Yes, I’m keenly aware that Christian history is littered with failed predictions of the end of the world. But the fact still remains: Jesus is coming back. “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God…” – 1…
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Jesus told a story. It was about a father and his two sons. His older son was loyal, obedient, and followed all the rules. The younger son was a “free-spirit.” After demanding his share of his father’s inheritance, the younger son left home and squandered all he had on prostitutes and other displays of wild living. For…
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Yes…and no. God’s Word is there to help us see past appearances and plunge us into the reality. Such must be the case with interpreting events unfolding around us. Is this pandemic a manifestation of God’s judgment? Luke 13 provides a good starting point. In vv. 1-5, Jesus is asked to assess the theological reasons for…
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The year was 165 AD. Marcus Aurelius was emperor in Rome. A devastating epidemic swept through the empire. Some medical historians suspect it was the first appearance of smallpox in the West. Regardless of the actual disease, it was lethal. During the fifteen year duration of the epidemic, between a quarter and a third of the empire’s population…
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Suffering often leaves us wondering, “how is this all going to work out?” Suffering creates a sense of chaos; like the puzzle pieces aren’t fitting together. Elisabeth Elliot relays an amusing story that’s helpful for us. Apparently, her husband Jim was quite the handyman. He had the ability to build many things from scratch. Elisabeth…
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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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“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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