Many men today struggle with maintaining male friendships. This claim doesn’t need to be argued. We know it. I personally have a sporadic friendship track record. Particularly in my early years of ministry, my lack of male friendships was inhibiting the full expression of my humanity. I still have a long way to go. But […]
Much of the end-times disagreement among believers stems from differing interpretations of the millennium of Revelation 20. Regrettably, debate over the millennium is often the sum of what Christians understand to be the end times. As suggested previously, our view of the millennium is not our eschatology but merely an aspect of it. Our apprehension […]
A poet, writing about the death of a fellow man, observed this: “His soul is gone, whither? Who saw it come in, or who saw it go out? Nobody; yet everybody is sure he had one, and hath none.”1 When a person dies, it is clear to everyone that a vital aspect of the deceased’s life […]
How can I know God’s will? That generic question takes shape with a host of specific questions God’s people face. How long should I live with my parents? Where should I go to college? Should I go to college? Should I change jobs? Should I marry? If so, who? Should I have children? If so, […]
Of all the strange and unexpected details in the story of Jonah the true miracle is the revival in Nineveh. The morally clueless (4:11) people of that great city repented of their notorious wickedness and found grace in the sight of God. We want to see more of that kind of miracle in our day […]
“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). Depending on when you are reading this, you may have already broken most or all of the resolutions you set for the new year. The old joke is that resolutions are made to be broken. And yet, we smile at […]
You know what it is like to travel in a circle. It is never a good sign when you begin seeing landmarks for a second time on the same trip. After a bunch of lost time and effort you have to start off again from the same spot. Jonah had a similar experience, but he […]
The story of Jonah takes off quickly. We meet the main character. We overhear God giving him an assignment. We watch him reject his calling and head in the opposite direction. From this point everything goes wrong. We know the end of the story. Jonah endured a terrifying storm. He was cast overboard and swallowed […]
It’s six o’clock Wednesday evening. Your church’s mid-week Bible study starts in one hour, but you don’t feel like going. The trouble is that you can’t think of a fresh excuse, and you don’t dare to say what you (and several others) would like to say: “Is this really what a Bible study is supposed […]
Some psalms are easy to love. It is no mystery why Psalm 23 is a perennial favorite. But it is also no mystery why we cherry-pick the psalms. What do you do with prayers that ask God to let the children of the wicked become vagabonds (Ps. 109:10)? Parts of some psalms can hardly be […]