This last week I had the privilege of sharing some of both my story and my wife Amanda’s story with those who attended our adult Sunday School hour. I had shared that story before in other contexts, and I had often reflected on the various ways God has worked through...
Easter is past, but the hope of the resurrection does not fade. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of our faith. It offers a hope that transcends the difficulties and darkness of this world. As the Apostle Paul said, “... that I may know Him and the power...
Heart change. What does that mean? We frequently use this term to differentiate between genuine actions from those that are not. For instance, we all want our children to obey, but we want them to obey with a sincere heart. How can you tell the difference? Sometimes it’s obvious, but...
“We have such a high priest.” These words were the central meditation of our time in Hebrews 8:1-6. I know I was freshly impressed with all that it means for us today to have Christ seated at the right hand of the Father, ministering on our behalf. At the close...
The anchor was a popular symbol of the Christian faith in the early Church. It symbolized Hope for all believers, and the early church "latched on to it." Much like the cross, the anchor portrays our Hope in Christ. The catacombs in Rome are adorned with the anchor. In fact,...
Studying Hebrews 6:4-8 is difficult. In fact, when comparing the many (many) views on this passage, the only element in common to all of them is that this passage is unsettling. It shows us in stark frankness the spiritual disaster of tolerated sin and committed immaturity. It is a loud...
From time to time, I recall an incident in my life—something I did, something I said—and upon replaying it in my mind, I do a cringeworthy facepalm at the thought of my incredible immaturity at the time. How could I have done that? How could I have said that? What...
A baby will put anything in its mouth. Every parent has endured that stage of infancy, constantly fishing anything and everything from little baby’s mouth: marbles, coins, rocks, sand, wood chips, food on the floor, and many things that are just totally disgusting. A baby does what is instinctive, and...
Since the early days of our marriage, we have used a prayer journal as a means of ordering our prayers. When our first son was a toddler, we prayed with him and did our best to teach him how to pray. As is often the case, our example as parents...
Rest is a one-syllable word. Yet, when it comes to understanding our rest in God, its meaning is manifold. The idea of entering into God's rest, as taught in Hebrews, cannot be easily defined. C.H. Spurgeon began a sermon on rest with these words, "REST! A dainty word indeed! Too...
I remember as a child hearing Mozart’s variations on the tune of Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star for the first time. I was amazed at the ability of Mozart to take such a simple tune and present it in so many different ways. Each variation managed to retain the heart of...
Imagine you are riding a bike through the countryside. You know you’ll soon need to cross a river and notice a fork in the road that leads to two different bridges. You take the turn to the left because that leads to the closest bridge. When you get to the...
When I first came to Valley Bible Church, I was introduced to quite a few songs I had never heard or sung before. One of those songs was a contemporary version of May the Mind of Christ My Savior. The original hymn, written only six years after the horrors of...
Christians frequently get a bit careless when they talk about how God communicates with us. I routinely hear people say something like this, “God told me that I shouldn’t buy the car I was thinking about buying.” My response sometimes is, “Oh, what did He say?” It’s an honest question:...