Bible Bites [Exegesis] / 4

What Jesus Wished He Could Say before He Died (John 16:12)

If you died today, what might you regret you’d left unsaid? Such death-bed regrets are common. Many dying people regret that they didn’t s..

Is “Love One Another” A New Commandment for You?

The coming of the light changes everything. Did you see the sunrise this morning? Even if you didn’t, it changed your life. The coming of the li..

The Arts and the Absence of Jesus

I am a house church guy who likes cathedrals. My spiritual forebears in the Reformation include some who smashed statues and images and others who ban..

Lot the Big-Time Mennonite Farmer

You know the sermon is especially good when someone walks out crying half way through. Okay, the pain and tears unfortunately came from cramps and not..

Judgment and Meaning: You’ll Get Your Day in Court

I build sheds for people I don’t know so they can store things they probably don’t need. Swinging a pound or more of hammer at pieces of w..

The Lord’s Prayer and the Center of the Universe

I enjoy praying the Lord’s Prayer. Whenever I am not sure what or how to pray, it can help me approach God’s throne boldly. For example, I..

Melchizedek, Carson, and the Tar Baby

Yeah, this next Sunday we get to study Melchizedek! (Said almost no one ever.) Yes, it’s true: If you use the Christian Light Publications curri..

Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul — Gathercole (Review)

Gathercole, Simon. Defending Substitution: An Essay on Atonement in Paul (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2015). 128pp. Publisher’s descriptio..

By Every Word [Poem by Mom]

When Mom “submits” a poem to me for publication, a dialogue begins. Since every word in a poem is important, we evaluate what Mom has writ..

Trained by Grace, Made Holy by the Gospel

I’ve suggested in some of my recent blog posts that multiplying church regulations isn’t the solution for producing holiness. And I’..