“We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, so that you may have great […]
Read More“This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” – Romans 5:5 Do Christmas and New Year celebrations share anything in common besides adjacent places on our calendar? If you look only at the secular culture around us, you […]
Read More“Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me.” – Micah 5:2 “Where is the Christ?” asked the ruined people of Judah. Seeking a shepherd to save and restore them, they found a promise that one day the small village of Bethlehem would […]
Read MorePastor Tim Keller calls it the “Prayer Paradox.” Jesus seems to offer a blank check in John 14:14. Ask anything in My name, and I will do it. Yet we also read that there is a limit to what God will do in response to our prayers…“If we ask anything according to His will, He hears […]
Read More“Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger withheld His compassion?” – Psalm 77:9 Dr. Robert Creech offers the following helpful definition of anxiety: “the automatic biological reaction to threat” (Family Systems and Congregational Life: A Map for Ministry, 2019). Real or perceived, our reaction to threat is automatic and physical…first. But our second action […]
Read More“All humanity will come to You, the one who hears prayer. Iniquities overwhelm me; only You can atone for our rebellions.” – Psalm 65:2-3 Real prayer has that effect. In fact, it is one of the chief indications that you are encountering the Holy One. What is this indication of imminence? Awareness of sinfulness. It is […]
Read More“…those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings like eagles…” – Isaiah 40:31 (ESV) Are you an eagle or a hummingbird? An eagle can fly for hours because it finds an updraft and floats upon it. A hummingbird is hours from starvation because it utilizes an enormous amount of […]
Read More“So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” – Ephesians 5:17 “How do I know what God’s will is?” It is one of the most common questions that we humans ask when faced with difficult decisions. What school should I go to? Should I pursue marriage with this person? Where should we live? Decisions confront us, […]
Read More“So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” – Ephesians 5:17 “I have one rule while we are at youth camp this week,” the youth pastor said to all of us eager teenagers huddled together with our backpacks and sleeping bags. One rule didn’t sound too bad. Normally, there was a whole list of rules […]
Read MoreKaltenbach, Caleb. Messy Grace: How a Pastor with Gay Parents Learned to Love Others Without Sacrificing Conviction. Waterbrook Press, 2015. The subtitle of the book is a great description of the content of this work. Kaltenbach shares his personal biography of his parent’s divorce when he was 2 years old and the subsequent “coming out” of […]
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Think These Things 