1. God made men to find meaning and satisfaction in life through doing difficult tasks. The heavier the load, the more satisfaction is found in lifting it. 2. Freedom and responsibility must always go together, and should ordinarily be kept in equal proportion. 3. Give your children (esp. your boys) as much freedom and responsibility as...
The Old Testament closes by naming one of the central goals of the Messiah's forerunner: turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest the land be struck with God's curse. This connects to the promise of long life in the land/earth that is attached to the 5th commandment to honor father and...
A recurring theme in many of my conversations with people is that they implicitly (or explicitly) believe that God Himself, apart from any human involvement, is supposed to do things that He has commanded us to do. In many cases, there is terrible confusion about the relationship between God's sovereignty and human responsibility that arises from a...
Because of Jesus' sacrificial death and glorious resurrection from dead, God's future new creation ("the Regeneration"—Mt. 19:28) has erupted in the midst of this old creation (John 11:25-26; 1 Cor. 15:20-23). Jesus died in our Adamic flesh and rose again as the Second Adam, the firstborn from the dead and the head of God's new humanity (Rom. 5:12f...
Encouragement to someone grieving a suicide: In situations like this, there are always regrets about what you could've done differently. In hindsight, of course you see things that you couldn't have known at the time. Think of something that you wish you would've done differently. Think of something that you believe would have made a significant di...
The Westminster Confession of Faith (I.8) states, "The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which, at the time of the writing of it, was most generally known to the nations), being immediately inspired by God, and, by His singular care and providence, kept pure in all a...
C.S. Lewis's fictitious demon Screwtape advises his nephew and demon-in-training: "The Enemy [God] wants people to focus on what they must do. We want them to focus on what might happen to them." In other words, the Devil wants to cultivate in us a victim mentality so that we will be distracted from doing that which God calls us to do. Victimhood i...
In the midst of all the political and societal turmoil around us, Epiphany reminds us that Jesus and his life-giving word are the only source of salvation. In the midst of all the personal and relational struggles we face, Epiphany reminds us that Jesus alone can bring us peace with God, with one another, and with our own hearts. Excessive fear and...
As the year of our Lord 2020 draws to a close, many people are glad to see it passing into the rear-view mirror. "Good riddance. What a miserable year. Next year couldn't possibly be as bad as this one has been." Or could it? We have no guarantee that 2021 will be any better than 2020, especially if we have failed to learn the lessons God has been ...
The Threefold Fall of Man Fall #1: Adam's rebellion in the garden (Gen. 3) Sanctuary setting (Garden)Sin related to worship (sacramental trees)Rebellion of son against FatherSin is driven by impatience and refusal to submit to authority Fall #2: Cain's murder of Abel (Gen. 4) Takes place in the landSin related to work (fruit of one's labor)Brother ...