“Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!” This is what the people were shouting as a well-known rabbi came riding into the city of Jerusalem on a donky. He was humble, wise, taught in parables so that some can understand and some couldn’t, and preached a message of repentence and faith. His Kingdom wasn’t of this world. And yet… it was in... Read more
The Christmas Child “You have said so. But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” – Matthew 26: 64 This was Jesus’ response to the courtroom of the Sanhedren and Chief Priests. In response, they would tear their garments and wail. False evidence was thrown together in order put Jesus to death. Witnesses baring false (and... Read more
The Goodness of Wisdom Literature If you’ve ever read the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament, you know that it is crammed with advice on engaging in relationships with others, dealing with finances, dealing with the anger of others, trusting the Lord, and of course… the importance of work. While the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes provide us with great wisdom, one must understand that they are not promises. In other words, the formula of Proverbs isn’t “if A, then... Read more
In the West, It Seems Our Culture’s Highest Value is Tolerance How tolerant are you? Are you inclusive of all? Do you accept and affirm every view and identity that could possibly exist? Are you condemning others by holding them accountable for their actions? Do you think that people that believe differently from you are wrong? These are the questions that are at the forefront of our culture. As organizations continue to enhance their companies with Diversity and Inclusivity Departments... Read more
It was Last June… I was a relatively new salesman at a large liquor, wine, and beer warehouse. I was a new Seminary Student, a known Christian among my peers, and I had no idea what the climate would be in this particular store come Pride Month. For almost every holiday, the company provided pins for us to wear on our shirts. I am not completely sure if it was company mandated to wear these pins, but there seemed... Read more
I want you to think about your job… When was the last time you enjoyed work? Was it today? Yesterday? Months ago? Years? Working hard and doing well at our job no matter how mundane it can be may sound like a tall order. Customers seem to always be right no matter how much we plead to our bosses. The supply seems to never meet the demand. We sweat and toil for tips in our service. Some of us make... Read more
It’s Difficult Writing About Gender and Sexuality… The reality is that one wrong word, phrase, sentence, or idea can get me booted off of a platform very easily. One wrong movement can get me labeled a bigot, a transphobe, or worse. Perhaps there is something in our culture behind this. But at rock bottom as a Christian, I know that the world is broken, that people struggle with brokenness in any way shape or form, and that there are some... Read more
In the Last Article… I introduced the idea of the Self. We all have different identity markers. I am a youth director, a husband, a former football player (High School mind you) and a great video game player. Maybe you have something that you identify yourself with that has become identity markers. This is fine and golden as long as we understand that there is a deeper foundation to our identity. My fear is that our culture’s basis for identity... Read more
Have you ever considered the question: “Who am I?” The foundation of this question, perhaps, is a desire for affiliation. We desire to be able to see a world with our place in it. Whether we pursue the art of academia as a student and hopefully attain the title “College Graduate”, or we pursue our desire to become a world-class athlete, or even if we chase after the ability to raise a family. What we find our identity in ultimately... Read more
In this series I have attempted to make the case for Jesus’ divinity. We have seen Jesus receiving honor and praise as God. Such worship that he received from His disciples would be blasphemous if He were wrong to accept it. We saw Jesus sharing in the attributes of God. From saying that He existed before Abraham to answering the thoughts of people, Jesus demonstrated a self-image as being eternal and of being all knowing. We also saw Jesus share... Read more
Select your answer to see how you score.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In