The cross is God’s gracious response to our own sinful and willful irresponsibility, choices, and actions. We sin. We are perpetrators of evil—and this separates us from God. It is this aspect of sin that has been dealt with by the vicarious sacrifice of the atonement. But we are also victims of sin. We have enemies who harm us. We are victims who have been sinned against in numerous ways. Because of sins done to us, we are also captive, held in bondage by powers in some sense external to us and greater than we are. Or we may be held in bondage to our own desires or fears, our self-centeredness or despair. Sometimes the Bible describes the human problem as suffering, being in bondage, slavery, or captivity, each and all of which separate us from God. What we need in this regard is for God ...

For many Americans of a certain age, the college admissions process is an oppressive and extraordinarily stressful area of life. It is performancism writ very, very large. One’s entire worth and value as a person is boiled down to a short transcript and application, which is then judged according to a stringent and ever-escalating set of standards. High-school seniors are called upon to justify themselves according to their achievements and interests, and as the top schools have gotten more and more competitive, so has the pressure under which our top students place themselves. Watching the students at our church go through it, not to mention my own kids, it’s hard not to sympathize. They feel that their entire lives are hanging in the balance, that where they go to school will dictate the...

Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? (Ecclesiastes 7:16) Can “be not overly righteous” really be saying what it seems to be saying? Does God actually want us to tone down our righteousness? In order to correctly determine the meaning of this clause, it must first be placed in its immediate context. The context of v. 16 is found in the paragraph of Ecclesiastes 7:15, which reads: (15) In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. (16) Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy [better translated as “astonish”] yourself? (17) Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool...

The task of evangelism often includes telling our individual story along with the larger gospel story. Weaving the two together makes for a powerful articulation of God’s gracious work through all times and his specific salvific work in an individual heart – namely, yours. Many have supported their emphasis on sharing a personal testimony by pointing out that Paul did so numerous times in the book of Acts. In Acts 26:1, for example, Paul tells Agrippa about his Damascus Road experience with the hopes that he, along with all who were listening to him “may become what I am, except for these chains” (Acts 26:29). As an encouragement for us to follow Paul’s model, some have argued, “People can’t dismiss your personal testimony because it’s your story. They can’t deny it.” I’m al...

In an article on the Steubenville, Ohio, rape trial, Keith Ablow argued that we have raised a generation with little to no empathy. In it he correctly identifies one of the causes: Having watched tens of thousands of YouTube videos with bizarre scenarios unfolding, having Tweeted thousands of senseless missives of no real importance, having watched contrived “Reality TV” programs in which people are posers in false dramas about love or lust or revenge, having texted millions of times, rather than truly connecting and having lost their real faces to the fake life stories of Facebook, they look upon the actual events of their lives with no more actual investment and actual concern and actual courage than they would look upon a fictional character in a movie. Ablow is describing a kind of Gno...

The Duck Dynasty (A&E) family patriarch, Phil Robertson, talks with Alex Crain (Christianity.com) about his new book “Happy, Happy, Happy: My Life and Legacy as Duck Commander” (Howard Books/Simon and Schuster, 2013). Phil emphasizes the importance of keeping families intact and calls Christians everywhere to infuse good into our culture, love our neighbors, and boldly present the gospel of Jesus Christ. Originally published April 27, 2013.

Most of us don’t like waiting. We are annoyed with lengthy checkout lines at the store, frustrated by long red lights, and (if you live in northern Indiana like me) depressed with the lingering of winter temperatures in the middle of April. But we especially don’t like waiting on God. Of all the commands of Scripture, perhaps this is one of the hardest to obey. But the times and seasons for waiting on the Lord are many and varied. Scripture teaches us to wait on the Lord for guidance (Psalms 25:5), deliverance (Psalms 33:20), answers to prayer (Psalms 38:15), strength (Isaiah 40:31), and fresh assurance of God’s pardon and forgiveness (Psalms 130:5). Of course, we want these things now. Our needs seem urgent. We want immediate answers. That’s why waiting is so hard. How to Wait Waiting on ...

In his wisdom, God has crafted a life for us that does not careen from huge, consequential moment to huge, consequential moment. In fact, if you examine your life, you will see that you have actually had few of those moments. You can probably name only two or three life-changing situations you have lived through. We are all the same; the character and quality of our life is forged in little moments. Every day we lay little bricks on the foundation of what our life will be. This is evident in our relationships; especially in marriage.  The bricks of words said, the bricks of actions taken, the bricks of little decisions, the bricks of little thoughts, and the bricks of small-moment desires all work together to form the functional edifice that is your marriage. So, you have to view your...

I’m preparing to interview the author of a book called Suburbianity (Harvest House, 2013). Byron Forrest Yawn is a Nashville-based pastor who has also written a helpful book for dads like me called What Every Man Wishes His Father Had Told Him. Byron’s writing style is vivid and engaging, so Suburbianity is an easy, enjoyable read. The book is also saturated with Scripture. (*Note to Harvest House: how about including a Scripture index in future editions?) Byron powerfully addresses the concern that the ideals and values of suburbia have affected Christians in America far too deeply. He calls us to turn away from our instinctive belief that the primary aim of Christ‘s death was to bring us a comfortable, materially fulfilled life. In short, we need to fall at Je...