But familiarity has its…
Simon, would you still have passed that way? Would you still have passed that way if you had known how you would be mistreated? Would you still have ventured into the city if you had known that you would be forced to carry another man’s burden? Would you still have entered that gate and strolled…
Some things are not only worth reading, but worth reading aloud. I stumbled upon just such a thing a short time ago and wanted to share it with you. This beautiful bit of writing comes from a Dr. William Plumer and what was apparently his inaugural address at Western Theological Seminary. Do yourself a favor…
Jesus began his public ministry away from his hometown of Nazareth, but it was not long before he returned and began to teach in the local synagogue. The people’s response might have been disheartening to someone just getting started in a new vocation. “Is not this the carpenter?” they asked (Luke 6:3). Jesus was now…
When I was in my early 20s, one of my friends had a sudden experience of spiritual growth and enthusiasm. Suddenly, he had a new fervor for the Lord and a fresh desire to serve him. He began using new words and imaginative phrases to describe his relationship with God and his longing to live…
How big is God? This is the kind of question most children ask at one time or another. They know that they are weak and that God is strong, they know that they are tiny and that the universe is immense, and so they naturally wonder, “Just how big is this God, anyway?” And in…
Since 2004, Dove has been promoting their products with the Real Beauty campaign. Several years ago, they released a video titled “Real Beauty Sketches,” and it quickly went viral. In this video, they had a number of women describe themselves to a hidden forensic sketch artist. He listened to them and created a drawing based…
Imagine for a moment that you have been charged with coming up with a life plan for the most important person in all of human history. The Messiah, the Son of God, will soon come to earth and will remain here for just over 30 years. He will be fully man, so you will need…
It’s fun to laugh at the disciples sometimes, isn’t it? Read the gospels and you’ll find them providing us plenty of opportunity. Like in Mark 9 when they have arrived in Capernaum and have settled into a home for a meal and a rest. Jesus asks a simple question: “What were you discussing on the…
All across the world today, Christians are gathering to worship. They worship Jesus Christ. Why? This great little quote (published as “The Incomparable Christ”) tells us: More than nineteen hundred years ago, there was a Man born contrary to the laws of life. This Man lived in poverty and was reared in obscurity. He did…
The story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10 is one of those accounts from the life of Jesus that is in danger of becoming cliché. And it will become that if we fail to see the true hero of the story. Luke sets up a contrast between two sisters: Mary and Martha. Jesus has…
We know so little about Jesus’ birth. While it has been the subject of billions of dramatizations and endless speculations, the historian Luke gives it all of one sentence: “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for…
No one expected that the Messiah would come how he came. Yes, the people knew that at some point God would send a Savior, but they could hardly have expected that he would be born to unknown parents and that he would enter this world in a barn. They would hardly have expected that their…