God moves in a mysterious way
/On Sunday I shared the poem, "God Moves in a Mysterious Way" by William Cowper (1731-1800), with Downtown Cornerstone. It's an oldie, but a goodie. Over the years it has become deeply meaningful to me.
Read MoreRaised? Finding Jesus by Doubting the Resurrection | A Brief Review
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Jonathan Dodson and Brad Watson have written an incredibly helpful, culturally accessible and doctrinally sound book in Raised? Finding Jesus by Doubting the Resurrection. Here are my brief takeaways.
Read MoreThe shadowy place between belief and unbelief
/In October a news report came out concerning a small Norwegian town, deeply tucked between steep mountains, that is stuck in shadowy darkness for six months of the year. In order to bring more light into town they installed mirrors - yes, mirrors - on a nearby hillside to reflect the sun into town. You can read more here. Though it is an imperfect analogy, I was struck by how similar this is to how we often view following Jesus.
Read MoreThe Calvinist | A Poem by John Piper
/To be honest, I had a slight tinge of skepticism when I first caught wind of this poem and accompanying video by John Piper, "The Calvinist". Yet, my skepticism was rebuked and I was deeply, powerfully moved. Perhaps it will have the same effect on you. You can read the poem here at Desiring God.
How to read the Bible without reading the Bible
/Have you ever picked up your Bible, read it, put it down, and walked away feeling like you didn't read it? I have. What happened there? The Bible is just like any other book and, at the same time, unlike any other book. Like other books, there are printed words, sentences, and paragraphs that are intentionally arranged to communicate specific ideas. You should read the Bible literally, in that it is a piece of literature. Yet, at the same time, it is utterly unlike any other book. The Bible claims to be the divinely inspired revelation of God to fallen humanity (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21). Therefore, when we approach the Bible we are not merely approaching a piece of literature (though it is that); we are approaching a piece of literature that is God's direct revelation to us. Given this dual nature of the Bible it is possible, if not all-too-common, to read the Bible without really reading the Bible. In so doing we harm ourselves by cutting off God's primary means of grace in our lives. How do we read the Bible without reading the Bible?
Read More7 ways to sever the root of anger in your life
/Anger is complicated. Even if we spend little time considering the anatomy of our anger, we all intuitively recognize its dangerous power (which, of course, is why we leverage it as we do). I deeply appreciate how the Bible carefully nuances this important issue.
Read MoreA Simple Way to Memorize Scripture
/I once heard a pastor say that he’s never had to memorize scripture in his life because he has a photographic memory. That’s not very helpful for all of us non-photographic-memory-types. What about the rest of us who forget our mobile phone number or forget where we put our keys, let alone remember how Psalm 23 ends?
Read MoreHow to go about reading your Bible in 2013 (for those who feel like its already too late)
/Every January there is a flurry of blog posts (like this one and this one) and encouragement to make a plan for your personal reading of the Bible (among other things) in the new year. That’s good. But, the reality is you may already be behind or too busy to come up with a plan. In fact, most of us are, which is why I’ve waited to post this until now.
Read MoreTorrance on the importance of Jesus' humanity (amidst his divinity)
/“The very humanity of Jesus Christ makes salvation possible, for here in the man Jesus, God comes alongside us as another man and within our historical existence with its temporal relations, choices, and decisions, He acts there upon us personally through word and love, through challenge and decision. God does not come to manipulate man, but to save him personally in personal reconciliation with the Father, and so He confronts man in such a way, that while He judges sin and exposes man’s heart with all its evil, He forgives him and draws out his heart in surrender and love to Himself. And yet in all that, God has come to be one with man, and to act from within man, and as man to yield to the Father in obedience of a true and faithful Son, and so to lay hold of God for us from the inside of man. It is within that union of the Son to the Father that the sinner is drawn, and given to share...it is the action of God as Man in Christ which delivers man from himself and draws him out in surrender to God. ”