By meunierd; photo from Shutterstock.com; fresco in Shepherd Field Chapel.
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I was a Christian for many years before I understood the eternal ramifications of the Incarnation—specifically what it meant for God, not just for us. When Jesus was born in the flesh, he didn’t take on a human nature for just a limited time. For the rest of eternity Jesus will be truly God and truly human; he will always have both a divine nature and a human nature. That in itself is mind-boggling.
Jesus' resurrected body is the firstfruits of the resurrected bodies we will have.
What's also mind-boggling is that Jesus' resurrected body is the firstfruits of the resurrected bodies we will have when he returns at the consummation:
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. (1 Cor. 15:22-23)
Because of all Christ has done on behalf of all who trust in him alone for salvation, believers will have eternal bodies like the one Jesus has, and the family of God will live together as physical beings in glory forever.
God is always faithful; he doesn't make half-way commitments.
Sadly we currently live in a fallen world where commitments are often held cheaply. When it seems too burdensome to stay the course with someone who is struggling, we may be tempted to leave and go searching for greener pastures to graze, smoother oceans to sail. We want to stay the course, but it just seems too hard and too long to patiently wait to see any fruit produced from keeping our commitments. Thankfully, God is not like us in that way. He is always faithful. He doesn't make half-way commitments.
Jesus will have a human nature forever.
God’s love never fails or gives up—he loved sinful humanity so much that Jesus was willing to take on a human nature forever. If you have ever been disappointed by someone who left you when you needed them more than ever, take heart. Come what may, your Savior has made an unbreakable, eternal commitment to you, dear saint.
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14)
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The month of December can feel magical. Strings of lights appear in our yards, twinkling in the darkness; trees light up our houses; our favorite Christmas songs play everywhere in the background; Christmas cookies bake in the oven; people host parties and buy gifts; and everyone is filled with a desire to give to others and care for those in need. It can feel like such a season of hope, of things made beautiful, of people coming together in oneness and joy, and of the needy being cared for.
Christmas Letdown
It is lovely and yet, a bit devastating—especially as you get older—to realize just how quickly the season passes and how long it takes to come back round again. You know that for every twinkly light and caroler, there will be a bag of used wrapping paper and a mostly dead tree left the day after Christmas; and you will feel sad and let down, because just like that, it's gone again, over once more.
Maybe you'll keep playing Christmas music in an attempt to keep the spirit going; but eventually, the Christmas cookies will be stale, no one will want to watch It's a Wonderful Life again, and you'll pack everything all up for next December.
It's depressing when Christmas feels like the end—the end of the year, the season, the holiday spirit, the Christmas trees, family being together, and those beautiful twinkly lights. I've been struggling the last few years with this sense of being let down by Christmas. Everything I'm looking forward to enjoying is heaped up into a few short, extremely busy weeks—maybe into the one day of Christmas itself—and then it's over and done, and I'm left disappointed.
A Better Perspective about Christmas
As Christmas approaches this year, I've been reflecting on the fact that I might be thinking about Christmas from the wrong perspective. As much as it feels like it, Christmas is not the end. It is the beginning! I don't mean the beginning of the new year or the beginning of our better selves, but the beginning of real hope.
There's a beautiful passage in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis that has illustrated this for me. The curse the White Witch places on the country of Narnia is that it would be "always winter and never Christmas." But after all four children in the story have made their way into this other world, hope awakens. Father Christmas appears!
The significance of this is declared by Father Christmas, himself: “‘I've come at last,” said he. “She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at last. Aslan is on the move. The Witch's magic is weakening.’” Christmas signals Aslan's return and the weakening of the Witch's dark magic. Christmas stirs hope. The festivities that the animals experience speak to the hope they feel for the end of winter and perhaps an appearance of Aslan.
Christmas—the Interrupter of Winter
There is a very real sense in which Christmas is the interrupter of winter. It enters the bleakness and brings celebration. It brings hope for new beginnings, hope for an appearance of a savior. Just as the Israelites endured a long winter of exile, waiting, longing for the appearance of a Promised One, a joy that at times did not seem possible, we too are waiting, exiled in this winter of a world which is not our true home.
We are waiting for something better, something that at times seems so far off and so distant that we're not sure it will ever break through. The pain, the loss, the sadness, the suffering of today feels much stronger, much more real. Today, every one of us has something that we're grieving, someone we're missing, fears we're carrying, hurt we're feeling, and it really seems like there's no way out. The winter of all of that brokenness does not seem to have an end. But Christmas interrupts the winter and reminds us of what came and of what we are still waiting for.
We remember the arrival or "advent" of Christ thousands of years ago, and it's beautiful because he came into a hopeless, lost world and gave it a new beginning. The Savior entered our story and gave himself so we could have a new story. As we round the corner of Christmas and all the lights are packed away, it's tempting to think it's over. But Christmas is not the end. As we're celebrating Christ's birth, we're walking right into a time of remembering his life and death and resurrection. Christmas begins this period of remembrance and also reminds us that we're waiting for another advent—the second one.
