Cross Examination

As a university pastor, every funeral I lead is a tragedy. This student, staff member, or professor died too young.

“Heal my sister’s cancer.” “Help my brother stop drinking.” These are the kinds of prayers that make us wonder if God is listening, or powerful, or loving.

Christ’s church is wonderfully diverse and sinfully divided.

That would contradict the other ideas and practices of Jesus and the first Christians.

What would this have meant to the people who first heard or read it?

We have a way of convincing ourselves that we deserve power, blessing, and a privileged identity because of our relationship with God.

We are unable to take a breath spiritually, much less reach out for a life preserver. That’s the key to understanding the doctrine of total depravity.

Richard Dawkins, one of Christianity’s fiercest detractors, declared in his best-selling book The God Delusion that “the God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction.”

Both nature and Scripture are God’s revelation, giving unique insights into God.

Our beliefs might change because of changes in knowledge and understanding in the world around us.

Let me give you three reasons why I think the resurrection of Jesus was not made up by early Christians.

We can’t seem to give up the clarity, comfort, and community that religious frameworks provide.

God created the world to work in certain ways and follow certain rules. The sun rises and sets.  Seasons come and go.

As a Reformed Christian, I cling to the unconditionality of God’s grace, by which my sins are forgiven.

What we see in Jesus’ truthing is the embodiment—the flesh and blood expression—of God’s love.

I affirm that, indeed, God is love and that we come to know something of God through experiencing and witnessing love.

Apart from having faith that God can and will preserve his Word, there are four arguments that build a rock-solid case for why we can trust the New Testament.

If we relegate the healing ministry of Jesus to the New Testament alone, then how can we say that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever?

When we allow Scripture to dig deep into our imaginations, it can reveal things about ourselves, about our world, and about life that we would never encounter by more didactic or rational means

From the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s to the #MeToo movement of the 2010s, we live in a world where we are bombarded with sexual messages at every turn.

Recalling the story of Jesus’ birth in this season is fitting and good.

What makes us think that God is portrayed differently in the Old Testament than in the New Testament?

What do we do with all the promises for peace on Earth that got stirred up during the Advent and Christmas seasons?