This summer I’ve been watching the nature part of Jesus’ “Parable of the Sower” play out in my wife’s garden. She sowed the seeds in late spring, and soon she declared war with the birds. We must have an extra vicious breed of sparrows and robins, that not only snatch away seed, but even the…
1) For their correction. 2) For their salvation Of all the weeks for it to happen, I suppose it was no coincidence it was this one. We were all coming back from our vacation in Alaska. As our plane began its final descent into Minneapolis, my ears began to ache from the changing pressure. Down…
Do you know what the fastest growing religion in the world is? You might guess Islam or Hinduism, but that would only be true if you were talking about the amount of people who are automatically born into those religions. If you’re talking about the group that has the most people converting to it per…
A Christian pastor named A.W. Tozer once said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”[1] I suppose he’s got a point. How much money is in my bank account, whether I had a date to prom, or my golf score, my college degree, my career…
In the name of the Risen Lord Jesus, whose blood set us free to be the people of God. Can you imagine what a locked room full of disciples would have sounded like over the course of days since Jesus had been killed? What could be heard in a room with a dozen or more…
There’s a wonderful scene in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the most famous of C.S. Lewis’s book series, The Chronicles of Narnia. A boy named Edmund has betrayed innocent blood, his own brothers and sisters, lured by the guise of the White Witch’s magically tasty pastries. He has also betrayed the Great Lion,…
Picture yourself about to embark on a brave new journey. You’re venturing out of the nest into the great unknown, to your first day of college, where secular professors loom like hawks ready to swoop down and sink their claws into their favorite prey, fledgling Christians just learning to fly. Or you’re heading off to…
This week I was attacked by the devil and the attack came from the unlikeliest of places. Message after message came at me ripe with the devil’s lies. He was telling me exactly the things I wanted to hear, the things that pet my ego. Subtle little whispers, stuff like, “Nothing you can’t handle!” “You…
In the name of Jesus Christ, the Savior born to change our world. The text for our mediation on this joyous Christmas Eve celebration is the Christmas Gospel from Luke 2, the 10th and 11th verses for emphasis. “The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause…
In the name of the One who will come and make rivers of living water flow out from within us. The driest most desolate place I’ve ever been was on top of a plateau in Southern Israel called Masada. It was about a hundred degrees the day we were up there, but after an hour…