If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Mt 16:24) Growing up in the church, Jesus’ call to deny yourself was a deeply personal challenge. I was being called to put aside my own interests, my own ego, and my own desires in favor of…
The controversy surrounding gender and women in leadership seems only to be heating up instead of cooling down. In many ways, the Christian community is more polarized than it was even two decades ago. Christians in leadership and in the pews are feeling forced to choose between being a complementarian (those who argue that men…
“Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 We have very few rules for our cat, Julian. She is not allowed on the kitchen counter or the dining room table. She is not allowed behind the television or the computer. That’s…
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9) Going Creedal I grew up in a wonderful church that was self-consciously ‘non-creedal.’ No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible. This was the church where I…
I enjoy a good book. or three. or five. As an avid reader, one of the ways I keep track of my reading, spur myself on, and learn about new books is through Goodreads – a social networking site for readers. The site allows me to track what I’m reading as well as what my…
Reading the Old Testament is difficult, but worth the effort. Last week, I explored how the Old Testament serves as a mirror for our lives and leads us to Christ. This week, we will look at a second reason for reading the Old Testament. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up,…
Sometimes, we just want to get to Jesus. Recently, Christianity Today ran an article Under Discussion on the question of whether it is good or not for Christians to read through the Bible in one year. All the contributors were passionate about people knowing and understanding the Bible. Everyone wants people to have a deeper engagement with…
I recently heard a sermon on Exodus 40 and it got me to thinking. There is so much that happens in this chapter: God speaks to Moses, giving final instructions for the tabernacle; the tabernacle is set up; each piece of liturgical furniture is given its place; the glory of the LORD fills the tabernacle;…
It was 1:30 in the morning when my pager went off. There was a house fire about eight miles from town. My first real, serious fire. As I struggled out of bed and into enough clothes to head over to the fire station, a part of me regretted having joined the local fire department. I…
It was barely a day and I was already a mess. Olga left last week to head to Calvin College for the annual Calvin Worship Symposium. She was excited to go and we were both eager to see what she would learn at the conference. I figured I would be fine. There was food in…
