I want truth on fire. And that is exactly what God wants for me, and for you, as well. After all, didn’t Jesus say that the most important command in the whole universe was that we cultivate a love for God that includes all our heart and all our mind (Mark 12:28-30)?... continue reading
Right now a lot of people are turning away from or changing their beliefs, not based on theology but based on compelling narratives that they’ve heard. Stories are literally shaping the way people think about God and sex and sin and money.... continue reading
Writing about the Bible effectively for children is hard work. Depending on the age, you have to scale the vocabulary, the conceptual ideas being used or articulated and the number of ideas that kids can hold in their heads at any one time. Plus there’s the whole issue of how you handle gore and sex and death—subjects that frequently come up in the Old Testament in particular.
I encountered many cultural and story-telling problems while writing about the strange book of Esther for Esther and the Very Brave Plan.... continue reading
The breadth and scope of 1 Corinthians are breathtaking. It is the most wide-ranging and complete letter Paul wrote; readers who are used to Paul taking several chapters of careful argument to make one or two points—like Gentiles and Jews should eat together (Galatians) or even thanks for the gift (Philippians)—will be amazed at the sheer variety of subjects that Paul tackles and the punchy clarity with which he speaks.... continue reading
Christian preaching is fundamentally foolish, at least in the eyes of the world. The world, in Paul’s day, had all sorts of wonderful techniques to make its messages more acceptable: wisdom, eloquence, intelligence, legal reasoning, philosophy.... continue reading
When God chose an animal to stand for his people in the Bible, he chose a sheep. Not a strong lion, or a wise owl, or a diligent ant. Not even his “favorite animal,” the dove. No, he picked a sheep. Sheep are idiots. They can’t run fast, they have bad eyesight, and they can’t defend themselves. They sometimes step into streams and drown, or walk right off of cliffs. If they stumble, they often end up “cast,” which is the technical term for being stuck upside-down. (Like turtles, if they end up on their back, they can’t flip themselves back over.)... continue reading
In rejecting God, many in the modern West have turned to an alternative “gospel”—by that, I mean a truth which people look to for happiness: a big philosophy to live by. One of the biggest “gospels” our culture sells us is the gospel of self-esteem: “Look within to find out who you are: what you find is wonderful”.... continue reading
A powerful answer to this question can be found in the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was martyred for his faith. He begins his book, The Cost of Discipleship, with a chapter entitled “Costly Grace”. Costly grace is to be understood in part by contrasting it with what he called “cheap grace”. But what can this mean, since God’s grace is supposed to be free?... continue reading
I can relate to exiled Israel, who quickly forget about God’s command to keep the Sabbath. Maybe you can, too. It’s so easy to let go of the rhythm of rest, forget all that rest is meant to help us remember, let loose a flood of issues, and by that stage be so far into forgetfulness that we wonder where all these issues came from and how on earth we might turn the tide.... continue reading
Anxiety is a lonely place. A cursory glance at our social-media feeds and everyone else appears to have it all. Even when we remind ourselves that social media isn’t an accurate representation of how life is, that sense of being alone with our pain can remain.... continue reading
