What do you think Christianity is? How do you read the Bible? It is quite easy to think of the Bible as a book of rules — things to DO. Yet, it is far greatest The Story of God, of His coming near to us, and in that way is not primarily about us. The Bible is about GOD. And not just facts, figures and fables — as if God were a science experiment, a idea to be calculated, quantified and categorized. In reality, God has acted in history — in this real world — and as we read Scripture we discover the stories are true, the characters are generally failures, and God is always faithful. That’s...

It seems like the key to reading the one-chapter “postcard” Epistle of St. Jude is the word “keep” (or “kept”). God will keep His people by the one true message, the Gospel, which has been delivered once and for all to the saints (His chosen people, v. 3). But, this message is not just for us. It is to propel us forward in a mission towards others (vv. 22-23). The readers can understand the falling away and false teaching of their age (and ours) through Jude’s quick-but-thorough analysis. He bridges the OT and NT epochs under the one message of Jesus, the...

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. \\nGod is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”— 1 John 4:16 Being loved changes people. How do we know God loves us? What is His love like? “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.“— 1 John 4:10 God treated Jesus like He was us, so He could treat us like we are Jesus: His beloved, obedient, awesome Son. How can we know God’s love? God’s love takes action; compelled by love,...

I’m still sorting out what I’ll blog next, and seeing how a rhythm of life will allow me to do so. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite articles from the last year or so: Happy Tensions: What, Why, How … + Who // my favorite article on seeing all things through the lens of Jesus. We need a Redeemer, not a system of redemption (how-to’s). I was pastoral intern at a purpose-driven church at the time Gospel-distorting approaches to change // perhaps another way of saying that all sin is idolatry, and since we worshiped our way to sin, we must worship our way out Happy...

Yesterday I fielded questions from a group of about 15 sixth and seventh grade girls, middle schoolers attending our church. We had just finished a teaching on Matthew 5:27-32. We discussed lust and adultery, marriage and divorce. (In an age-appropriate way for 11-14 year olds.) We talked much through the awful complexities (against God’s design) of divorce, and the wake of collateral damage that comes with it. A number of the kids are experiencing the fallout of a broken home: divorced, estranged or separated parents. John, one of our leaders shared how 40 years ago his parents divorced,...

This week, in talking about Why we Pray (and praying), I was reminded of a simple truth I learned last year. It was put together in a post on GoingtoSeminary.com. Let’s together celebrate our independence today through our dependence upon the Sovereign King of all. Here’s what I wrote then, and swim in now: [Fall '08] Greek has seemed to be a little disjointed until we arrive in the relative deep-end of participles this semester. I am certainly still wading around in the shallow end, but being pushed further into learning how to swim in this new language (but still with those orange...

Prepositions are small words, but they carry great weight. What we often call peace with God , is really just a subjective sense in the mind that all is calm. It is a kind of peace, but is it really having peace WITH GOD? To be at peace with God demands the removal the the enmity we by default live in. Not only are we indifferent, we are at war (Romans 8:7-9), and probably in more passive-aggressive ways than even play out on human and family levels. If insanity is defined at doing the same things over and over yet expecting different results, then we are functionally insane if our thinking is...

It’s hard to admit your limits. It’s hard admitting life is not about you. It’s hard facing the fallenness of the world. For this; grace. (Thanks to Paul Tripp for the reminder.) SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "It’s hard", url: "http://www.deTheos.com/2009/06/16/its-hard/" });

(While on vacation this week I plan to have time to sit and think deeply on Who God is and how my tiny story fits in His great Story. Here are some reflections on the Trinity, and us as image-bearers.) First, a snippet of an old hymn: Holy Father, holy Son, Holy Spirit, three we name you, though in essence only one; undivided God, we claim you, and, adoring, bend the knee while we own the mystery. (Holy God, We Praise Your Name ; Latin text, 4th century; English translation by Clarence A. Walwort) “The Trinity isn’t a technicality but the central relationship of the Christian faith.”...

"We wrestle with ‘making the gospel relevant.’ But God is about transforming the world to fit the shape of the Gospel." — Total Church WHO is more relevant than GOD? Seriously, can there by anyone cooler than the Creator? We bore ourselves with second-rate nonsense, and then conclude that God is irrelevant.  In fact, it is you and I who are irrelevant. Only Christ gives us lasting value, for while we were yet sinners (our real identity), Christ died in our place (Romans 5:8). He made us relevant. Our new purpose becomes showing how relevant God truly is. That is...