What does the phrase “the image of God” mean? Theologians have wrestled long and hard with this question, because the answer impacts how we think about Christ’s saving work, Christian ethics, and other important spiritual matters. Some have argued that image refers to humanity’s capacity to rule, because ruling is mentioned in connection with the […]
Read MoreTag Archives: Genesis
“Believe”: Sometimes Found in Stars over the Porch
My close friend just found out her son was sexually assaulted. In the last 10 years, her son has been diagnosed with the following: intellectual disability; developmental disorders; severe Tourette’s syndrome; learning, behavior, and life skill disorders; and the accompanying challenges related to anxiety and emotions. Believing in God’s goodness was tough for her. Adding […]
Read MoreThe Problem With Prayer
For many, there appears to be a problem with prayer. “It’s a one-way conversation.” “It doesn’t seem to work.” “God takes too long to answer.” “God does what He wants anyway.” Crushed between the mortar and pestle of life, it’s easy to think there’s a serious problem with prayer: God. When God doesn’t answer according […]
Read MoreWhat Is a Christian Family?
The traditional family is under assault these days. Watch a primetime television program about the family and you’ll soon discover that fathers are presented as idiotic, mothers as overbearing, and children as wise beyond their years. That’s assuming you can find a program portraying a “traditional” family with a husband and a wife. To say […]
Read MoreGhosts and the Gospel
Be silent in that solitude, Which is not loneliness—for then The spirits of the dead who stood In life before thee are again In death around thee—and their will Shall overshadow thee: be still.1 For many, Halloween is a fun time of telling ghost stories, passing out candy to little ghouls and goblins who come […]
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 MoreMarriage Is God’s Invention
Chapter 2 of Genesis is a story. If we are careful to examine the symbols and how the inspired author writes the story, we’ll discover that marriage is God’s invention. He intended this lifelong, exclusive union between a man and a woman to become the foundation upon which a family is built. This first of […]
Read MoreInnovative Planning
Read Genesis 47:1-26. Joseph had an innovative plan, something that had never been done before. “In order for the land to produce, we must spread out over this land,” he said. Prior to this they had been settled in only a few well-populated regions. Those places represented their homes, their work, their farms, and their […]
Read MoreLand of My Fathers
Half of my family are from Wales – coalminers and such who drifted towards the home counties to find work during the depression between the two World Wars. They brought their language and their songs with them. Consequently the culture I grew up in had a distinctly Welsh flavour to it. So once in a […]
Read MoreIsrael – Like No Other Place on Earth
Israel is like no other place on earth. To an aged wanderer, it was the Land of Promise: “To your descendants I will give this land” (Genesis 12:7). It was the land of a proud man who limped away with a new name after his encounter with God: “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, […]
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