Some years ago, I began reading the Bible through, from beginning to end, using my English Standard Version Study Bible. I determined to read every introductory article and every footnote, as well as every verse of Scripture. I also chose to read a couple of commentary-type books that go along with the book of the Bible I was reading. I didn’t want to use one of those read-the-Bible-through-in-a-year schedules, though there is nothing wrong with those. I wanted to linger over each book, each passage, and meditate over them.

So, at this point, I am reading through the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes. Continue reading →

I do love Christmas. I love everything about it. I love the warmth of the fireplace, as long as we don’t have a warm front move through and it is 80 degrees. I love our Christmas tree, even though we finally broke down and bought an artificial one. It is easier to set up, and you can form the limbs any way you want to hold the ornaments, especially the heavy ones. But it doesn’t have the pine tree smell of a real one, and it just seems weird getting a tree out of the attic. I love our decorations. We have nativity sets from some of our travels—Mexico, Kenya, Israel, Hawaii, and even here in northeast Georgia. And I love decorating the outside of the house. My dad and I built a wood rail fence this fall, and it looks quite festive with lights draped from post to post. Continue reading →

It seems to me that too often we have made living as a Christian simply a matter of doing the right things: praying, reading the Bible, attending church worship services, being kind to others, doing nice things. Or we have made it a matter of thinking the right things: being conservative or moral, standing up for life, believing that the Bible is God’s Word, that Jesus is the Son of God. Or we have made it a matter of feeling the right things: we hurt when others hurt, we serve others, we are merciful. And all of those things are good. We should certainly do the right things and think the right things and feel the right things. But I think living as a Christian is more a matter of viewing all of life through the grid of the centrality of God in all things and our need for him.

Let me try to say it more clearly. Every time we experience hardship or suffering or temptation or disappointment, we have a chance to prove the great worth and value of God. Every time we have needs that go unmet, we have an opportunity to show that the gospel is enough. Every time we are treated poorly, every time we serve a friend or our spouse and that service goes unnoticed or is not returned, every time we are excluded from a group or not respected or not considered, we have an occasion to experience the goodness and glory of Jesus. You see, hardships and disappointments tell us that this world doesn’t satisfy. Suffering tells us that the life to come is better than the life we have now. The difficulties of life should cause us to experience the character of God.

This is even true for temptation. When we are tempted and when we stand against that temptation and don’t give in to it, we are banking on the belief that what Jesus provides is better than what we would get by giving in to that temptation. Jesus explained this truth in his Sermon on the Mount, using giving and praying and fasting as examples. Concerning prayer, he says that when we are tempted to pray in such a way that we are noticed, we get our reward right then and there. We get the acclaim of others. But when we resist that temptation and instead pray so that no one knows, we get our reward from God, from our heavenly Father. And what is that reward? It is the smile of God. It is the presence of God. It is the character and beauty and provision of God. It is God himself, through the person of Jesus.
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I have thought recently about what it means to love God. Now that may seem odd. I’ve been in ministry for over 30 years and have two degrees from two different seminaries. You would think I would have a handle on that. I mean, to love God is pretty basic; it’s kind of the foundation of everything. When Jesus was asked to provide the greatest commandment, he said that all of the Law and all of the writings of the Prophets boiled down to two things: Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself (Mt. 22:34-40). So even though loving God is quite important, I’m not sure I know what that really means. Continue reading →

I’ve thought recently about suffering, and I don’t think I’m doing it right. I’ve been in the ministry for a good while now and I know the verses that I’m supposed to know. Romans 5:3-5 says that we are to rejoice in suffering because suffering produces endurance and character and hope. James 1:2-4 says that we are to count it all joy when we suffer because suffering tests our faith and that produces steadfastness and that makes us perfect and complete. Even Jesus tells us in his Sermon on the Mount that we are blessed when we suffer, and we are to rejoice when we suffer because our reward will be great.

I know these things. I really do. Continue reading →

At a recent church service one of the readings in the worship service was from Isaiah 9. Isaiah 9 is a common passage to be read during advent. “For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given . . .’ (v. 6). We remember this verse because of the promise, from way back in the Old Testament, that God would send a child to be our Redeemer. And when we think of a child, we think of the sweetness and gentleness and warmth of Christmas. Away in a manger . . . Continue reading →

We live in an anxious culture. Worry and anxiety have always been part of life, but it seems like our culture is more fearful, more uncertain, than in the past. Thankfully, the Bible (and thus God) has a lot to say about worry. It really does. A particular section has struck me recently. The end of Psalm 139 says this (from the ESV): Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
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We just came through Holy Week: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Silent Saturday (my term), Resurrection Sunday. In every way, Easter celebrates the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I realize that there are many, many people who are not followers of Christ. But I don’t understand it. Continue reading →

I think angels are the coolest part of the Christmas story. In chapter 2 of Luke’s Gospel, we read that an angel appeared to some shepherds on the night that Jesus was born. Now, we personally don’t have any experience with angels appearing to us. (Please don’t tell me that you have experienced angels appearing to you.) But that’s what happened to the shepherds the night when Jesus was born. Let’s look at some of the details of the story. Continue reading →

