Are You Insulting God in Worship?

The misunderstanding of a short, three-letter word can transform an act of heartfelt worship into a slanderous insult. Perhaps you’ve heard Matt Redman’s song “Here for You” and are familiar with its lyrics. Here’s the first verse: Let our praise be Your welcome Let our songs be a sign We are here for You, we are here for You Let Your breath come from...

Read More

Is Your Joy Real or an Imposter?

Do you believe that “real enjoyment is essential to real godliness,” or does that sound more like a tagline for the power of positive thinking? Or maybe a self-serving cliché on the lips of some popular prosperity preacher of our day? I was caught a bit off-guard myself when I discovered that the author of that statement is none other than J. I. Packer. The more I...

Read More

We Must Live With This

“Let anyone who has no love for the Lord be accursed.” (1 Cor 16:22, NET) This verse seems to dangle there with no immediately apparent connection to what precedes it or follows. Paul placed this thought in the very last handful of sentences in the first letter to the Corinthians. He’s given the readers some final punctuated reminders to end up his long epistle. It has...

Read More

The Hour Had Come

“The hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” (Mark 14:41) All Jesus’s human life had anticipated this hour. Every careful attempt at keeping the messianic secret. Every emotional investment poured gladly into his disciples. Every glimpse of the ocean of his kindness as he healed the blind, the mute, the lame, the demonized, and even raised...

Read More