Articles

There's a significant difference between my two-year-old granddaughter and me. Yes, I'm taller and older and able to support myself, but it's something more profound. She demonstrates this difference every time we're together. My granddaughter will make me sit down in a chair so she can serve me tea and a sandwich. When she delivers my order, the cup is empty and the plate has no food on it. But here's the amazing thing: my granddaughter has the ability to see both the... Read More

I will never forget that evening. I can't think of a moment when I was more blown away by a musical composition. I don't recall the composer or the conductor, but I was at a performance played by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. My ticket put me in the first row and it was worth it. The music was powerful, foreboding, amazing, haunting, compelling, and glorious, all at the same time. There were moments when I wished this night would never end, and moments when I wanted to get up... Read More

It's the most significant reality in the universe. It's the glue that holds every aspect of theology together. It's the place where the content of Scripture finds both its rationality and its reliability. This doctrine provides vital information for the scientist, the psychologist, the mathematician, the business executive, the educator, the physician, the politician, and the plumber. You either recognize it as true and humbly submit your life to its foundational implications, or... Read More

In my inaugural piece for this series, I wrote about the general importance of doctrine: what it is, what it does, and why it matters. Now that we've laid the foundation, we'll unpack one doctrine at a time and examine the impact each one specifically has. It only makes sense to start with the first doctrine revealed to us in Scripture: the Doctrine of Creation. Questions Of Faith Let me start with a personal story, because I suspect that what I grappled with is not unlike... Read More

"Daddy, did God make telephone poles?" It was another one of those endless and seemingly unimportant questions that a kid will ask at the end of a long day that makes a parent go slightly insane. Luella and I had been teaching our children that God created the world and everything in it, and as our family drove to Burger King, my son looked out the window at the telephone poles that lined the street, mulling over the "doctrine of creation" in his little brain. Justin... Read More

I am writing today, on the day following the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., because I have a humbling confession to make. For all of my passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ, which has been accurate and faithful to the best of my ability, the gospel that I have held so dear has been, in reality, a truncated and incomplete gospel. If you know me, you know that I have invested my life and ministry in teaching, preaching, and writing about the gospel. I... Read More

There are two very famous men in Scripture who share the name Joseph. There's the Old Testament Joseph, the great savior of the nation of Israel, whose amazing story from abandoned brother to Egyptian lord is chronicled in Genesis. Then there's the New Testament Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, who believed in the angel's report and became the guardian of the young Messiah. But there's a third Joseph, often overlooked because of the drama of the moment onto which he stepped.... Read More

Rebellion raises its ugly head then grace comes down darkness covers creation’s light then grace comes down thorns and disease infect then grace comes down people lie and cheat then grace comes down desires lead astray then grace comes down image bearers murder their own then grace comes down power corrupts the powerful then grace comes down pride’s delusion ensnares then grace comes down fools preach what is foolish then grace comes down idols abound and deceive then grace... Read More

There was only one Black Friday. It was not the day after Thanksgiving. It was not a day when self-oriented consumers bumped into climbed over pushed into screamed at and hated the other consumers who were in their way. No, all the action of the one Black Friday was on a hill of death outside the city where three souls hung on crosses, two criminals and the Messiah doing what he came to do and what the world was desperate for. That Friday the world went dark the Father turned... Read More

The twelfth chapter of Acts depicts terrible and violent times for the Christians of the early church. If you live in the peaceful West, you'll find it hard to relate to what it was like to live under constant threat and in constant fear simply because of what you believe. Sadly, there are millions of our brothers and sisters around the world who reside in regions where violence is a regular response to biblical faith. Herod, the king at the time, wasn't much of a theologian; he didn't... Read More