I recently read an account of one of the world’s most dangerous and demanding races. Over the course of a week, participants must run nearly 300 kilometers over scorching desert terrain. Once they set out, they are expected to remain mostly independent and to follow a track that has been staked across flatlands and dunes,…
We all bear burdens on our pilgrimage through this weary and wearying world. Sometimes these are burdens of temptation, when we feel the world, the flesh, and the devil arrayed against us, luring and enticing us toward some sinful thought or depraved deed. Sometimes these are burdens of guilt as we think back to a…
Back in my days as a university student, I had one instructor who was, to my mind, the ultimate professor. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of his field and a deep passion for it, and knowledge plus passion is always a powerful combination. I had this professor for a couple of courses, both of them…
We all love to watch the occasional fail video, don’t we? What started years ago on primetime television has migrated to YouTube and become one of our beloved pastimes. Some of my favorites are “finish line fails,” compilations of athletes celebrating just a bit too soon. In one of these finish line fails, an Olympic…
A couple of weeks ago I preached for the first time after the elders at my church were kind enough to ask me if I’d like to contribute to a series called “God’s Sovereign Saving Grace.” This was a series on the Doctrines of Grace that has spanned a few month’s worth of Sunday nights.…