Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
Most of us find security in numbers. We like to be with others—to go with a crowd. And a strong majority vote is the ultimate measure of a good democracy. So, too, as those involved in economics or politics say before they make a key decision, “Let’s look at the numbers.” Numbers, after all, don’t …
Read More A Matter of NumbersMy dear Lord, thank you for the holiday of Thanksgiving as we share it today. What began centuries ago as a joyful expression of dependence on you still echoes among us today. Thank you, Lord, for sharing yourself with us. You capture us in the communion of your eternal mutual love through our union with …
Read More A Thanksgiving PrayerHumans love being religious. That’s not to say everyone loves a given religion—or even the notion of religion. I mean, simply, the function of religion. In the secular West, for instance, the place of the Christian Church or the many alternative and non-Christian forms of worship seems to be fading. But the impulse to worship …
Read More On being religiousWhy does God do anything? And, as it relates to us, how do we fit within that purpose? Over the years this question has gained weight: I had to ask it. Why? Because I’ve heard different people locate all of life and meaning within one ultimate divine ambition. And I do it myself. But the …
Read More What motivates God?My generation of Christians love rationalistic debates. And one favorite debating point is the question of salvation: among professing believers who is truly saved? Whenever that question is raised claims and counterclaims fly: “You don’t have any right to judge us!” Or, “You’re bending the Bible to build your view!” And again, “Our faith offers …
Read More Truly SavedIt is said that Genesis 1-3 is the seedbed of all of Christian theology. What we believe about God, about our humanity, our morality, our future, and much more is traced back to our reading of these three chapters. What, for instance, should we make of the serpent’s word to Eve that “… you will …
Read More DeificationThe residents of Jerusalem during King Josiah’s reign (640-609 BC) experienced a revival that came with a rediscovery of God’s previously ignored and misplaced Word. Zephaniah, a prophet, warned that enjoying the memory of a revival is not the same as living in response to God. The problem? The people of his day were ready …
Read More Spiritual ComplacencyAn email came last week that reported a conversation between a friend—call him Tom—and his unnamed colleague who told him, with emotion, that “the feelings are not to be trusted!” This confrontation of Tom’s “heresy” (his friend’s term) came because of Tom’s claim that underlying affections define all our thinking and choosing: we always do …
Read More Never trust your feelings!Jeremiah’s book is God’s spiritual and moral bristle brush: it always gives my soul a good scrub when I read it. God, as the prophet tells us, will confront sin. Chaos is coming. Why? Because national religious and political leaders all support evil: the evil of ignoring God’s words and ways. Jeremiah promises his readers …
Read More Stability in ChaosYears ago I met each week with five or six Christian men from two regional theological schools. In evangelical parlance it was an accountability group—a meeting that called for mutual reports on how we were doing in our self-designated ambitions to be holy and faithful men. Any reports of moral defeat or felt vulnerabilities in …
Read More Accountability Groups