Wednesday's Word

I love Easter Sunday. I love the celebratory music we sing at church. I love the passages of Scripture we read during worship. Most of all, I love the visual image of the Empty Tomb. In one culminating and specific moment in history, Jesus Christ summarizes and finalizes the salvation narrative. There are six things in particular that I love about the Empty Tomb. 1. The Empty Tomb reveals that God is faithful. Centuries earlier, after Adam and Eve rebelled, God promised that he... Read More

Have you experienced envy recently? That feeling of envy is not an instinctual response. You don’t see what someone else has and automatically respond with the emotion of envy. Instead, that feeling of envy is the result of an interpretation. Maybe I should phrase it more strongly: that feeling of envy is the result of a distorted interpretation. Envy looks at life through a rippled window, twisting whatever it sees. Envy separates us from reality, expanding certain facts, neglecting... Read More

When it all becomes confusing, when what is good seems not so clear, when wrong seems like it’s winning, where do you run, where do you hide? When you wonder if it’s worth it to honor worship fear obey, where do you run, where do you hide? When disappointment surrounds you and weariness sets in, where do you run, where do you hide? When your soul is growing bitter and you heart is at its end, where do you run, where do you hide? When evil... Read More

It’s the real estate agents’ mantra. These property experts say there are only three things to consider when buying a home: Location, Location, Location. The same needs to be said about our spiritual lives. When you understand your location, you will live in a radically different way. Location 1: Your World You live in a dramatically broken world. It groans as it waits eagerly for redemption (Romans 8:19-23). Trouble surrounds you on every side. That means you have to live with... Read More

It will drive you crazy. It will rob you of satisfaction and joy. It will eat your heart and consume your soul. It may sound weird, but it’s biblical language: It will transform you into a brute. It will make you a beast. What will do this horrible thing to you? Trying to find contentment in creation instead of the Creator. Read the confession Asaph makes in the Psalms: When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a... Read More

I live the wrong way all the time. I’m not talking about falling into morally disqualifying sin. I can’t say that I’ve been seduced by arguments of atheism. I haven’t questioned the core foundations of Christian theology. I don’t have the desire to quit the ministry to which God has called me and live with selfish and reckless abandon. But I still live the wrong way more often than I should, in the mundane moments of everyday life. I let my guard down in... Read More

You are not a distant Lord, a detached Master moving the pawns on the board in an impersonal act of winning. Your Lordship does not separate me from you as a serf would be separated from a king. No, you accomplished your sovereign plan by invading my dark and messy world in the person of your Son, giving yourself in radical grace to people who saw no value in your nearness. You are Master, but you are Emmanuel. You are Lord, but you are Father. You are King, but... Read More

You and I are creatures of desire. We do not live by biological, animal-like instinct. God designed us with the capacity to desire. It is good and right to desire, seek, and want. There would be something wrong with you if you did not. But you must be aware of your desires and how they shape your life. There is nothing you ever choose, do, or say that is not first the product of desire. Remember this biblical principle: whatever desire rules your heart will ultimately control your words... Read More

The Bible isn’t an encyclopedia. That frustrates some of you. Wouldn’t it be easier if the Word of God had alphabetized tabs so we could search for a topic, find our verse, and be on our way? But the Bible is intentionally written as a story – a theologically annotated narrative with God’s notes. From cover to cover, this grand story details the wondrous works of God and then applies it to our everyday life. You simply cannot understand yourself, your world, and... Read More

To transgressing of your boundaries You will put an end. To human thoughts of autonomy You will put an end. To delusions of self-sufficiency You will put an end. Grace forbids these going on forever. To acts of violence and deeds of greed You will put an end. To the burn of lust You will put an end. To injustice and inhumanity You will put an end. Grace prohibits these going on forever. To the silent writing of my own law You will put an end. To using others for personal... Read More