Letter to a Would-Be Adulteress You tell me that you’re nowhere near the path of adultery. You and he are just friends. You both love the Lord and desire to walk in obedience to his word. In fact, it was your shared commitment to Jesus that connected you. As you served at the Christian conference, chatting over the course of long days and boxed … [Read more...]
Lord, Revive My First Love
In 1677, twenty-seven-year-old Henry Scougal wrote this to a friend: “The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love” (The Life of God in the Soul of Man, 20). It is among the most penetrating sentences in the English language (or any language). It is a devastating sentence. It lays us bare. For, as John Piper … [Read more...]
How (Not) to Stay Lukewarm
I thought I was a Christian for years. I swore I had a relationship with God. I believed I could die at any moment and be welcomed into heaven. I wasn’t. I didn’t. I wouldn’t. I did not have a category for someone thinking they were a follower of Christ and not actually being one. I assumed that if I had any desire to be a Christian, … [Read more...]
Prisoner Number 2491-The Inspiring Story of The First Nazi Martyr
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was in London when he heard of Paul Schneider’s death. He gathered his nieces and nephews to tell them. “Children, you must never forget the name of Paul Schneider. He is our first martyr.” Schneider, like Martin Niemöller and Bonhoeffer himself, were members of the Confessing Church, pastors who would not bow the knee to … [Read more...]
Should Teens Own Smartphones?
When Silicon Valley’s 20-something techno-prodigies were awing the world with new, shiny, unveilings of iPods and then iPhones and then iPads, many of the inventors didn’t have kids. Few had teens. Now, most of them have kids, and many have teens — teenagers addicted to gadgets their parents birthed into the world years ago. This is the story of … [Read more...]
God Wounds Us Because He Loves Us
Often the love we need most is the love we want least. The love feels so harsh, so blunt, so unpleasant in the moment that we often don’t even recognize it as love. My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. … [Read more...]
Heart of Socialism
Socialism is trending in the minds of many Americans. Some love it, some hate it, and others are indifferent to it. Some Christians argue that it’s evil, while others argue that it’s morally good or neutral. Those that argue for its wickedness often fail to condemn the crony capitalism and corporate welfare that is widespread in the United States; … [Read more...]
Be Patient with Your Slow Growth
We value speed today far more than we realize, and that makes the painfully slow process of our sanctification and personal transformation confusing and frustrating. We live in an era of such rapid technological advancement and in a society that so values efficiency, productivity, and immediate results that we can hardly help but assume that the … [Read more...]
What If You Had One Week to Live?
If I could save time in a bottle,The first thing that I’d like to do Is to save every day till eternity passes away, Just to spend them with you. In 1972, Jim Croce was a young singer/songwriter just beginning to ride the wave of national stardom. He was also a young father whose heart was full of love for his one-year-old boy. Jim’s music … [Read more...]
Wisdom Ponders Death
I visited a man on his death bed yesterday. I left confused. This man had no relationship with Jesus, no interest in the gospel, yet no fear of death. His only desire was to ease his physical pain and die without a struggle. I couldn’t understand it. Really? No fear of death at all? The first time I remember seeing a dead body was when I was … [Read more...]
