This isn’t hard to understand

Some books of the Bible are difficult to understand. In some Epistles, the flow of thought is somewhat obscured by complex structure. In some historical narratives, there are accounts of strange events that leave us wondering how to interpret and apply them (see Judges 19, for one example). In many of the prophets there are […]

When others leave the faith

I heard it again Sunday morning. While visiting another church (a “kindred spirit” church that I frequent as often as I can when I am on vacation on a Sunday), I heard of two more men who are in the process of leaving the faith. They are turning their backs on what they know is […]

Finish well

At 7 P.M. on October 20, 1968, a few thousand spectators remained in the Mexico City Olympic Stadium. It was cool and dark. The last of the marathon runners, each exhausted, were being carried off to first-aid stations. More than an hour earlier, Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia — looking as fresh as when he started […]

Why God forgives

The sin of all men is great. We may choose to compare ourselves with others and suppose that we are “not so bad,” but set against the firm criteria of perfection (Mt. 5:48), all men are desperately sinful. There are no exceptions to that statement. The psalmist underscores that truth when he says, “If You, […]

It’s not going to get better. But there is an answer.

In the middle of his second and final letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul writes a sober and startling statement: “But realize this, that in the last times difficult times will come” (3:1). That sentence jars the reader into wakefulness. That is not the kind of sentence that we like to read. Our presupposition is […]

Remember Jesus

I am afraid it is true. I have done some time in jail. I was young. Very young. And by the grace of God, the time I did was short. I did five minutes as a six-year-old first-grader. We had gone on a field trip to the county jail, and to give us a sense […]

Kindle afresh the gift of God

In a story that echoes the adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” U.S. News & World Report related the following story a few years ago: For most of the last decade, Chicagoans who worked in the Loop, the booming downtown business district, could easily ignore the city’s budget crisis; Washington’s […]

“Pray for me”

“Now may the God of peace [who is the author and the giver of peace], who brought back from among the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood [that sealed, ratified] the everlasting agreement (the new covenant), strengthen (complete, perfect) [and] make you what you ought to be [and] […]

Hard work is useless

Psalms 120-134 are called “Songs of Ascent.” It seems most likely that these were songs that were sung by worshippers as they made their way to Jerusalem from their homes around Israel for one of the three annual religious festivals. These songs allayed the fears of the singers as they contemplated the trustworthy character of […]

Running with endurance

“…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Heb. 12:1b; NASB) File this under strange, but true (and a little funny). The following statements were taken from registration sheets and comment cards returned to the staff of the Bridger Wilderness area: Trails need to be wider so people can walk holding […]

Where is your faith?

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1; NASB) “Where is your God now?” It is a hard question, often asked under the most burdensome circumstances. Job’s friends and wife asked the question. And even though they didn’t ask it, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Joseph, Moses, […]

“Come on in”

“Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,…let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb. 10:19, 22; NASB) Normally my office door stays wide open […]

A better sacrifice

A small boy was consistently late coming home from school. His parents warned him one day that he must be home on time that afternoon, but nevertheless he arrived later than ever. His mother met him at the door and said nothing. His father met him in the living room and said nothing. At dinner […]

He’s sitting down

It is a regular temptation to overvalue certain possessions. When we drive a new vehicle off the car lot, we forget that within a few years, we will certainly be driving it back onto that lot with a certain measure of discontentment, seeking a new and better source of transportation. Similarly, we are prone to […]

A great high priest

As believers in Christ, we don’t often think about priests. We think about them when we read the Old Testament — particularly the Pentateuch — and as we read through and attempt to comprehend the various duties of the priests and the function of the Law in Israel’s spiritual life. It all seems rather confusing […]