04
Jan 2018
“I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live” (Psalm 116:1-2). I think that some of the greatest prayer is prayer where you don’t say one single word or ask for anything. Now God does answer and He does give us what we ask for. That’s plain; nobody can deny that unless he denies the Scriptures. But that’s only one aspect of prayer, and it’s not even the......
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January 02, 2018
Overcome Distractions
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6). Among the...
January 01, 2018
A Closed Mouth and a Silent Heart
“My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue” (Psalm 39:3). Prayer among evangelical Christians is always in danger of degenerating into a glorified gold rush....
December 22, 2017
Hope is Waiting, Confidently
The Hebrew and Greek words that underlie the English word hope in our Bibles combine two important ideas: waiting and confidence. Biblical hope, as has been said many times, is more than a wish for...
December 21, 2017
When God Makes Everything Right
Dream with me. Dream of the day when God will make everything right. Isaiah 9 looks forward to the true Christmas day, the day the Savior of the world would be born in Bethlehem. He...
December 19, 2017
A Lamp Lit
Tertullian was an early Christian apologist who lived in ancient Carthage, what is now Tunisia. Mary and I spent a few weeks in Tunisia a while back taking in the history and beauty of this...
December 18, 2017
Sisyphus and the One Name
I can think of no darker words than these two: no hope. Craig Biehl called them the two unbearable words. He writes: “Two small words. When heard on the battlefield, in the hospital waiting room,...
December 08, 2017
Peace & Violence
True peace can never exist where violence is present. Like the word ‘peace’ itself, the word ‘violence’ is also multidimensional. When a nation’s safety is threatened by some rogue regime, it’s often left with no...
December 07, 2017
Peace Work
Biblical peace is not only the absence of bad; it’s also the presence of good. It means more than just ‘not’ fighting with my neighbor, but its actively working for his good. John the Baptist...
December 05, 2017
A Mind Stayed – Apprehending the Shalom of God
Peace is, I think, the most elusive of all the things we desire and pursue. Some of the wisest men in the world can’t capture it. The richest among us can’t buy it. The worries...