Rich Christian books have been a great aid to me in my walk with Christ. Rather than replacing my personal Bible reading, they have shed light on my Bible reading by opening my eyes to things I didn’t see or challenging the way I had previously seen things. In addition, rich Christian books introduced me to how Christians had been reading the Bible for centuries. I’m not the first person to read the Bible, and so I needed to hear... Read more
My freshman year of college started with my giving attention to everything but studies and thought about anything serious. My only goals had to do with bourbon and girls and my entertainment consisted of Adam Sandler, Beavis and Butthead, Jim Carrey, and Chris Farley. When you consider my knot-headed trajectory, God placing serious and caring Christians in my path is a humorous providence. I wanted nothing to do with what they were talking about, but I could not help but... Read more
“The Honest Truth about Passive-Aggressiveness“ Stephen Witmer gets to the heart of the problem with our passive-aggressive attitudes and speech. “For those of us who enjoy feeling smugly righteous, but avoid conflict at all costs, this way of speaking is quite appealing and natural. It provides an escape hatch from arguments. If Emma calls me out for accusing her of not doing her job, I can simply say: “I was just asking a question. I wasn’t accusing you of anything!”... Read more
This past week has been one of the darkest and most divisive in recent memory. The week began with no indictment for Secretary Hillary Clinton’s misuse of classified emails, which enraged many people who believed this showed the system is rigged in favor of the rich, powerful, and well-connected. Then in successive days we witnessed the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of police officers. Many see these deaths as further evidence of police brutality towards... Read more
“Ten lessons on biblical manhood I learned from my father” The life of Jeff Robinson’s father bears testimony to the sustaining grace of God. Jeff shares ten things he learned about being a man from his father, a World War II veteran who participated in the invasion of Normandy. The picture Jeff paints is not one of machismo, but of a man who was shaped by the grace of God into someone who knew how to value the right things... Read more
Every Christian knows the feeling. You know you need to pray, but the words don’t come to you. Then you finally begin grunting out a few words, but God feels distant and you suspect your prayers are stopping at the ceiling. Then you feel guilty because you struggle to pray and it inhibits your prayers even further leading to a vicious cycle of guilt, shame, and confusion. We don’t have to be stuck in this position though because there are... Read more
Though I didn’t come to faith in Christ until I was in college, I grew up going to church multiple times a week. One of the things that stands out from the Sunday School teachers I had and conversations I overheard was the amount of Scripture many of these faithful Christians had memorized. As I started out in my Christian life I didn’t see the importance of Scripture memory and therefore didn’t learn many basic passages of Scripture Christians need... Read more
“4 Ways to Reach a Child’s Heart” I share a lot of posts about parenting in this space and it has everything to do with where I am in life. We have a daughter entering middle school, a daughter in elementary school, a preschool-aged daughter, and a toddler son. Every day confronts me with the realization that I have a lot to learn about parenting and need God’s grace every step of the way. Richard Phillips’ post on engaging our... Read more
In my younger years as a pastor one of my favorite sounds was to hear people turning the pages in their Bibles as they looked for that morning’s text. That sound has largely been replaced by the sound of silence, as many people use the Bible app on their phone or tablet. In fact I still remember the first time someone used an iPad to read his Bible in one of our worship gatherings because I kept trying to figure... Read more
This week Beth and I celebrated our thirteenth anniversary. One of the fun things about your anniversary is to look back, not only on your wedding day, but also on the grace God has shown you throughout your entire marriage. In particular you can look over the entirety of your marriage and see how the Lord has been at work in you. I thought I knew a lot about marriage when we stood before our family and friends thirteen years... Read more
One Degree to Another
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