God Helps Us Believe (1 John 5:10)
God has given each of us the twin testimonies of his Word and his Spirit. He speaks to us through both. We hold one in our hands, and the other holds us from within our hearts. If we truly want to progress in the life of faith, we must neglect neither.
Pride and Prejudice
“My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism.“ (James 2:1, NIV) One of the problems with the church in the first century (and still today) is prejudice. James begins chapter two with a clear injunction against it, reminding Christians that it is incompatible with the Christian faith. And just to […]
The Unique Love that Defines God and His People (1 John 4:7-21)
There is a particular kind of love that is unique to God. It’s a major part of what it means to be God …. God is its only source, and he alone can implant it in his people.
Learning to See Jesus (1 John 3:2)
In today’s passage, John reveals a key principle of spiritual growth: At the end of our lives, God will complete whatever is lacking in our transformation into his Son’s image, and he will do so in one moment and by one method…
The Beauty of Forgiveness / How God Forgives Our Sins (1 John 2:1-2)
If we can catch a vision of what Jesus has done to win our eternal forgiveness and what he continues to do for us every time we sin, it will change our lives…
Jumping to Conclusions
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…(James 1:19). The media circus around the “Covington Catholic Kids” and Nathan Phillips is like a car crash where you can’t avert your eyes. Everybody seems to be jumping to conclusions before all the facts […]
The Joy of Forgiveness (1 John 1:9)
Most, maybe all, of us have sinned more often and more grievously than anyone knows … I don’t know what skeletons you’d rather keep hidden in your closet, but God does. And he’d like to clean that closet out for you.
Don’t Be Swept Away with the Scoffers Around You (2 Peter 3:3-18)
Whenever the Scripture says “Above all…”, my spiritual ears perk up and my physical eyes focus in on the words that follow. As Peter prepares us to live in these “last days … as you wait for the day of God,” he introduces his final teaching with that phrase…
The Bible: The Only Source of Certain Truth (2 Peter 1:16 – 2:2)
You can believe the Bible not because it makes sense (though it usually does) but because God wrote it. And he bypassed the natural misunderstandings, biases, and agendas of its human authors because they didn’t write it of their own accord or by their own ability: “Instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Living (the) Truth
“He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.” (James 1:18, NLT) God’s “true word!” Man o’ man, is truth hard to come by these days!? Everyone seems to have an agenda – from marketing companies to politicians to universities to […]
Achieving Humility (as odd as that sounds) (1 Peter 5:5-6 and John 13:3-17)
Humility is not something that happens to us; it’s something we do. It’s not something we hope to grow into; it’s a decision we make each day.
Judge Not
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1) As some of you may know, I write a column in the local paper that sometimes makes people mad. Being a contributor for the religion section, I will point out societal ills that you and I would consider unbiblical. It makes some folks pretty […]