Explorations into theology, technology, leadership, and culture.
One of the core urgings of the scripture is that we trust God’s promises. But that can be difficult for some of us who feel that God has failed to come through from time to time. One reason for this feeling of God having failed is because we have been claiming as a promise, something God […]
(The following is an excerpt from Barnabas Piper’s forthcoming book: “Help My Unbelief”. In celebration of the launch, I have been provided with a copy for review and giveaway. Enter to win a copy of the book here!) Answering this question is one of the greatest tasks of Christianity. So many of those who refuse […]
(Crowd voices: “Oh boy, another post on dating!”) I have four daughters (at the time of writing, all under age 8), so this topic feels super relevant for me, and the pace of life is such that I need wisdom on this issue, stat. By way of preface, my wife and I dated in […]
The Apostle Paul (in 1 Corinthians 10:31) exhorts us to do whatever we do to the Glory of God. Most contemporary worship songs contain some reference to God’s glory. We throw around phrases in our prayers together that we “just really want to bring you glory”. But do we know what we mean when we say “God’s […]
I recently saw a comment on a blog post questioning whether our world is so much more complex than it used to be (did our grandparents live in “a simpler time”?), if they actually had less work, or whether there is something wrong with us. Time Management is so much more difficult in our current […]
There is a type of pride I’ve noticed in my life and in the life of others that refuses to rejoice in, love, and submit to the basics of the Christian faith, because they don’t seem yield immediate results in your felt needs. This type of pride kills your worship, short circuits your Christian life, […]
To my fellow Bible readers, We are to do our best to present ourselves as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15) That is, we are to work hard present ourselves as approved by God in the matter of rightly handling the […]
There is one simple rule to help you apply all Old Testament stories: let them help you fix your eyes on Jesus. Here’s what I mean: 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV) All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God […]
Last weekend I gave a seminar at our church association’s annual national conference on “Work and Worship: How The Gospel Affects Our Work.” It was similar to my previous two messages, with a few nuances. Listen to it here. The manuscript follows.
(Illustration by L. Chylinski, CMI, Inc.) Across the street from Mere‘s office, the Ames Public Library is undergoing a massive renovation. Lasting an estimated 18 months, the building is being rehauled from the ground up to better serve the community. Costing around $20 million dollars, the project will more than double the space inside the […]
Last week I mentioned that we ought not seek an allegorical or “moral of the story” from Old Testament passages that we can seek to apply to our life today. (“Dare to be a Daniel!”, “Find your ‘five smooth stones’ to face your ‘Goliath’”, etc). I mentioned that most of us evangelicals have been taught […]
When we are reading a passage from the Old Testament, how should we seek to apply it to our lives? How should we seek to encourage others to live? If “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful†(2 Timothy 3:16-17), what is the right way to use it? When you read a passage of the Old […]