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Want to Get Stronger? [ 1 min read ★ ] They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers—Acts 2:42 Want to get stronger? Want to be tougher? Get connected. When we face trials and challenges, those...

Easter Saturday – Disappointment, despair, and doubt Mary Magdalene woke that Saturday morning confused. Jesus was gone. How could the one who saved her from her demons not be able to save himself? How could the religious rulers who had been no help to her have felt so threatened by him that...

We Keep Choosing Barabbas The story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Choosing Barabbas I’ve been intermittently listening to Bach’s Matthäuspassion performed by the Tölz Boys’ Choir over the last week. (You can watch it here.) It’s a sweeping...

How to Deal Effectively with Being Triggered by Your Partner Allyssa, 37, and John, 40, sat on the couch in my office for their first couples counseling session and spoke about how frequently they trigger each other. When this happens, it usually sets the stage for arguments where they say...

God Makes Much of Little Things God isn’t just in life’s monumental things. He’s present in the little things: rain drops, the artistry of spider webs, and the sound of an acoustic guitar. A child’s laugh, surfing songs, a swing set, sprinklers, and the smell of split cedar. Maple syrup, fresh...

Jesus and Time: “I Have Overcome the World” Cosmic Faith Each year, as the period of Lent approaches, I turn to John’s poignant account of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples. The pace slows as the apostle devotes almost a quarter of his Gospel to this one intimate gathering of Jesus’ closest...

USSR Couldn’t Snuff Out Easter—Now Russians Reap Hope Generations of great-grandparents and grandparents carried forth Easter traditions such as egg-coloring, baking kulich (a special Easter yeast cake) and making paskha (a pyramid-shaped cottage cheese cake) for their Soviet grandchildren...

You’re Not Too Old: Moses and the Call at 80 Moses has tended sheep for half of his eighty years. You’d have to think, life in Pharaoh’s palace was a distant memory, but I’m not so sure. At eighty years old, you’d have to think he believed the ship of him being anything more than a shepherd...

Holy Week Is Humble Week: “Beware of Becoming Caesarified” Jesus’ Approach to Power Holy Week is Humble Week. We learn from Jesus’ approach to power that great leaders guard against tyranny and dignify our common humanity. May each of us follow suit and dye our imaginations in Jesus’ blood...

How Should We Evaluate Claims Of Visions or Dreams from God? It’s true that far too many Bible believers are in effect anti-supernatural. Some Christians argue against the miraculous with the same scorn of atheists and agnostics. The irony is stunning, since the Christian faith is rooted in...

The Forgotten Truth: Jesus Is Full of Happiness by Randy Alcorn The Glad Heart of Jesus In the first-ever gospel message of the newborn church, the apostle Peter preached that Psalm 16 is about Christ: “David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand...

Have You Missed It? [ 1 min read ★ ] . . . he rewards those who seek him—Hebrews 11:6 If God chose to speak to us using methods unmistakable, undeniable—a clearly audible voice or a conversation with an angel, perhaps—identifying his voice would be simple...

Living With Urgency [ 1 min read ★ ] The night is about over, dawn is about to break—Romans 13:11-14 No question, a lot of us men are living in “I know, I know” mode . . . in “I’m gonna do it, but just not right now” mode. You see, we know what’s important; we’ve just...

5 No Good, Very Bad Reasons for Divorce He gets on your nerves. Maybe he’s lazy, works too much or is bad with money. Or you think you might be happier with someone else. Do you find yourself pondering, “Should I get divorced?” I get it. Marriage can be a struggle. People sometimes use...

Lent and Why We Still Meet God in the Wilderness It’s Lent: Let’s Go to the Wilderness Budget cuts in the US government have resulted in more folks paying attention to the National Parks recently. While arguments over which branches of government are more or less vital or efficient, my own...

“Power Without Empathy Is A Sin” Can someone have too much empathy? No. Only misdirected empathy. In this photo a group of people on the Ithaca Commons participated in a protest. Only the Weak Will Fail “Only the weak will fail.” (Donald Trump) “Power Without Empathy Is A Sin” (Noah Harley...

Making Decisions Involves The Head And The Heart Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 There is a connection between what we really...

What Difference Does That Little Bit Of “Extra” Make? Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. Colossians 3:23 Good, better, best; never let it rest till your good is better and your better is best. Anonymous What difference does that little bit of “extra”...

Three Temptations, and Three Triumphs Today’s blog is a slightly expanded reprint of a post I did at this site a couple of years ago. The post seems so suitable for the Lenten season. In 2023, I published the book He Will Save You from the Deadly Pestilence: The Many Lives of Psalm 91. Many...

The Proverbs 31 Wife vs. My Wrinkled Reality Wanted- A Good Wife I’m up before dawn, I’m cooking and negotiating to buy a field/image courtesy of PexelWanted- A Good Wife The Bible presents a noble vision of a wife—a woman of virtue, strength, and wisdom. Proverbs 31 describes her as...