Don’t settle for quick answers on a text. Think bigger and take stock of how your text fits into the author’s larger argument. In this way, you may find your Bible study more enriching, encouraging, and enlightening than you expected.     Last week, I argued for the value of “thinking bigger” in your Bible... Continue Reading

Audrey passed away in October 1998, and Wally in April 2013. Both are buried a short distance from the farm they worked from the time they married well into their elder years, in a small cemetery next to the little evangelical country church they faithfully attended and served for most of their lives. They were... Continue Reading

We should be expecting our faith to touch and change every aspect of our lives. We should expect the Bible to provide wisdom for every decision we’re making, even if this is often more about developing wise lives and minds so that we can make godly decisions. Which means that our Christian formation should touch all... Continue Reading

First, there is the contrast of physical versus powerful. The only requirement of priests under the old covenant was based on a genealogy. Christ, however, is not a high priest because of a physical requirement, but because of resurrection power. The second contrast is temporary versus eternal. Under the Law, there were many priests because of death, but... Continue Reading

Believers are to break the mold of their old conduct, separating themselves from their old desires and habits. What was formerly done in spiritual ignorance as a way of life becomes repulsive to the new way of thinking. Positively, believers are to fashion themselves according to the pattern of the One who called them to... Continue Reading

Believe in God. Believe in the power of the gospel and the glorious ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Put to death every inclination toward despair. Put to death every impulse toward fretful, anxious frustration. And fix your eyes upon what is ultimate and eternal: Christ Jesus, the Saviour of sinners and the Lord of... Continue Reading

In his death, Christ endured God’s wrath against our sin. Jesus carried out the full sentence, with no reprieve. This was a costly sacrifice, one that cost Jesus everything. And God accepted it. On that day there was no smoke that curled into the sky, yet Christ’s gift rose to heaven as a most pleasing... Continue Reading

Jesus’s mission, according to John’s prologue, is to reveal God the Father. John 1:18 seems to imply that humanity needs the incarnation, not only to make possible the sacrifice of the Lamb of God but more fundamentally because humanity needs to see the Father: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the... Continue Reading

We draw near to God, not presumptuously, not as if we are the ones initiating worship, not inviting God to come down and join us, not concerned with pleasing ourselves, not concerned with making worship “feel” exciting. No, we come with humility and meekness, recognizing that we do not deserve to be in God’s presence; we... Continue Reading

When Deuteronomy 22 was written, there were few sexual protections for women. This law therefore moved culture forward by giving women some protection, creating a counterculture in its wake. It held the man responsible for the consequences he created in his sin against the woman. He had to pay her father a price worthy of the woman... Continue Reading