I’m sure we’ve all experienced how excitement can be contagious… well, I can’t read Ephesians 1 without catching some of Paul’s passion! Each phrase, each word, each description of our salvation more powerful and profound than the previous. Paul is overwhelmed at the goodness of God in Christ and we should be too!
Should a Christian fight sin? Why should we fight sin? How should we fight sin? As Paul answers the opening question, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?,” he goes along way towards answering these questions. To
I often tell couples that there are two ways to listen to each other—either like a lawyer or like a counselor. A lawyer listens only enough to object, to jump in and make his or her case. He or she isn’t necessarily listening to understand, rather he or she is listening to respond.
Most of us tend to think of faith like a traditional light switch, either on or off. And there is a sense in which this is correct. We either have genuine faith or we don’t. We either trust Jesus alone
It is common for those who seem to have it all together, to become impatient with those who clearly don’t; for those who don’t seem to have any needs, to see the needy as burdens; for those who are able,
We live in a society that often seems obsessed with freedom. We should be able to do whatever we want whenever we want and we want everyone to celebrate it. As Christians, we often react to this by reaffirming the
If Paul was willing to confront Peter to his face over this issue, it must be important!
When reading the book of Hebrews I find it especially helpful to remember the broader context of what the original readers were experiencing. The author is writing to believers from a Jewish background. They had heard the gospel and they
I pray that I have the same confidence and boldness that Paul has if I am ever faced with the kind of persecution he experienced. One of the reasons that Paul was so bold is that he was so persuaded of the truthfulness of Christ and Christianity and the faithfulness of God. He was confident not in himself but in the Lord and His Word and so Paul could engage those around him without fear.
Everything seemed to be going well. Paul finally had a chance to speak publicly to the Jews in Jerusalem about what happened to him on the road to Damascus. He was sharing his testimony and the people seemed quiet and attentive. And then it happened. He mentioned the one word that the people did not want to hear: Gentiles! (Acts 22:21)
Sometimes when I read Scripture, I process my reading and the end result is some clear, developed thinking… much more often, it’s more like bullet points and questions in my head that I want to get back to later! So here are some bullet points that came to my mind while reading through Acts 17-18 this week.
The ups and downs that the early Christians experienced must have been challenging. I’m sure it’s the same for us.
