Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
Think of a time you were surprised when a person you’ve just met turns out to be close to one of your very dear friends who lives in a distant place. A pair of responses usually follows. First you both compare notes about the shared friend and these validate the connection. And next the new …
Read More Instant RecognitionWith the rhythm of a drummer the prophet Ezekiel called on readers to know and respond to God—Yahweh—as the only true God. His repeated refrain was a promise: “Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” What brings about this “knowing”? Mainly it comes by experiencing promised disasters when they arrive. Tragedies are God’s …
Read More They Shall KnowI noticed the two questions Jesus asked his audience in Luke 18: “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith …
Read More Christ’s Two QuestionsThis entry has also been submitted to the Cor Deo site In ancient days a violent storm or a volcano eruption were readily explained: “The gods must be angry!” “The gods” seem to have been capricious beings who used the earth as a whipping post. So what about the true God’s anger and our experience …
Read More The gods must be angry!God does good work. And his success doesn’t rely on us. This paired premise of the Bible—and the experience of many who know him well—is obvious in principle. But it isn’t so easy to accept in practice. If this sort of confidence in God was widespread we would see much more of the transformation faith …
Read More Help Wanted!Curt sent me a link to a “nerdist” website that features a bicycle with a gear added to reverse the steering. When a rider turns right the front wheel turns left, and vice versa. So every instinct of the rider is wrong. The results are awkward: each effort to pedal ends in an instant upset. …
Read More Awkward Faith“Stop Superman!” The cry was a constant imperative among the criminals of my childhood world. The adventures of our favorite superhero captured my brothers and me. No one, no matter how nefarious, could spread mayhem when Superman was around. Unless, of course, the evildoers had a bit of kryptonite on hand. Kryptonite was the stuff …
Read More BoronHuman “free will” is a misleading premise—a common sense axiom of the post-Genesis 3 world. Adam embraced it when he accepted the promise that he could “be like God.” It offered him and his offspring a relative independence from God, and with that the freedom to redefine good and evil. The Bible regularly dismisses these …
Read More Humility and FreedomIt’s nearly Christmas and the time for Christmas pageants: baby Jesus, all aglow, in a cross-legged wooden manger with a docile cardboard donkey, a couple of sheep, and Mary with Joseph looking on. Sweet. Yet we can be sure this sterile setting misses the original scene by a long mile. Think, instead, of an animal …
Read More The Glory of ChristmasAnger remains a puzzle for many Christians. We all wrestle with it in daily life but it still holds some mystery. Is it ever okay to be angry? The puzzle is that the Bible affirms God’s anger—and sometimes allows for it in believers—but then confronts it as evil in most cases. Why? Is there an …
Read More Anger Management