Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
A few years ago I was curious about social networking. How does it work and what does it offer? So I joined Facebook. In the profile page I gave my actual age and social status—I’m an aging single guy. Oh my, was that an awakening! From the start my FB page featured photos of young …
Read More In a RelationshipIsaiah asked, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” (Is. 55:2) His question is still lively today. How many of us spend time chasing ambitions that neither nourish nor satisfy? If, at the end of the day, we ask “So what?” …
Read More Effective AmbitionsA while ago I attended an Air Force open house where a team of PJs—rescue specialists—showed off their wares. As part of the event I wore a night-vision device in a dark—virtually black—room. It was amazing: I could see everything! The goggles offer a nice analogy for life. Let me explain. At times life can …
Read More Night Vision“Joy to the world”—the title and refrain of a favorite Christmas carol—because “the Lord has come” is a profound invitation. Those who know Jesus celebrate him and call on others to receive the king! Yet this isn’t a late-summer push for a premature holiday celebration—rather it’s a reflection on the fruit of the Spirit. The …
Read More Joy!Bible reading has remarkable power for some. But for most people it’s a serious put-off. On the positive side of things I met with a new Bible reading partner yesterday. Even after just one week of reading he was gushing—honestly delighted with the venture. His wife has also picked up on it and now shares …
Read More Reconstructing GodThe main mistake of the moralist impulse—what many people call legalism—is an instinct to focus on sins in place of Sin. To fixate on specific behaviors while missing the motives and trajectories that explain those behaviors. But first let’s give the moralists their due. What makes them so sure of themselves is their high success …
Read More Moral MovementsLast week I heard an endearing story. Our speaker’s grandchildren wanted to play hide-and-seek. So after Perry, the speaker, finished counting to ten with eyes covered he moved to the game’s key feature: “Ready or not, here I come!” We all laughed when he told the rest of the story: in an instant he heard …
Read More Hide and SeekThis is the season for graduations. Speeches, diplomas, and congratulatory cards are showered on the graduates. And their potential—the promise open before them—is a common theme in these cards, speeches, and toasts. The grads are told they have the potential to touch lives for good—perhaps to start an amazing tech firm or a worldwide charity. …
Read More PotentialLet me start by telling a true story but with some particulars changed to honor privacy. Gary’s comment caught my attention at the funeral of his father, Ricky: “I’m glad he’s finally at peace and together again with Linda.” Linda, his mother, died of cancer six years earlier. As context, I knew Linda from church. …
Read More In Heaven?In the final chapter of Isaiah, the prophet speaks God’s words of both warning and invitation to his people: “But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word” (66:2). God is setting out a sharp contrast between those who are religious—offering …
Read More What God Wants