Blog: July 2017

Just think what the Lord is teaching us about prayer in last Sunday’s memory verse:  But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.  At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness (Psalm 69:13). This verse is jam-packed with practical truth. The first thing to notice is that David speaks these words in a time of turmoil:  enemies attacking; God seems remote; feels like he’s sinking in quicksand.  I don’t know about you, but when a flood of trouble hits me, I feel tempted to rush ...

When I read the Bible, God’s promise of a glorious, eternal future for all who trust in Jesus grabs my heart.  Nothing can separate God’s children from his love, not even death! (Romans 8:38-39).  We walk with Christ today, secure in the hope of a most excellent tomorrow! But this God-centered vision of the future clashes with pop-culture.  A Jose Cuervo tequila commercial depicts the end of the world.  While chaos unfolds outside, a man in a bar puts the Elvis song, “It’s Now or Never,” on the jukebox.  As he dances, a woman joins him—this ...

It was Christian capitulation déjà vu this week:  a once-evangelical leader changing his/her mind so as to endorse same-sex marriage and get in step with the culturally ascendant LGBTQ movement.  Eugene Peterson, author of the Bible paraphrase, The Message, announced that he’s now ready to officiate at weddings of Christian gay couples. But wait, no, he didn’t!  …  Huh? CT later reported how Peterson retracted his comments and said he affirms a biblical view of marriage—“one man to one woman.”  So maybe the whole story was much ado about ...

I find myself reflecting on time a lot these days.  And how time flies.  I look in one direction and see my dad who’s now up in his 90s, and I look in the other and see our grown “kids” exploring life in their 20s.  Frankly, it’s unnerving—how swiftly the changes burst upon the scene!  As time rockets by (you realize 2017 is over half gone now, right?), something inside us wants to step on the brakes. So what are we to make of that impulse—the yearning to hold back the relentless advance of time?  Two thoughts.  First, we may be fail­ing to ...

Over the long Independence Day weekend, many thoughtful Christian leaders have been posting words of wisdom to help us think carefully about patriotism.  When and how is it fitting, for example, for American Christians to express patriotism?  And when and how do we compromise our first allegiance to Christ the King by such expressions? As followers of Jesus, we walk a complex path as citizens of two “empires”—the Kingdom of God, and also the particular country in which we now reside this side of heaven.  What does it look like navigate this ...