I spent this past weekend assembling a detailed 3D book-nook puzzle, one of those miniature architectural scenes made of dozens upon dozens of tiny wooden pieces. Each piece had been precisely cut with notches so small they were nearly invisible, yet every one fit only in a single location. The instructions required an exact order. […]
Each year, “Merry Christmas” is spoken more cautiously, if it is spoken at all. In its place, “Happy Holidays” has become the safer greeting, offered under the banner of politeness, neutrality, and inclusiveness. Just last week, after wishing a gentleman “Merry Christmas” over the phone, he replied with a carefully neutral “Happy Holidays.” These exchanges […]
“Record all special favors, mercies, providences, and experiences.Little do you know the advantages that will redound to your souls upon this.” – Thomas Brooks, Smooth Stones Taken from Ancient Brooks I began journaling as a teenager, long before I knew Christ. What began as a class assignment soon became a nightly ritual. I would open my […]
Reverence does not grow in the heart by accident. Scripture never treats it as a passing feeling or a heightened emotion that comes and goes with the seasons of the soul. Reverence is the posture formed when the heart sees God as He truly is, and bows beneath the weight of that truth with joy […]
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1, ESV) I was reading a devotional this morning that made me pause. It was beautifully […]
Many assume that Christianity begins with believing that God exists or believing that Jesus is real, yet Scripture draws the line far tighter. For Paul, a person is either in Adam or in Christ. There is no neutral space. There is no spiritual middle ground. One is rooted in the old humanity, bound to sin, […]
When John Calvin begins his Institutes, he doesn’t linger in the realm of speculation about God’s essence. He presses us into something far more practical: what it actually means to know God, and what effect that knowledge must have on our lives. In chapter two, he defines what true and genuine religion looks like. It […]
Reflections on John Calvin’s, “The Institute of Christian Religion”, Chapter One. We live in an age obsessed with self-knowledge. From personality quizzes to self-help books, the world offers us endless ways to “discover ourselves.” Yet all of these means are like getting dressed in a dim bathroom light, details are softened, blemishes concealed, and what […]
Sin always meets us at the point of drift. Rarely does it conquer in the moments when we are leaning hard upon God, clinging tightly to His hand through prayer, obedience, and watchfulness. Rather, sin often finds us when we have grown casual, when we have let our guard down, when the heart has already […]
Jesus warned us not to hide our light under a bushel, but too let it shine where all can see. A candle was never meant to be stored, only spent. In the same way, our days are not meant to be hoarded or wasted, but offered up as light in the service of Christ. Yet […]
