Reformation Day is complicated, even after 500 years of celebrating it. You see, I have many Christian friends who worship in the Roman Catholic Church. For them, it is a familiar worship tradition, a family where they feel at home with Christ, and a place where they learn about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. […]
In a big box world of dime-a-dozen gods that we can custom-build to our own specifications, Solus Christus (Christ Alone) remains the stone the builders reject and the capstone (Psalm 118:22) of the Christian faith, even among the 5 Solas of the Reformation. Gospel Coalition writer Stephen Wellum states it this way in Lose Christ, […]
I remember Misty. She and I had a public conversation online decades ago and what I loved about engaging in discussion, even argument, with her was that she was thoughtful. She poked holes in everything, finding flaws in assumptions like nobody I’ve known since. She made me dig and think, one day particularly about Faith […]
Grace is tough to swallow for many in the modern era, not just Americans even though we, in the States, excel in our desire for control. Americans are so preoccupied with being masters of our own destiny that National Car Rental has a series of ads making sport of this modern tendency. We are control […]
The Word. For Martin Luther it was paramount, Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone). And it was imperative that the people of God should have access to it. God is present in His Word. To separate the people from the Word of God was to separate people from knowing their God. God’s divinely inspired Word, Scripture alone, […]
While other people are buying costumes to wear and going door-to-door in search of candy for Halloween, I think about other things when October 31st rolls around. For me, Killjoy Barbara, it’s Reformation Day. (Seriously?) Yup. (Zealot.) Yeah, it’s complicated. I’m back at the door giving out candy on the outside, but on the door […]
One of the things I really like about movies based upon books by John Grisham (like The Pelican Brief and The Firm) is the skilled way a compelling hero is uncertain to succeed until the very end. There’s a suspense that builds until the conclusion finally resolves the conflict and sets one’s heart and confidence […]
Here’s your sneak peek at the 2017 Advent Devotional Series: Still Christmas. Christmas always has its share of hustle-bustle, but this year, it seems more than that. More of a global angst mixed with frenzied activity like squirrels preparing for a long winter, or yellow jackets stinging everything in sight because the end is near. […]
Have you ever heard “Once saved; always saved?” Have you ever struggled to reconcile that with warnings against falling away? The Bible is filled—every bit as much—with reassurance as it is with warning. What is a Christian to make of that tension? We all have worries about wayward children, a drifting spouse or parent, siblings […]
I have piles of papers on every flat surface in my home, work that I’ve been up to my ears in doing instead of writing devotionals. Both are God’s calling, so balancing them is a daily art form. Then suddenly, Las Vegas. Like many of you, there’s an unspeakable shock, a deep abiding grief, and […]
