Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
A few days ago the United States Supreme Court rendered a judgment on marriage. Some decades earlier the Supreme Court rendered the Roe v. Wade judgment that unleashed abortions. Over a century ago the Supreme Court held that blacks are not qualified to be American citizens in Dred Scott v. Sandford. So courts make judgments—it’s …
Read More JudgmentsEarly in the morning I lost my mother. As soon as she left us, grief arrived. She trusted in Jesus and we share the assurance of eternity—but grief is still a tsunami. I’ve felt grief before and I hate it. I’ve lost a father and some dear friends. Grief always fills the empty space that …
Read More GriefThis post is shared with the Cor Deo website: please post any responses there. Thanks! Pharaoh, in the Exodus account of Israel leaving Egypt, had a fight with God. The ruler moved by stages from being dismissive of Yahweh—a God he only learned about through Moses—to being beaten and compliant in the end. How did …
Read More Heart WarfareLast week I was shocked to hear of the airline copilot who flew his airliner into a mountain, killing many while taking his own life. But he was not alone in dealing out death. During the week there were suicide-vest killings in a Somalia hotel; killings in Nigeria, Syria, Tunisia, America, and more. So my …
Read More MurderJesus warned his disciples—and, by extension, us—of what to expect before his return. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false …
Read More A Growing ChallengeAll of us have scars and hurts: perhaps a physical disability, a mental limitation, a sexual violation, a major relational loss—or a combination of these and more. And even as Christians the damage may have stolen our hope and left us in a debris field of disappointment. Yet people respond differently to disappointments. Some are …
Read More Life as leftovers?Are you happy? And—to press the issue—is happiness your aim in life? I ask because the answer, yes, is widespread. The classical religions and their teachers—led by Greek and Roman philosophers in particular—made happiness an ultimate value. Aristotle, for instance, was a “eudaimonist”—one who seeks goodness-satisfaction-happiness—and he made the state of happiness his measure of …
Read More Happy?A month ago some news sources offered passing comments about a June, 1914, assassination in Sarajevo—a century ago—that launched the wars of the twentieth century. The first stage of warfare was called the Great War because of its breadth and ferocity. Some—the optimists of the day—called it the War to end all wars. Instead it …
Read More Cyclic CenturiesThis morning the radio reported a lawsuit against a local flower company whose proprietor refused to supply wedding flowers for the marriage of two women. It was a clear case of discrimination; and it raises tensions for believers as legislators and courts reshape longstanding social boundaries: when, if ever, is discrimination proper? The underlying context …
Read More DiscriminationAlso published on the Cor Deo website. Please post any responses on that site by clicking here Job’s pain pushed him to ask God for a reprieve and also for an explanation. In effect, “What, oh my God, are you doing?!” In the dialogue with his friends Job knew something of what the Bible reader …
Read More God’s agenda in Job