Revelation 2:4 “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.” They worked tirelessly without growing weary. They endured hardship after hardship for the sake of Christ. They persevered when others folded. They fearlessly exposed hypocrisy in the church, unswerving in their dedication to Continue Reading…
Hebrews 12:27 “This expression, ‘Yet once more,’ denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” The thought of a frog invasion makes my skin crawl. Can you imagine? You turn on the sink, out Continue Reading…
Luke 5:8, 10 “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.’” Without heart-rending, gut-wrenching, fall-on-our-knees conviction of sin we can’t repent. Continue Reading…
James 1:14-15 “but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” When our son Josiah was young, he and his sister Bethany got into a Continue Reading…
Psalm 38:4 “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.” It makes us uncomfortable. Like gum-soled shoes on a pavement, it stops us in our tracks. It gnaws away at our peace and disrupts our direction. Yet it stands as the force behind all repentance and Continue Reading…
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Ever hear the expression, “My bad?” It’s a phrase used to apologize for making a mistake without really apologizing. Someone spills coffee on a friend’s shirt or turns up late for a meeting and exclaims, “My Continue Reading…
Matthew 26:46 “Here comes my betrayer!” How awful to be identified as a “betrayer.” This is how Jesus referred to Judas on the night of his arrest. On the other hand, Peter denied Jesus not once but three times, yet the next time Jesus encountered Peter, he didn’t refer Continue Reading…
1 Thessalonians 2:5 “You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed–God is our witness.” People today are looking for real. In a recent Wall Street Journal, columnist Brett McCracken writes, “Seventy per cent of Protestant adults stop attending church regularly after Continue Reading…
Matthew 5:29 “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Unlike those in days past, I think it is hard for Continue Reading…