Hope and Disappointment from the AMAs

Did anyone else watch some of the AMA’s last night? I was encouraged by the popularity of Taylor Swift. She seems pretty wholesome. Then there was Lady Gaga. She seems like a living piece of artwork. As you watch her, as strange as it is, there is something intriguing about it all. You wonder what [...]

Raw Emotion – The Raising of Lazarus from the Dead

There is little more mystifying and moving to me as the tears Jesus shed with Mary just before he raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11. Wouldn’t you think Jesus would have had more of a chuckle rather than tears? The kind of wink, wink…you are crying now but wait and see what I [...]

What Are the Results of Sin?

We usually are quick to point out death (Romans 3:23) and that is a correct answer but what is interesting about sin is that this death can be a very slow, gradual process. This is very much in line with the song “Slow fade” by Casting Crowns. Death yes, but in the meantime sin takes [...]

What Did Jesus Do During His Three Days in the Grave?

Did you know the answer to that question may be found in the story of the flood in Genesis 6? There is this strange verse tucked into the Flood story in Genesis 6:4 – “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men [...]

Living Without Really Living

This weekend I was helping a friend clean out a house that had been used and abused by renters. Windows were smashed, the inside was dirty, piles of clothes were strewn about the backyard. Someone had been living in the shed out back and there were maggots here and there making a stench. What is [...]

We Can Witness Resurrections Today

If I told you that if you came by the building on Sunday you could actually see someone be resurrected from the dead would you come? If we put something in the newspaper and on the web that this miraculous event was to take place following our assembly this Sunday and that the public was [...]

Jesus – Powerful

I grew up in church hearing about Jesus. When you are a kid the things that stand out to you are the miracle stories. It is a lot easier for a Bible School teacher to hold a kid’s attention teaching about freeing a man of a legion of demons and scattering them into a herd [...]

Romans 10 – God Desires Israel to Turn Back

At the end of Romans 9, Paul writes about how some Gentiles have obtained righteousness by faith, while some Jews did not have faith in God that resulted in righteousness. Instead of building on Christ as the rock and chief cornerstone, they stumbled over him (Rom 9:30-33). As in the beginning of chapter 9, Paul [...]

Life or Death Decisions – We Make Them More Than We Know

When I was a graduate student in psychology we had a health psych rotation that dealt specifically with transplantation and gastric bypass. The hospital felt that before someone could be approved for an organ transplant they had to pass a psychological screening in order to make sure that the organs were going to the people [...]

How to Get Over 900 Comments in less than 2 Days…

Post this question about how to stump those who are pro-life: “If abortion was illegal, what should be done with the women who have illegal abortions?” That is the question Daniel Florian asks at his blog which has sparked a firestorm of comments 969 as of the writing of this post). He shows a video [...]