One day recently my morning reading in the Bible took me to Psalm 63. It was a familiar psalm to me. The first four verses resound with the writer’s love for God and desire for God. You can hear it in some of the phrases: “earnestly I seek you” (v. 1), I am “beholding your power and glory” (v.2), “your steadfast love is better than life” (v.3), “I will bless you as long as I live” (v.4).
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Why do we have such a hard time believing that God is good? Maybe I should say it like this. Why do I have such a hard time believing that God is good? Continue reading →

One of my favorite cds this time of year is the one by Andrew Peterson entitled Resurrection Letters. It is a handful of songs about Easter: the crucifixion and the resurrection. Peterson is a good storyteller, but he is also a good theologian. One of the songs on that cd is called He Rested. Continue reading →

The story of the nativity is certainly an amazing story. Even if you took out the supernatural aspects, just the facts of the narrative itself would make a great movie. You have an evil king (and Herod was really, really evil). You have a simple peasant couple, engaged to each other, having to make a long trip. She’s pregnant, but not by him. He cares for her anyway, because he loves her and because he’s a righteous man. They arrive at their destination but can’t find a place to stay. All of the hotels are booked. So, they slept that night where the livestock slept and the baby was born in a manger, a feeding trough for the animals likely dug out of a piece of limestone rock. Then at some point later, the evil king gets jealous and tries the kill the new baby king, but they escape in the dark of night. Finally, the baby grows up to be a great teacher who impacts all of the world. Continue reading →

There is a Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 127, that in many ways encapsulates the Gospel. The first three verses say this. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”

Basically, the idea is this. Continue reading →

I love the Biblical story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. It is full of intimate details and emotion.
Mary, Martha, and their brother, Lazarus, were dear, close friends of Jesus. They lived in Bethany, just a few miles outside of Jerusalem, and Jesus likely stayed in their home during his visits to Jerusalem. This story is found in chapter 11 of John’s Gospel, Continue reading →

We just celebrated Good Friday. I’ve often thought that that is a strange name for this holiday. I mean, if you think about what happened on Good Friday—the crucifixion of Jesus—it doesn’t seem too good. But it is. The death of Jesus is good, because we are bad.

You see, we have a good feel for Easter. Easter is celebration. Easter is victory: life over death, resurrection over the grave. On Easter, God defeated death and death is our last enemy. But we’re not really sure what to do with Good Friday. It feels different than Easter—very different. Easter is up; Good Friday is down. Easter is celebration; Good Friday is somber. Easter is about life; Good Friday is about death. Continue reading →

Immanuel. I read recently again the story of Christ’s birth in the Gospel of Matthew. In this account, Matthew quotes the Old Testament prophet Isaiah in saying that the Messiah would be born of a virgin and would be called Immanuel. Matthew interprets that word and tells us that it means “God with us”. What an amazing concept—Jesus is God with us!
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I am reading the Psalms. A couple of years ago, I began reading through the Bible, cover to cover. I didn’t want to use one of those read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plans, though those are fine. I didn’t want to feel rushed. I didn’t want a schedule that would force me to read a certain number of chapters each day. I wanted to read at my own pace, lingering in some sections for a while, if they were speaking to my soul. And a few months back, I arrived at the Psalms.

And like other sections of the Bible that I had already read, some of the Psalms are wonderful, and some are a bit hard to get through. Some of them have language that is difficult. I’m sure that they spoke well in the ancient Hebrew of 2000 years ago, but I had a tough time making sense out of some of them. But then a few weeks ago, I came to Psalm 100. It contains only five verses, and they are easy to understand. The truths are simple and straightforward. Continue reading →

I’ve written before about my morning walks. I used to take my old Basset hound, Dixie, the wonder-dog. But back in May, God called Dixie home to heaven. Now, I admit that I have no Biblical basis to believe that dogs go to heaven when they die, but I just believe they do, at least the good ones. Cats—I’m not so sure about. I could probably make a case that cats go to hell, but that’s beyond the scope of what I want to write about here. But I’m quite sure that I’ll be reunited with Dixie in heaven, along with her sister, Belle, and Gracie, the gospel-dog, and Gabby, the golden retriever (but Kim and I will have to share her with the Stallworths, since they had her first). I believe that God will provide us in heaven with whatever it takes to be happy and content, and for Kim and I that will be Basset Hounds—Gracie and Dixie and Belle—and Golden Retrievers—Gabby.

We now have a Basset Hound puppy, Henry, and a Golden Retriever puppy, Peaches. Continue reading →

In my reading of the Bible, I am currently reading through the Psalms. And I have decided to spend some focused time on Psalm 23. It is such a well-known psalm that some of its truths can be overlooked due to familiarity. And to be honest, I’m not much further than the first phrase: The Lord is my Shepherd. Continue reading →