Two Conceptions; Two Ways to Live
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman. But the one by the slave was born according to the impulse of the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born as the result of a promise… Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of […]
Don’t Love a Good Thing Less
My heart, and yours, has a tendency to love other things more than God. We have a proclivity to cherish the blessings, the good things He gives, more than Him. To fight this, we sometimes decide to abandon the good things altogether. When confronted with our idolatry, we can convince ourselves we should love a […]
The Faith of a Servant or a Son?
Many people relate to God as a slave and not as a child. They seek to appease Him with their good deeds, to earn His favor with their good works, and to justify themselves before Him with their own righteousness. For years John Wesley approached God this way before trusting Christ and Him only for […]
10 Reasons to Be Thankful
In the Book of Galatians, we find the apostle Paul was astonished and unsure of what to do with the Galatian believers. At one point, they were overwhelmed with God’s grace expressed toward them. But they had drifted from grace and were attempting to earn God’s approval and qualify themselves to stand before Him with […]
Would we have Tozer, Wesley, or Luther if Twitter were around?
I have been preaching through Galatians at the church where I serve as interim pastor, and lately I have wondered if I would be benefiting from Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians if Twitter were around when he served the church. When you look at all Luther said, clearly not everything he said was great. In […]
The Heart Behind a Viral Christmas Video
Last week a Christmas commercial went viral. The embedded video is from Sainsbury’s, a retailer in the United Kingdom. The commercial depicts the story of the famous Christmas Truce of 1914. The First World War had only begun months before, and the fighting between the Germans and the Allies was very fierce. Hope for a […]
The Trojan War, the Tax Collector, & Propitiation
During the mythical Trojan War, the goddess Artemis punished Agamemnon, the Greek general, for evil deeds his soldiers committed. On their way to the war, Artemis caused the winds to stir and their ships were knocked violently into one another. Agamemnon learned that the only way to appease the wrath of Artemis was to sacrifice […]
Believing the Wrong Story
Earlier this year, a Japanese war hero died. His name was Hiroo Onoda, and he was a Japanese imperial soldier who fought in WWII. When the opposing military landed where Onoda was stationed, most of his colleagues were killed or surrendered. Onoda, however, fled with three other soldiers into hiding in the jungle. That was […]
More than “Just as if I have never sinned”
A helpful way to remember the important biblical term “justified” is with the phrase “just as if I’d never sinned.” And that is certainly part of what it means to be justified. All our sins are forgiven, and we stand pure and blameless before God. But “justified” actually means much more than that. Jerry Bridges […]
Robin Williams and Holy Repetition
Since Robin Williams’ tragic death, many have remembered his greatest acting scenes. Williams was an incredibly gifted actor who entertained, provoked, and challenged us with his craft. We laughed, cried, and reflected. Many have pointed to a scene in the movie Good Will Hunting as one of his greatest. In the scene, Will Hunting, played […]