Not By Sight
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Hebrews 11:1-3 NIV) The last thing we do when we put the kids to bed at night is say nighttime prayers with them. Our oldest son, Sawyer (age 3.5), has just gotten to the point where he is starting to ask questions. One of the things he likes to ask is, “Is God here?” It’s an interesting thing trying to explain to a three-year-old the...
Read More“Why,” Not “What”
“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:15 NIV) There are mornings I meet friends before work where we discuss the Bible or other related books we are reading. That means that when I go to work I have these books lying on the front seat of my car. I sometimes pause for a second as I’m getting out of my car and wonder what people think if they see them sitting on the seat. When that happens I ask myself the question, “Am I ashamed?” The more I reflect on...
Read MoreConnecting the Old and the New
“God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.'” (Exodus 3:14) “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58) This past week I was talking to a friend who’s participating in the Bible Read Through and he asked, “How do you reconcile the God of the Old Testament with the God of the New Testament?” It’s a great question and one I believe we need to think about. There is a lot of hard material in the Old Testament that is...
Read MoreOpportunity Not Inconvenience
“But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24) There are certain verses I know I had read many times before, but there is a first time I remember reading the verse. For me, Acts 20:24 is one such verse. The first time I remember reading it was the summer of 2007 while I was in the second of a three week mission trip to Taiwan. It was my third summer teaching English summer camps with a Taiwanese church...
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