Reflections on the loving kindness of the Triune God
The speaker enthused, “It’s great to know that no matter what we do, we’ve been forgiven!” “Yes,” I thought, “but isn’t something missing here?” My thoughts turned to historical antecedents: first to a hot debate of a couple of decades ago over the difference between some Christians who promoted Christ’s “lordship” versus those who favored …
Read More Why forgiveness?I think it was Mark Twain who quipped, “I wrestled with my conscience and won.” We smile as Twain takes an element of truth and turns it with a wry reversal. The truth is that we all live with a sense of right and wrong—our conscience. And it’s also true that while we sometimes override …
Read More On Conscience & True FaithAs I write this entry I’m sitting on a chair in my driveway watching nearby neighbors set off some pretty extravagant fireworks. The children next door just came out to watch and one of them started jumping up and down, arms waving in delight. They plan to start their own display in a short while. …
Read More Freedom on Independence DayWhere is God these days? Is he paying any attention to my life and needs? Does he know what’s going on in our lives? In our families, churches, and neighborhoods? We hear in church that God rules the universe and knows every thought we think, and every act we do. So why is it that he …
Read More What does God have to say?This weekend I’m in beautiful Hawai’i to teach Romans at the Bible Institute of Hawaii. I’m refreshed, as always, to have renewed fellowship with its director, Clive Cowell and Maya his wife. Clive has been gracious enough to supply me with a second guest entry for this site (see his earlier entry in the April 2009 archive). …
Read More Images of the ChurchLong ago I realized that I participate in a widespread form of relational abuse. Why? Because, like so many others, I realize that it makes life work. We come to see it as an ordinary fact of life. But it shames me and I can never be “okay” with it. The abuse is relational pragmatism. Or, more to the point, it views people …
Read More An impractical devotionRecently I was visiting with a friend who was once a pastor. His marriage is broken—already into years of separation with no restoration in sight—yet he longs to be together with his wife again. In our conversation he touched on the promise of Romans 8:28—”for those who love God all thing work together for good”—as …
Read More Pain, Patience and ProvidenceYears ago I was impressed by what I read about Helmut Thielicke as he toured the United States. When he was asked by a reporter what impressions he had of the American church as a whole he responded to this effect: the church is wide and lively but it seems not to understand the benefits …
Read More Reversing rolesAt times I’ve been cheered on by others with a hearty “way to go!” The cheer celebrates a moment of progress or success. And there are other ways way is used. In the Bible the term often serves as a moral metaphor. Listen, for instance, to Jesus: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). …
Read More Way to go!The irony wasn’t lost on me. All my writing of the past three months evaporated in a keystroke. The subject of my writing? Sin. The cause of the lost file? A computer virus that wiped out both my back-up file and my hard drive. I hadn’t made any print copies of the project so I …
Read More Thank you Lord!