One of my favorite Gospel stories takes place on Easter morning; it centers around Mary Magdalene. Heartbroken, devastated, Mary has gone to the tomb of Jesus to grieve, but his body is no longer there. Most of you have experienced grief; it is...
READ MOREDavid was a hunted man. He often had to hide in severe wilderness conditions from his pursuers, who would kill him in an instant if they found him, just like many persecuted people groups today.
Harriet Tubman had to hide from her enemies...
READ MOREWhen the author of Psalm 91 invites us to take refuge in the shelter of the Most High, where does he have in mind? What actual place in the actual universe are we invited to?
The word for “shelter” in the opening verse (“Those who live in...
READ MOREWe don’t know much about stages of development in our instant culture. We have someone else make our coffee for us. We no longer have to wait to have our photos developed — not even an hour — for now we have digital cameras that deliver back to...
READ MORETwice, the refuge of God is described in terms of rescue, or deliverance:
“I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble....
Of all the prayers that rise from human lips on this troubled planet, the vast majority must be some version of, “Help!” That’s why we began with the Cry of the Heart. But second place of “most often prayed” has to be in the genre of, “...
READ MORE Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
–Psalm 91:...
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to...
READ MOREFor every beautiful being God created, he has provided a habitat in which to flourish. Brook trout thrive happily in cold mountain streams. If you were to put them in the warm waters of the Caribbean, they would die. Stingrays, however, love that...
READ MORENo discussion of holiness is true or helpful without a healthy appreciation for how earnestly Satan wants to destroy us. Steal, kill, and destroy is how Jesus described it (John 10:10). Satan lured Adam and Eve to compromise one single act, one...
READ MOREWhen our boys were young, they would gather blankets, pillows, and cushions in the basement and build elaborate forts. This was their most-played game, a weekly if not daily affair. Once constructed and made secure, blankets tucked into sofas,...
READ MOREGod has a beauty to unveil. There's a reason that a man is captivated by a woman. Eve is the crown of creation. If you follow the Genesis narrative carefully, you'll see that each new stage of creation is better than the one before. First, all is...
READ MOREIn the dawn of our childhood, we lived with God in a garden paradise. We walked with our Abba Father in the cool of the day, in conversational intimacy. We were ordinary mystics, drinking in the rich company of God and the fullness of his Kingdom...
READ MOREI have counseled thousands of men and women, and I can tell you with utter confidence — both from their experiences and my own — that whatever else the enemy brings against you, he will always bring with it a feeling of I don’t want to fight...
READ MOREChesterton conducted something of a personal experiment to see what the overall impression would be if a person simply read the Gospels without any previous information regarding Jesus. What he found surprised him:
It is full of...
Repeated processes shape the soul; this has been core to discipleship for millennia.
It was inevitable that years of Internet life would shape our souls whether we wanted it to or not. As a friend said, “It’s not that we’ve done something...
READ MOREIf then you are wise, you will show yourself rather as a reservoir than as a canal. A canal spreads abroad water as it receives it, but a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, and thus without loss to itself [it shares] its...
READ MOREWaiting can be an experience of emptiness. Our hands are empty. Our desires unfulfilled. Our hearts feel empty as well.
George MacDonald described it this way:
’Tis hard for man to rouse his spirit up—
It is...
The Internet has taught its disciples that there shall be no mystery to anything. We can get to the bottom of any question, lay open the bare facts to any secret. In fact, if there is mystery, we’ve been thoroughly discipled to question...
READ MOREThe book “Killing Lions” is a conversation between John and Sam Eldredge about the trials young men face.
[Sam] Should you have killed a lion before you commit? Many traditional cultures like the...
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