Psalm 62: Stability in an Unstable World
Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that the four main idols are power, fame, pleasure, and wealth. An idol is anything that we trust apart from God. It is a created thing that we elevate above the Creator. They are good things that we turn into god things. They are the things we look to for our…
17 Lessons from 1 Peter on Suffering
I am studying 1 Peter and have been blown away by how often he addresses suffering. In just 5 chapters, Peter mentions suffering roughly twenty times. The Bible has much more to say about suffering. Books like Job and Ecclesiastes, Psalms 13 & 18, Genesis 37-45, and 2 Corinthians 11:16-33 are other great places to…
Struggling to Pray? Remember THIS
One thing I love about being a dad is teaching my son about God in a way that he will understand. After following Christ for a while we tend to take things for granted or make things needlessly complicated. But it’s impossible to do this with small children. Prayer is one area that we make…
Between Grace and Glory: Examining Titus 2:11-14
Paul uses the word “appear” twice in Titus 2:11-14. “The grace of God has appeared” is written in the past tense. God’s grace has already manifested itself in the world. At the same time, “we wait . . . for the appearing of the glory of God.” The appearing of his glory will come in…
Teach Us to Pray
Prayer is often difficult. It is hard to make time for it, hard to stay focused, and hard to know what to say. When Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them how to pray, he gave them the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11:1-4). Another prayer tool I have learned is called the ACTS model. ACTS stands…
The Shape of the Gospel
A friend of mine once told me that the Christian life is a series of life, death, and resurrection stories. Things start off well enough, then get really bad before ending up in a better place than when you started. The shape of life looks something like this: This theme shows up again and again…
Lent Reflections: Mortality
“Remember you are dust, and to dust you will return.” This is the phrase that churches all around the world told their parishioners on Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday kicks off the Lenten season, the 40ish days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. According to a handout from my church, the aim of Lent is threefold:…
My Favorite Christmas Passage
There are a lot of great passages that speak of our Savior’s miraculous birth and the joy and light that he brings. For example, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Or, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;…
Words from a Wooden Beam
The four gospels record seven phrases that Jesus said from the cross. Crucifixion leads to death by suffocation, so any word spoken by Jesus must have been delivered with great difficulty. Given how hard it would have been to speak, Jesus was likely very intentional about the words he chose. We would be wise to…
Love or Fear
I came across a quote by John Lennon that said, “There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love.” I don’t fully agree with his conclusion, but I still think that this observation is profound. Consider, why do people work hard at their job? Some work hard because they love what they do and are…
Putting God to the Test
The author of Hebrews defines faith as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance for what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). You don’t need faith for what you already see, that is just sight. Faith is trusting in God even when things don’t look right or when we can’t see what the outcome…
The Kingdom of God is like a Golden Snitch
I love the Harry Potter books and movies. My wife and I watch all 8 movies every year and frequently listen to the audiobooks before going to bed. Even if HP isn’t your thing, I hope you stick with me. Jesus often taught using parables. Following in my Rabbi’s footsteps, I want to show you…
How to Change the World
My theory is that the best way to change the world is to live your life as if your own sin is the biggest problem in the world. I want to examine wisdom from different times, cultures, and faith traditions that are all getting at this same point. One caveat before we dive in: I…
What is Work?
What is the essence of what work? What are we actually doing when we do stuff? Is it simply the stuff we have to do to keep living or is it something more? Pastor Tim Keller defines work as, “Rearranging the raw materials of a particular domain to draw out its potential for the flourishing…
Decluttering God’s Way
The last couple years I have been getting into the minimalism movement. The Minimalists put out great content, Joshua Becker has many thoughtful insights on his website, and Marie Kondo has a series on Netflix that shows how tidying up can legitimately change lives. All of these people and more have given me practical steps…
Cultural Eulogy 