Think about what it’s like to attend a home football game for your favorite team. You’re surrounded by 80,000 people who are dressed like you, who cheer with you when the team does well, and who get upset when it doesn’t. Everyone wants to see the same thing you want to see; they want the […]
Read More »
When a major disaster like Hurricane Michael hits, faith is a major part of how most people make sense of it. Research consistently demonstrates how the specific elements of a person’s faith, what they believe or don’t believe about God, make a big difference in how they react and move forward in times of suffering. […]
Read More »The word “gospel” literally means “good news.” It is the good news that the angels heralded at Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:10–11), the good news that Jesus consistently proclaimed throughout his ministry (Mark 1:14–15), and the good news promised beforehand in the entire Bible concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Rom 1:1–4). This good news […]
Read More »Every so often, I will share a review of a book I recommend that will help you in your relationship with Jesus Christ. This week I will be recommending Sharing Jesus Without Freaking Out, by Alvin Reid, published by B&H Academic in 2017. Most people who attend church at least once a month believe they […]
Read More »We find one of the most wonderful promises in all of Scripture in Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” This is one of those verses that is likely precious to many […]
Read More »One of my favorite books as a kid was Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak. If you haven’t read it, it’s about a little boy named Max who is sent to his room without his supper because he’s being too wild: putting on a wolf suit, running around, and telling his mother he’s […]
Read More »When Jesus walked on this earth there was no disease worse than leprosy. It was a filthy, deadly skin condition from which few people recovered. It was also highly contagious. In Jesus’ time, no one knew exactly how it spread, only that it spread very easily. When leprosy showed up, a beloved family member would […]
Read More »The Bible begins by emphasizing that the God who saves us, in and through Jesus Christ, is the one true and living God who has made all things. God alone is King and Lord of the universe. Everything that exists is for him, including us, as human beings. All people are made in God’s image […]
Read More »The fourth commandment tells us to “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exod 20:8). There is perhaps no instruction from God we tend to reduce to some kind of rule or misunderstanding more than what the Bible calls the Sabbath. What am I allowed to do on the Sabbath? What am I not […]
Read More »In the book of Job, we read about a man who experiences some of the worst things life can throw at us. Making his suffering even worse are his “friends” who instead of helping and encouraging him, accuse and betray him. Throughout his suffering, however, Job clings to God’s grace, and eventually, God vindicates Job […]
Read More »