Blog: April 2022

Let’s talk about talking.  James 3:1-12 stresses how much damage our words can do:  “The tongue is a fire, a world of unright­eous­ness”; the tongue is “set on fire by hell”; “no human being can tame the tongue”; “it is a restless evil”; it’s “full of deadly poison.” The Bible is not subtle:  when we give in to the tempta­tions of gossip, slander, lying, and any other speech sins, we dishonor our Father and hurt our loved ones and mislead an on-looking world and heap misery on our own heads:  it’s lose-lose.  Of course, temp­ta­tion ...

“Pray for Ukraine!” Yes, of course, but how?  For peace—that by God’s sovereign hand, peace would break out and end this monstrous violence.  That Russian aggression would be stopped, that cooler heads would prevail, and that lives would be spared. Another way to pray is that governments would see the wisdom of following God’s design.  I’m thinking especially of Romans 13: “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.  Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, ...

The Bible gives us God’s truth, and while the bad news is worse than we might ever imagine, the good news is more glorious than we might dare to believe.  The Gospel is about coming face to face with our sin in all of its vile dimensions and damning conse­quences AND about how God, out of the awesome grace and goodness of his heart, made a way for his enemies (i.e., us!) to be forgiven, reconciled, and justified as joint heirs with Jesus and God’s beloved children forever!  Consider key texts in Romans: The “low” of the Gospel is very low.  ...

This week our trek through 1 Peter brings us to 3:7 and the charge to Christian husbands to be considerate toward their wives, “since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”  It’s especially that last remark I want to pick up on here—about prayer being hindered by our sin. This theme is found throughout the Bible:  “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Psalm 66:18).  God says that the foolish and rebellious “will call upon me, but I will not answer” ...

Friends, read and listen to these lyrics to put Good Friday into its biblical and theological perspective.  Ask the Lord to allow the weight and wonder of the cross of Jesus Christ register deeply in your soul.  And when you come to the startling line at the end of verse two, read Isaiah 53:10 and Acts 2:23 and Acts 4:28, and bow in silence.   "Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted (Thomas Kelly, 1804) Stricken, smitten, and afflicted, see him dying on the tree! ‘Tis the Christ by man rejected; yes, my soul, ’tis he, ’tis he! ‘Tis the ...

Current geo-political events have us on edge watching the news.  They also have us thinking back on the long history of ambitious rulers invading neighboring lands.  Today it’s Putin.  Once it was Hitler.  And Napoleon, and the Vikings, and Alexander the Great.  Empires rise and fall; their territories ebb and flow. That’s one way to look at history.  But it’s rather small-minded.  Yes, the Roman Empire dominated the Mediterranean world for centuries; yes, the Babylonians were the superpower of their day.  But, again, these regimes had ...