At Christmastime, perhaps more than at other times of the year, we think about Jesus coming into the world and why He came. So, why did Jesus come into the world? Careful! The answer you give to that question may say more about you than you think! At the most fundamental level, Christ Jesus came … Read more
In A Christmas Carol, Marley’s ghost pays a visit to his old partner in business, Ebenezer Scrooge. Dickens writes: Again, the spectre raised a cry, and shook its chain and wrung its shadowy hands. “You are fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling. “Tell me why?” “I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I … Read more
One of the most poignant moments in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has the ghost of Scrooge’s former business partner Jacob Marley paying him and uninvited visit. “You were always a good businessman,” Scrooge tells the ghost. The ghost replies, “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence … Read more
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 how things could be. Biblical hope is an absolute confidence that things really are the way God says they are. … Read more
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 would come to remove gloom from those who were in anguish. “The people who walked in darkness,” he said, “have … Read more
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 important center of early Christianity. Tertullian lived from about A.D. 155 to A.D 240, but his influence continues to reverberate … Read more
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, or in our darkest thoughts, they bring despair. Two words that carry such anguish that no one can withstand their … Read more
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 option but to fight. And so, we have war. Eventually, one nation’s force overwhelms the force of the other nation … Read more
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 came with a powerful message of warning. Watch it carefully: “He said therefore to the crowds that came out to … Read more
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 of the poor keep it far from their reach. War-torn regions throughout the world can’t seem to find it. The … Read more