Everywhere I turn I see an appealing opportunity to make my self look better. My options are so numerous, it is like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet and being overwhelmed with all the choices. Everything in me says you deserve whatever you want , take it. So many inticing things...
I’ve been immersed all this week in thinking about the importance of daily devotional Bible reading. Thom Rainer, president of Lifeway Publishers, does a good job of pointing out the importance of Bible reading to discipleship. Now comes empirical evidence that the more you read your Bible, the more you...
God never ceases to amaze me. If you were picking out someone to deliver your own people from bondage, would you pick a man who was the son of a prostitute, who collected “worthless men” around him, and who made at least one, hasty, regrettable vow? Neither would I, but...
I’m reading in Mark 2.15 this morning where Christ is reclining at the table with “tax-collectors and sinners.” The tax-collectors were part of the native population hired by someone who had won a government contract to collect taxes in that particular location. They were universally despised because, according to NIDNTT, “The...
His Name (Alone) is Excellent I like how the psalmist strains to find words to proclaim the praise of the Lord in Ps. 148.7-13. He calls for anything and everything that he can think of to praise the name of the Lord. Dragons, deeps, fire, hail, snow, vapour, stormy wind...
Have you ever noticed that the book of Ruth keeps coming back to Naomi, over and over? Me neither. I got this from reading Dale Davis’ book The Word Made Fresh [excellent little book]. Davis says: “Every chapter returns to Naomi and some provision for her.” Really? Is that true? ...
Strolling down the sidewalk, walking away from our hotel in Colorado, we turn around to go back and there in front of us is a snow-covered Pike’s Peak, one of the tallest mountains in Colorado, surrounded by blue skies and little white puffs of clouds. The view takes my breath...
I confess that one of my life-long struggles in the Christain faith is a consistent prayer life. My progress might be compared to automobile traffic in Los Angeles. Sometimes everything is going along smoothly at posted speeds, but all too often I’m stuck in what appears to be a gigantic...
What to make of these terrible pictures of tornado destruction in Joplin and Minneapolis. Spend some time reading through the comments ranging from the promise to pray for the cities and the mocking of those who pray and the God to whom they pray. Unsurprising I suppose. What do we,...
Peter writes to fellow believers: “Keep loving one another earnestly, for love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet 4.8). There is a lot said in a short amount of time when you begin to think about it. Take the little word “earnestly” for example. In the Greek it is...