When the curtain goes up at the start of a play or musical, the audience sees a background which immediately gives context for the action that is about to unfold. Most often, there is a problem that...
The question of personal identity is one of the most significant questions of our time. Young people are surrounded by messages telling them that being authentic to their identity—who they are and...
It's right there, in the beginning, implicit in God’s second Day Six creative speech. Intergenerational discipleship. Each generation passing on to the next the imperative to produce men and women...
While for many this season is marked by near worldwide political upheaval, a still stifling pandemic, and untold economic stress, for Christians it’s still the season of Lent; a time in which we...
How long after becoming a Christian should one wait before sharing their faith? Three years? Four? The disciple Philip waited only two verses! In John 1:43 Philip becomes a follower of Christ. In...
In 1 Chron. 10: 13-14, we see that David is the rightful ruler of God’s people, but his reign isn’t yet recognized by everyone. We noted in yesterday’s devotional that this is the already/not yet...
Yesterday, we took note of the fact that believers live in the already/not yet of Christ’s Kingdom. His reign has been inaugurated, but not consummated. This is the position God’s people found...
How should citizens of a heavenly kingdom live while on Earth? In his seminal book Paul and the Faithfulness of God, N.T. Wright gestures towards that very question:
“The new creation—both the new...
In yesterday’s devotional, we noted that God rules over all of creation, not just the “religious” parts. Today, we’re going to consider how God rules—through us.
Where does God rule? In asking that question, it’s easy to answer, “the church,” or “places of religious work.” But the message of Scripture says something very different. God’s rule is final, and...
Yesterday, we saw that the prophet Jeremiah ate God’s word - he consumed it. Today, we’re going to take note of the fact that, for Jeremiah, the word of God wasn’t bland. It wasn’t something to eat...
Have you eaten God’s word, or just tasted it? The Prophet Jeremiah is one who ate God’s word, as we see in Jeremiah 15: 16,
“Your words were found, and I ate them.”
When you feel lost, remember the time in which you were first found by God.
Today, many Christians feel lost. The world feels new and scary. This feeling of disorientation - personal, cultural - is...
Is kindness intelligible apart from the gospel?
For Fredrick Nietzsche, virtues like grace, mercy, and kindness are “merely an honorable form of stupidity.” Those who practice them simply “project...
How should Christians relate to civil authority? We should submit to it and we should subvert it. That’s the point of Matt 22: 19-21:
19 Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius...
All through the New Testament, people try to trap Jesus. They want to trap him because they want to control him - they want to make him safe, tame, and usable. We see this in Matthew 22, as the...
How do we respond when you get the dreaded call? Perhaps the call comes from your boss in the middle of the morning - the job we’ve relied upon for years is being taken away. Perhaps the call comes...
How do we grow in our trust of God’s plan for our lives? More to it, how do we grow in our trust of God? While we may say with our lips that we believe God is working out all things for our good,...