Let’s Just Get Through This

Here’s a thought experiment. Suppose that you possessed a magic ball from which dangled a tiny magic thread. Furthermore, suppose that when you tugged on that magic thread, you could skip to a later time in your life. If you tugged a little on the thread, little time would pass; if you tugged a lot, … Continue reading Let’s Just Get Through This

Rooted in Christ

Have you ever tried to uproot a tree? I don’t mean a little one… I remember as a teenager helping my dad remove an old and less-than-healthy cherry tree that sat in the middle of the front lawn of our family home in San Jose, California. All of us were tired of stepping on cherries … Continue reading Rooted in Christ

Diagnosing Pride: A Checklist

How can you identify that you have a problem with pride? Following are 14 diagnostic questions that I recently adapted from a set of “rules” (advice) written by 17th-century clergyman Jeremy Taylor to help Christians grow in humility.[1] Personally, I have returned a dozen or more times to Taylor’s advice over the past 25 years, … Continue reading Diagnosing Pride: A Checklist

How to Live an ‘In Christ’ Life: A New Book Announcement and How to Use the Book

I am excited to let you know that my newest book, How to Live an ‘In Christ’ Life: 100 Devotional Readings on Union with Christ has just been released in both print and electronic formats. Each chapter is exactly two pages long, and is packed full of analogies and illustrations to connect the Bible to … Continue reading How to Live an ‘In Christ’ Life: A New Book Announcement and How to Use the Book

Bible Memorization and the Problem of Changing Bible Translations

This post will address two sets of questions: 1) What translation should I use when I memorize the Bible? and 2) What if I have already memorized a passage? Should I try to update what I have already memorized to a new or updated translation? My family of birth began attending church when I was … Continue reading Bible Memorization and the Problem of Changing Bible Translations

Our Hope is in Christ, Not in a Vaccine

“We’ve just got to hold on until the vaccine comes out.” Some people I know are simply “gritting out” life because they have heard that in a few months a vaccine will be ready to protect everyone from Covid-19. They have heard about many dozens of clinical trials currently underway, and believe that at least … Continue reading Our Hope is in Christ, Not in a Vaccine

My Favorite Passage on the Christian Life from George Müller

Here is my favorite passage from George Müller, the man of prayer and leader of orphan houses (1805-1898). This reading was originally a single passage that I have broken into five paragraphs. On Making Sure Your Soul is Happy in the Lord The welfare of our families, the prosperity of our business, our work and … Continue reading My Favorite Passage on the Christian Life from George Müller

What Does “It is Well with My Soul” Mean?

This post is not about the historical background to this wonderful hymn, though knowing the background is touching and makes the hymn more meaningful. This post revolves around a simple interpretive question. When Horatio Spafford penned the words “It is well with my soul” in 1876, what did he mean by those specific six words? … Continue reading What Does “It is Well with My Soul” Mean?

How to Decide in the Gray Areas

We are living in a time characterized by difficult decision-making. Some of those decisions are in gray areas. Whether deciding about posting a particular comment on social media, choosing how to protest an action we count unjust, or even pondering whether to meet a friend for coffee at an indoor coffee bar, many of us … Continue reading How to Decide in the Gray Areas

America First? Reject America? Early Christians Offer a Third Way

This week citizens of the United States are pondering once again what it means to be American. Personally, I am deeply grateful that God permitted me to grow up in this incredibly blessed nation. Some people I know, though, act like they are first Americans and only second Christians. That’s a problem. At the opposite … Continue reading America First? Reject America? Early Christians Offer a Third Way