A Changed Heart

Usually when someone says “I’ve changed my mind” we can take the shift as a passing matter.  It depends on context, of course, but changes of mind are common.  I might say, for instance, “I know I said I can meet for coffee at ten but I’ve changed my mind because of a deadline I’m …

Read more

Lost Love

Jesus said that a sign of his nearing return would include an increase in lawlessness with the result that “the love of many will grow cold” [Matt. 24:12].  It’s not that a loss of love for God is only found in the end times.  The problem was also cited in Ephesus where, although true doctrine …

Read more

A Key Bit of Jargon

Let me offer a nice bit of theo-jargon here—“anthropopathism”—for anyone who doesn’t already know the term.  I’ll then comment on it and invite any responses. An anthropopathism is the emotional and less-well-known cousin of anthropomorphism.  The latter term refers to human descriptions of God that use bodily terms—as in the Father having arms or legs …

Read more

Privatio

Let me return to one of my drumbeat issues: sin.  Augustine’s fifth century debate with Pelagius had much to do with defining sin as moral privation (Latin “privatio”): an absence of righteousness in human conduct.  Let me offer a snapshot of what Augustine was saying and then invite comments from readers. The problem of evil …

Read more

Lessons in Listening

The troubled man scarcely bothered to take a breath as he poured out his unhappiness over his host of issues.  He was a true victim and wanted me and others to share in his pain.  And, yes, it was painful! What I knew from many earlier conversations was that the present 30 minute survey of …

Read more

Guarding Against Heart Attacks

In reading 1 Kings I’m appalled by Solomon’s fall.  In chapter 8 we find Solomon’s epic recital of God’s greatness at the dedication of the new temple.  Again, in chapter 9, God appeared to him a second time and promised: “I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever.  …

Read more

Gaining Perspective

As a new year arrives we often look back to events of the passing year, searching for a bit of perspective.  It’s as if we’re seeking to weigh our recent life events in the context of passing time.  But what is perspective, really? One sense of the term speaks of what an artist does to …

Read more

Networks

In a world filled with more and more social networking on the internet we taste God’s creation design in a new way.  We are made to be relational—that’s our starting point.  It comes from God, who as the Triune One, exists in his eternal life of communion, with the Father and Son always exchanging a …

Read more

Abba! Father!

One of my special moments in life came in Israel when I watched a young boy run after a man, calling out “Abba, Abba!”  For the first time I had a tangible sense of what God offers us in Christ: an invitation to call him “Daddy!”  The confidence and energy of that Israeli youngster spoke …

Read more

A Proper Diet

Jesus was a popular figure in his day, especially among the hungry, the lame, the blind, the unclean, and the despairing.  Enough so that among the privileged classes it was both a jealousy for their own standing and a fear of the unruly crowds that led them to crucify Jesus.  Yet at one point—as reported …

Read more