Embracing Death
I just recently saw an ad for pomegranate juice whose tag line was this: “Cheat Death.” Really? Is anybody ever going to cheat death? Yet our culture is savagely bent on worshipping at the altar of youth, trying somehow to find a way to short-circuit aging and cheat death in the end. Perhaps our greatest […]
Who Do You Say I Am?
It was a tense moment. Jesus popped the question that had been gnawing at the disciples for some time: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter, the spokesman for the group, answers succinctly: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter understood correctly the identity of Jesus, but now he is […]
The Grace To Detach
On the day track season officially began, Heidi often felt like wearing black because she was going into mourning. For the next three months as the varsity track coach, I was basically non-existent at home. I had a state-ranked team that needed training and preparation. I had a reputation to keep up. And that meant […]
Can We Trust Again?
When we choose to follow Jesus, He asks us to enter a life of trust, one that lives in His presence, pregnant with possibility, ripe with hope. But to do that, we have to face our experiences of trusting others. Our hearts that are inclined to unbelief anyway are further pushed in that direction by […]
Turning Shame Into Glory
Everything Jesus did in the gospels was either surprising or stunning. What happened on the mountain with Peter, James, and John is no exception. For one fleeting moment, Jesus was transfigured, unveiling His real identity before them, and it was dazzling (Mark 9: 2-8). The Gospel of Mark describes His clothes radiating a brilliant, blinding […]
The Unpredictability of Jesus
Jesus is maddeningly unpredictable. Just look at the accounts of his healing ministry. He would touch a leper who needed to feel His compassion (Mark 1:40-42), put His own saliva on the tongue of a mute man while He put His fingers in his deaf ears (Mark 7:31-37), allow His healing power to flow out […]
“It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
The summer before last I went mountain climbing with a friend out in Colorado. But the day before the big ascent, he wanted to take us both on ATVs up into the alpine regions on mountain roads. I remember feeling uncomfortable but willing to give it a try. But the discomfort turned into panic on the […]
What Makes Me Anxious? Life!
My freshman year in high school, I ended up with a late lunch period with mostly upperclassmen I didn’t know. I clearly remember walking down into the cafeteria unsure and fearful about where I should sit. I tried eating with a few freshmen I didn’t know and then with some sophomores I barely knew. In both […]
The Call To Leave Our Families
During this time of growth in Jesus’ ministry, opposition came from an unexpected source, his own family. His brothers, through misunderstanding or perhaps jealousy decided that Jesus had lost his mind and came to take him away (Mark 3:20-21). Imagine your kid brother announcing that he was going to be President someday. How would you […]
The War All Around Us—And In Us
We are at war. No one likes the reality of it, but that doesn’t make it go away. All throughout history and all throughout Scripture, there is a war going on between good and evil, between God and Satan. It is this conflict that is drives the plotline of so many ancient myths and modern […]