The famous missionary, Elisabeth Elliot, wrote a book, No Graven Image. It’s a story about a missionary who goes into the rainforest and wants to translate the Bible. At the end of the story, everything falls apart. The one man in the tribe who can enable her to do the translation and connect her to the tribe, she…
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“Glory.” It’s not a word we can define quickly or easily. We know God is glorious (Ps. 106:20; Jer. 2:13). We know we’re supposed to “glorify” God (Ps. 69:30). But what does it mean? Theologians have debated this for centuries, but one of the best directions to move in is consider what glory literally means: “weight.” When something is “weighty” it’s…
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In my last post, I contend that a God who is infinitely more powerful than me would also be infinitely more knowledgeable than me. So if God is infinitely knowledgeable, why couldn’t he have morally sufficient reasons for allowing evil that I can’t think of? Just because I can’t think of any, doesn’t mean an infinitely knowledgeable…
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A truly good God would not want evil to exist.An all-powerful God would not allow evil to exist. Evil exists. Therefore, a God who is both good and powerful cannot exist. So goes the logic. But there is a hidden premise buried inside the argument. The premise is: God does not have any good reasons to allow…
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Those who aren’t familiar with the Christian gospel may not realize this, but the cross of Jesus Christ is a public statement about the sin of each individual human being. The bloodied and eviscerated body of Jesus Christ serves as a visual demonstration of the heinousness of my sin. In reflecting on this, Milton Vincent writes, “If…
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A few years ago, I read David Mathis’ new book, Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus Through the Spiritual Disciplines. I wholeheartedly recommend it to you. Within his section on Christian fellowship, he has a word to us on the much underrated ministry of listening. Borrowing extensively from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, Mathis has these important reminders for…
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This is a fun time of year when it comes to books. I follow around a dozen “top books” lists that shape my reading for the year to come. Perhaps this will do the same for you. Additionally, Christmas is coming. 1) Contentment: Seeing God’s Goodness – Megan Hill It’s not the fact that this book is…
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“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.” – Psalm 24:1 I realize what all the advertisements say. They say, “Spend this on yourself because you owe it to yourself; you’ve earned it.” Have you ever noticed this about marketing? “You’ve earned it; you owe it to yourself…
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In the academy award winning movie Chariots of Fire, one of the main characters, Harold Abrahams, is determined to win the 100 meter dash. He’ll stop at nothing to see that gold metal around his neck. Just before the Olympic finals of that race, he’s in the training room getting ready when he suddenly becomes reflective….
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Friction occurs when the desires of my heart and my external reality are at odds with one another. In order to resolve the friction, we are prone to believe the best way to do this is to change our external reality. Think back to the temptation of Jesus in Luke 4. He’s fasted for forty…
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