Book Review: The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from…
The Purpose of Studying Scripture
In reading the introduction to Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians, I have concluded that the purpose for studying Scripture is not primarily to understand how to be more obedient. Rather, we study Scripture (and obey…
Romans Chapters 9 through 11 Study
Chapters nine through eleven in the New Testament book of Romans is notoriously difficult to understand. Therefore, when my young adult Bible study group wanted to study the book of Romans, it was with tremendous…
The Book of Judges and the Christian Life
The book of Judges begins with the death of Joshua. The Israelites have settled in the land of Canaan and were a strong military force. However, as we will see, they became complacent and failed…
Generous Sacrifices: Hebrews 13:12-16 – Sermon from March 23, 2014
Note in this passage that those who identify themselves with Christ are not at home in the world, and so we should live in a way that is generous to God and generous to others.…
The Legacy of Integrity
There is a commonly made comparison between the lives of “Max Jukes” and Jonathan Edwards. Edwards lived a life of integrity and godliness, and Jukes lived a life of rebellion and ungodliness. Jukes was a criminal…
Robust in Love
With today being Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be appropriate to write on the topic of love. I am struck by this statement made by Eugene Peterson in Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing up…
Professionally Holy
“You probably won’t like this, but I work at a liquor store.” I had asked this gentleman what he does for a living after just telling him that I was recently hired as a pastor.…
Book Review: Giving Up Gimmicks by Brian Cosby
Brian Cosby is not proposing anything new in his book Giving Up Gimmicks. But, that’s exactly the point. Cosby is rightly concerned that the entertainment culture has infiltrated youth ministry. Giving Up Gimmicks, then, is written for…
Andy Crouch and Culture Making
I plan on writing a review of Culture Making once I’m done reading it, but I wanted to write an article on one of Andy Crouch’s points because I think it’s worth emphasizing. He makes the statement…
Book Review: The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs
New Year’s resolutions are meant to be broken, right? It only took one week for me to break mine. But, I am quite pleased to have done so. I’ll blame it on Alan Jacobs, the…
God’s Purpose for My Life
In Psalm 138:8, David makes the claim that the Lord will fulfill the purpose for his life. This tells me two things: 1. The Lord determines the purpose for our lives. We do not. 2.…