I love the sights, sounds, colors, and tastes of Christmas. I enjoy the gifts, decorations, and delicacies unique to December just as much as anyone. But perhaps I love them too much; maybe I love this month for all the wrong reasons. Have you noticed that the entire message of this season has become about acquiring created stuff? How sad: the glory of Christmas is that the Creator himself becomes a man, to rescue us from our bondage to the creation! Yet here we are, celebrating... Read More

I say this jokingly, but I’m serious at the same time: there are days when I don’t care about redemption; all I want is a good steak! I’m not making steak for Thanksgiving, but as I prepare the meal that my family will eat next week, I have been confronted again with a significant spiritual tension between the “already” of our conversion and the “not yet” of our home going. We should enjoy and give thanks for material things without allowing them... Read More

Why do we keep acquiring more possessions when we clearly already have enough? Why do we stare into overstuffed closets and tell ourselves that we have nothing to wear? Why do we tend to live in a house way larger than our family truly needs? Why do we get a brand-new car when our current mode of transportation is more than adequate? Why do we eat out so often and eat way more than we need for daily sustenance? Why are we so obsessed about our physical appearance and fitness? ... Read More

In a world that is held in such deep darkness where the light of truth often seems more of a flicker than a flame— in a world where deceit, dishonesty, falsehood, and foolishness divert and distort the lives of so many— in times when a myriad of voices say so much about so many things, where confusion seems readily available and clarity seems hard to find— in a world where opinions rise to a place where only truth should be, and every voice seems to... Read More

Last week I wrote about a life-changing conclusion that the Israelites came to in Deuteronomy 1:27 – “Because the Lord hated us, he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.” (ESV) I’m deeply persuaded that we, just like those in Deuteronomy 1, are always asking and answering five deeply theological questions. I want to expound upon these a bit more this week. 1. Is God Good? When it comes to what is good,... Read More

When was the last time you started a Bible reading plan with the book of Deuteronomy? Maybe you should. There’s a life-changing sentence in the first chapter of this historical book that we need more than ever today. To briefly set the scene, God commanded his people to leave Horeb and enter the Promised Land. The Israelites were understandably afraid of the battle that lay ahead, but instead of bringing their fear before the Lord, they chose to murmur in their tents. The result... Read More

Rest: a faint dream for many, a treasured commodity in a fallen world, a thing so needed yet so easily interrupted. The garden was a place of rest— no violence in creation, no weed or thorn, no cleft between God and man, no reason to hide, no cause for fear, no need unmet, no grief to face. Bright sun, pure love, unfettered peace, unstained beauty, man and God, worship and love. But, a voice interrupted the rest: strategies of death, words of deceit, actions of... Read More

I remember taking one of my sons to a national art gallery in Washington, DC. I love to paint, so I was personally excited about what we were going to see, but more than that, I was excited to give my son this awesome experience. I had a parental vision that he would have his mind blown and would thank me for what I had done for him that day. As it turned out, he was decidedly unexcited. His mind wasn’t blown; it wasn’t even activated. I saw things of such stunning beauty that... Read More

My heart cries out, but I am not afraid, discouraged, panicked, forgotten, alone, dismayed, or doubtful because in the din of a million voices from every place, in every situation, young and old crying day and night in weakness, in alienation, in fear, and in distress, you are not overwhelmed, you are not distracted, you are not disgusted, you are not discouraged, you are not exhausted. But you listen, you hear, you attend to my cry in tenderness of mercy, in... Read More