Category Archives: Theology

Example, Savior, Shepherd

My answer, the Catholic’s answer, and the mainline church member’s answer are not all the same. That’s alright. Neither I, the Catholic, or the mainline church member are saved by having the right answers. If we’re saved at all, it’s because the Answerer has us – Jesus who died for us and rose again. Continue reading

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Are Some Sins Worse Than Others?

A humble person can discover a hidden fault through the help of a loving friend (or the malice of a hateful enemy), do something about it, and be released from its control. But a proud person will turn to denial and excuses. Continue reading

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Guys, Where Are We?

We are between D-Day and VJ Day. Gettysburg is past, but Appomattox is still in the future. … we live between the turning point and the victory … between the triumph of the cross (see Colossians 2:15) and the return of the King. Continue reading

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Will God Really Give Us the Desires of Our Hearts?

If there had been Facebook then, one can imagine a twenty-year-old Israelite man posting pictures of himself relaxing by a fire, holding hands with his bride as they walked along Galilee’s lakeshore, and putting their feet up on a Sunday afternoon. It was enough to make an Amalekite army grunt green with envy. Continue reading

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The In-Betweeners

They live in that strange land between the already and the not yet, between what is and what should be. The pressure here is like that of gravity. Often it goes unnoticed, but sometimes it slams you to the ground. Continue reading

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Living Backwards: 1 Peter and the Believer’s Hope

Do you see what was happening? The future was altering my present. Rather than living out of past hurts and losses, I was choosing to live into my future. You could say I was living backwards. That’s a skill that every believer needs to master. Continue reading

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Decisions, Decisions (The Role of Choice in Spiritual Formation)

There is no spiritual growth apart from choice. That’s the way God designed it. He has endowed us with astonishing dignity: our decisions mean something; they make a real difference. As does our failure to decide. Continue reading

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The Big Picture (John 1:1-14)

When he speaks, suns blaze and planets twirl, and oceans swarm with creatures; dinosaurs romp, birds sing, and dogs howl at the moon. When he speaks, people think and laugh and love. My word, your word, is a poor, thin, anemic thing. His Word is robust and teems with life. Continue reading

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Star Trek: The Voyage of the Magi Caravan

When God spoke about his Son to these magi from the east, he did it in a way that they could understand. He used the language of astral ascensions and declinations. God knows how to communicate; he speaks to people in their own language. He comes to us where we are, in ways we can understand. Continue reading

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The World Is Too Much in Us

How can we hear God speak in “a still, small voice” when our ears are being assaulted by the washing machine, the baby’s cries, and the incessant dinging of text alerts? Continue reading

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