Christianity

GO! ENJOY GOD’S WORLD

Not so many years ago, my kids attached a prism to our living room window. They both knew what a prism does. As soon as it was in place, they began scouring the living room floor for…what? Yes, the rainbow. My wife is a teacher by training so spotting the rainbow isn’t enough. It must…

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A CONTRARIAN’S TAKE ON LIVE-STREAMING

I’m going to kick a hornet’s nest today and “zig” when others may “zag” when it comes to churches live-streaming their worship services. Suffice to say: I don’t think it should be a permanent fixture. Before I posit my reasons, I want to offer a couple of qualifiers. First, during the 14 Sundays we didn’t…

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HOW HEAVY IS GOD?

10/29/2020 “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” – Psalm 19:1 All of creation doesn’t just bear witness to the existence of God. Creation declares the glory of God; the otherness of God; the weightiness of God; the unignorability of God; the infinite beyondness of God – the…

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HOW TO SURVIVE THIS POLITICAL SEASON

There are three truths about God every Christian must believe and rehearse daily in order to muddle our way through intense times: 1) God is completely sovereign 2) God is infinite in wisdom 3) God is perfect in love. The Church is going to need to be especially good at fixing our eyes on these…

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ON FEAR – PART 6

The ten scouts who succumbed to fear and brought back a bad report and stirred up the people to mutiny, died on the spot at Kadesh-Barnea. God struck them dead. The rest of the people, the adult generation of Israel died without entering the Promised Land. God made sure of that.  What’s so remarkable about…

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ON FEAR – PART 2

8/27/2020 Do not fear. This the Bible’s most frequent command. Clearly, God knew fear would be a substantial problem for us. But do we really understand how self-destructive it is? There are numerous places one could go in the Scriptures to find illumination on the topic of fear. Perhaps the longest sustained treatment of it…

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ON FEAR – PART 1

8/25/2020 Do not fear. This is the Scriptures’ most frequent command. Clearly, God knew fear would be a substantial problem for us. The past five months have revealed just that. Our fear of COVID, social unrest, and political outcomes have been the chief presenting symptom indicating an underlying disease. I would contend that for the…

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IDENTITY BY ASSOCIATION

In my previous post, I highlighted the reality that all cultures have blindspots. One of the best ways Christians can approach that is through the ministry of listening (James 1:19). Find out what life has been like for someone who isn’t part of your culture. You’ll discover more than you ever thought possible. Having said that, believers…

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SHAI LINNE ON CHRISTIANS LABELING EACH OTHER

6/24/2020 Back in January, we made arrangements for Shai Linne to visit Alliance Bible Church this October. Given our COVID saturated world, we’re praying this still happens. He’s a multi-talented man and, much more, a Jesus-obsessed man. He posted a tweet thread (posted to another blog) that I think is worth posting here. His words are directed…

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THE IMAGE AND WRATH OF GOD: A Reflection on the Events in Minneapolis

When the Coronavirus pandemic descended upon us, one of the many musings that ran through my mind was: will any news story be able to knock this virus off the front page? Tragically, something has: the murder of George Floyd. God is ultimate reality. Therefore, there’s nothing we do that doesn’t relate to him. This is what…

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