Prophets in the Old Testament operated outside the established political and social hierarchy. Their job was to speak truth to power. God told Jeremiah: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2 and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3 Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And…

When should we pray and when should we work? If we try to do something in the strength that God supplies does that indicate a lack of faith? If we pray for God to do something for us that we could do for ourselves does that indicate a lack of gratitude and initiative? These are important questions that every believer wrestles with at some point or another in his or her Christian journey. Thankfully the Bible does seem to address these questions fairly frequently – in fact I ran across a passage…

Acts 10 is a very important chapter in the New Testament for a variety of reasons. First and foremost it shows how God used the Apostle Peter to once and forever break the religious boundary that separated Jews and Gentiles. The food laws were declared null and void the moment God said to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” (Acts 10:13 ESV) Of course, Peter being Peter, the message had to be repeated multiple times, but eventually he understood: “God has shown me that I should not call any…

Does it sometimes feel like you were saved twice? Or maybe even three times? I know the feeling. I made a profession of faith in the summer of 1980 at which point I believe that I was born again. But I also had a profound spiritual experience in the fall of 1990 – an experience that for a while I was tempted to think of as my “true conversion”. That was when I really came to understand that to love Jesus I must also hate sin. That was the time in my life when I became “a follower” and not…

By Rembrandt – 4gE-j88Uz3znNw at Google Cultural Institute, zoom level maximum, Public Domain, Link Sometimes God immerses us in that which we wrongly desire in order to cleanse and purify our affections. In Jeremiah 13 God sends the prophet on a very unusual mission: Thus says the LORD to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the LORD, and put it around my waist. And the word of the LORD…

Calling yourself an evangelical today means about as much as calling yourself a protestant or a theist – the category is simply too broad to have any functional utility. As such many younger Christians; if they continue to use the word at all – use it alongside of a modifying adjective. They refer to themselves as “post-evangelical”,  “progressive evangelical”,  “conservative evangelical” or “reformed evangelical”. While there is a part of me that misses the old evangelical consensus, the…

Healthy things grow. Generally speaking; all things being equal; a marriage is rather like a garden: you don’t need to supply the miracle, you just need to stay on top of the weeds. Mistakes happen. Habits form. But in a healthy marriage all such invaders are immediately recognized and removed. As you monitor the health of your marital garden, these 5 weeds should be at the very top of your search and destroy list. These mistakes – if unaddressed – have the capacity to completely destroy an…

Pastoral ministry isn’t supposed to be fun; it will not always make you happy but it shouldn’t ever steal your joy. Joy isn’t affected by circumstances on the ground; or at least it isn’t supposed to be. Joy is about knowing who you are and whose you are. It is about knowing what has been done for you and what has been given to you through the life and death of Jesus Christ. The ups and downs of pastoral ministry can neither add to nor take away from the truth of your identity in Christ. Tha…

Asking whether or not Jesus ever talked about homosexuality is somewhat analogous to asking whether or not Jesus ever talked about elder abuse. Kind of. But not exactly. Jesus never used the specific words “elder abuse” but he did rebuke the Pharisees for not properly honouring their parents (Mark 7:12-13) and he did cite approvingly the 5th commandment, which states: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” (Exodus…

There are plenty of stories in the Bible about people who started out well enough in the walk of faith only to lose their way before their journey was over. We think of Judas, Demas, Hymenaeus and Alexander. These people made shipwreck of their faith – but did they lose their salvation? At first glance a passage like Hebrews 6:4-8 seems to suggest that such a thing is possible. “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and…

Matthew 18:15-20 is one of the most helpful passages in the Bible when it comes to dealing with disputes and differences between members of the same local church. It does not, however, apply in absolutely every situation that arises in the Christian life. Here are 5 scenarios in which it would be inappropriate to appeal to the process outlined in Matthew 18: 1. Engaging with ideas in the Public Square This comes up a lot. A Christian writer or blogger will post something that appears to cross…

Psalm 37:4 is one of the most commonly abused passages in the Bible: “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Many modern day folks seem to think this verse means that if we love God he will give us everything we want. Older commentators understood it differently. W.S. Plumer, writing in the 19th century interpreted the verse is this way: “Whosever thus delights himself in the Lord will have holy wishes, pleasing to the Most High.”[1] So which is it? …