What do sports tell us about ourselves? Would we be as interested if the games we play ended without a winner, or without records of comparative accomplishment? There must be something about everything from board and card games to individual and team sports that awakens something in us that was created by God. But what […]
As the Gospel writer tells it, Jesus heads for Jerusalem by way of Samaria. When he enters an unnamed village, he is greeted by ten unnamed men who are afflicted with a loathsome physical disease and social curse (Luke 17:11-12). Standing far from the crowd that fears their disfiguring contagion, the ten call out to […]
Just a few quick observations after returning from attending the Evangelical Theological Society Conference in Atlanta: Among the many conversations, sessions and memories, I am left appreciating: The many levels at which gifted scholars are working to show the reliability of the Bible and the unparalleled supremacy of Christ. The overwhelming case that can be […]
So to try and net this out, how then do we think of the authority God gives us? Do we think of it first as a responsibility and service to God—and then to one another? Or do we view it as an entitlement to be served? Do we think of the authority God gives as […]
In my last post I asked whether it is possible to abuse power, strength, and freedom—but not authority. The question sounds ridiculous to those who know the misuse of power and authority when they see it. Yet, as our discussion showed, many of us know people who think they have the right to push others […]
Can the authority God gives be misused? The question may seem, at best, like a no-brainer. How else can we explain corruption of power or the evil things people do in the name of God? But I’m increasingly convinced that it’s important to carefully weigh the difference between God-given authority, strength, power, and freedom. Here […]
A friend gave me a smile the other day by reminding me that a dog says, You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, You must be God. But, A cat says: You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, I must be God. Later googled the […]
Today, Bethany is a little Arab neighborhood that lies behind an Israeli security wall, on the eastern slope of Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives. On a recent visit, I had a chance to meet this man who was selling a refreshing pomegranate drink. As it turns out, he lives within a hundred miles from my house […]
In the last couple of posts we’ve been thinking together about the relationship between what Paul says about Christ “being made wisdom for us” (1Cor 1:30) and the description of wisdom James gave us when he wrote, The wisdom that comes from above first of all pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield (deferential), full of […]
We’ve been thinking together about how Jesus is not only wisdom personified (1Cor 1:30), but also our best reason to pursue more of what it means to live wisely in him rather than less (James 3:13-17). While trying to flesh out the thought that James is actually telling us how to find and recognize the […]
