It’s one of the classic passages we go to every Easter, but it’s not just an Easter story. Two disciples are walking home, steeply downhill and deeply despondent, and as they go they are trying to make sense of all that has happened in the past few days. Their beloved teacher—the one they thought could […]
Read MoreTag Archives: First Corinthians
The Gift for the Person Who Has Everything
In our pocket of society where pampered affluence is rampant, we are often at a loss to know what kind of gifts to buy our friends and loved ones on special occasions. For some people (especially those who “have everything”), the standard gift won’t cut it. Nothing in the shopping mall catches our fancy. I […]
Read MoreThe Only Thing Incapable of Error
Ever since I was knee-high to a gnat, I have been taught and have believed in the infallibility of Scripture. Among the upper echelons of doctrinal truths, this one ranks alongside the Godhead, the deity of Christ, and salvation by grace. We may fuss around with a few of the events in God’s eschatological calendar […]
Read MoreWooing the Wayward: Loving Your Prodigal until He or She Comes Home
Shattered. Your dreams of your children growing up to be godly Christians now lay like splinters of glass on the marble floor. “Mom, I’m gay,” your son announces. Your daughter reveals, “Dad, I’ve moved in with my boyfriend.” These words take your breath away. Your adult child is running not only from God, but from […]
Read MoreFinding a Middle Way through the Midway
With excitement in her eyes, Sarah kissed her parents goodbye. John and Judy’s decision to let their sixteen-year-old daughter attend the girls’ summer art camp wasn’t difficult. They had heard great things about the program and believed it was an excellent opportunity. Then John and Judy learned the famous art camp was a magnet for […]
Read MoreWhen the Bible Sinks In
The call to my desk came out of the blue. After a harried introduction to the urgent problem, my wife put my 3-year-old son, Lucas, on the line. He had scribbled on our new living room sofa with a ballpoint pen, and she called me to engage in the uncomfortable ritual of tele-discipline (in other […]
Read MoreMoral Purity
Holiness sounds scary. It need not be, but to the average person it is. Our tendency is to think that holiness would never find its way into the office of a salesperson—certainly not that of an aggressive and successful athletics coach. Nor would a mother of small children be that concerned about holiness, nor a […]
Read MoreWhen He’s Not Leading
The days of childhood games are long gone, yet the words still ring in your ears: “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Why does leadership in the home sometimes feel like a game of hide and seek? What’s to be done when a husband isn’t leading? The path of wisdom is pursuing the blueprint […]
Read MoreLove Has a Thick Skin
In 1 Corinthians 13:5, Paul uses two negative descriptions—“is not provoked” and “doesn’t take into account a wrong suffered.” In other words, genuine love isn’t fragile. Agape applies lots of grace to a relationship; it leaves lots of room for the other person to make mistakes. And when you live in close proximity to someone […]
Read MoreLove without a Net
Anne Morrow was shy and delicate. Butterfly like. Not dull or stupid or incompetent, just a quiet specimen of timidity. Her dad was ambassador to Mexico when she met an adventurous young fellow who visited south of the border for the U.S. State Department. The man was flying from place to place promoting aviation. Everywhere […]
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