Four Pictures of Christ’s Triumph over SinSin is described through a number of different pictures in the Bible. Below are four of the most common descriptors, along with how Christ’s death and resurrection addresses each one:1. Slavery: In John 8:34 Jesus says that “everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” The picture of bondage or slavery is often used to picture those in sin as those who c...  Read More

Simply put, the term “prosperity gospel”, also referred to as “name it and claim it” or “health and wealth” theology, is based on the idea that believers should expect the Lord to give them a lot of money, perfect health, and freedom from struggle/hardship. It is also often grounded in exhortations to change our lives for the better simply through positive thinking and increased self-esteem.Biblic...  Read More

Summer time creates opportunities for me that are not typically available. A few weeks ago my schedule worked out in such a way that I was able to take my six year old to breakfast. Just me and him. No phones, no distractions, no agenda. Just dad and son time. Time to be guys together. As I delivered the news to him that morning, and he raced off to get dressed, his enthusiasm was obvious. As we c...  Read More

When Guilt Overwhelms For some of us guilt is a consistently nagging struggle. In other words, we feel perpetually guilty to the extent that we find it difficult to experience any consistent joy in the Christian life. While “godly guilt” is always attached to specific sin, one sign of guilt that is not from the Lord is that we tend to feel guilty about everything all the time; guilt becomes like a...  Read More

A key aspect of cultivating faithfulness in the Christian life is to remember that faithfulness flows out of faith. In others words, faithfulness is produced by the Lord at work within us, rather than our own efforts. Or, to put it yet another way, faithfulness is cultivated through dependence rather than independence.There are two passages from the New Testament that do a really good job of showi...  Read More

What can God NOT do?One of the fun things to explore when it comes to understanding God as one who is sovereign (i.e. one who reigns and rules over the entire universe and works all things according to his will) is to consider what things God can NOT do. At first glance it may seem contradictory that God would not be able to do certain things if he is in fact sovereign over all things. But there a...  Read More