Christ came to give hope to a broken world, but that hope is not yet fully realized. We are waiting in a time of exile, like the Israelites, for another arrival to interrupt the winter. Christmas is just the beginning. As I put away the Advent calendar and take down the ornaments, that's what I'll be reminding myself of this year. Not that it's all done, but that it's begun. He has come! The world has been changed by his arrival, and he will come again. It will not always be winter.
This article was originally published on December 20, 2017.
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And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” — Mark 9:2-7
You will always have people talking to you. Whether it’s through the daily dose of news, magazine articles, Youtube celebrities, advertisements that pop up in social media, or just friends, family, or even on occasion a total stranger, people always have something to say—be it opinion or information, good or bad, trustworthy or false.
God’s prophets communicated God’s word to God’s people.
Words and communication are so important that God had a special group of individuals whose job it was to communicate God’s word to God’s people so they might know what God’s will was for them. These people were called prophets. Their job was so serious that if they told false information concerning God’s message, they were to be severely punished.
With all the information out there and the many messages we receive on a constant basis, God knows that it is vital we receive his message because his message holds life and liberty for all those who hear it and accept it.
The baby in the manger was the perfect prophet of God to whom the Old Testament prophets pointed.
Over the years there were many good prophets, like Moses and Elijah in the Old Testament. Yet, a certain little baby was born in Bethlehem who was the perfect prophet of God. In fact, in the Gospel of John, this baby is called the Word:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)
Jesus is God revealed in human flesh. And not only was Jesus the revelation of God in the flesh, but he also spoke God’s word faithfully and lived out God’s commandments perfectly.
Jesus was the perfect prophet to whom the godly Old Testament prophets pointed, and in the Gospels we learn about his birth, life, and work telling sinners about the grace and goodness of God. Jesus, the perfect prophet speaking God the Father’s message, was the good message itself.
We need to listen to God’s Son, for salvation only comes through him.
Jesus preached that God the Father had provided a way to salvation, and that he (Jesus) was that way:
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
As you go through this Advent season, many voices will try to get your attention. But these voices can often be distractions from focusing on the one voice that really matters: the voice of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ is God, we find his word to us in the Bible—God’s word.
So as your busy holiday takes shape, remember the command of God the Father from heaven and listen to God’s Son. Spend time reading God’s word, thinking about God’s word, singing about God and his goodness, and praying to God. In this way, the voice of God, the voice of the one who was born in the manger, won’t get lost during this Christmas season.
Click below to read the entire Advent Sunday series!
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Do you ever feel like the Israelites in the Book of Judges—a monumental task has been set before you and you start with gusto, but then your resolve wains and forward progress dwindles to nothing? While the narratives in Judges are full of fascinating stories, they are also stories of great failure. We must consider then, what the author of Judges wants to teach God’s children today.
In Judges 1:1-2:5 we have a dense account of Israel’s military battles.
The book of Judges wasn’t written just to tickle our ears. How are we to be spiritually encouraged by a book whose content is full of military campaigns and whose characters are ones we can hardly imagine meeting in real life? The stories are also gruesome. The Israelites are commanded by God to wipe out all the wicked people of the land.[1] Is this book pertinent for modern day Christians? Yes, it most certainly is. It is crucial to realize that the book of Judges has much to offer Christians today, as we always need reminders to persevere in faithfulness and look for blessings from our heavenly Father.
In Judges 1:1 - 2:5 we have a dense account of Israel’s military battles, wherein the tribe of Judah is very prominent. Judah fights and is victorious for much of the passage, bringing God’s just judgement to the evil Canaanite peoples. The pagan king even accepts God’s judgement as just in a short speech he gives in verse 7:
“Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me.” (Judg. 1:7)
God’s just judgment is upheld even by the pagan king in defeat.[2] God’s sustaining presence and blessing is indicated throughout the passage[3], notably at the beginning when God says, “Behold, I have given the land into his [Judah’s] hand,” and in two other places where the text tells us that “the LORD was with Judah/them” (vv.19, 22). So why then does such a military campaign that begins on such a positive note descend into defeat and a stark word of judgment from the Lord in chapter two?
Like the Israelites in the book of Judges, we are not fully obedient, or not obedient at all.
The Lord in fact answers this question in his final speech. Evidently, for all the success of the people as recorded in chapter one, defeating enemies and putting them to forced labor, they were not fully faithful and obedient to God.[4] God lists how he has been faithful to the Israelite people, yet he points out that they have been just the opposite with him. While he said, “I will never break my covenant with you,” Israel refused to break down the pagan altars and instead made covenants with the evil people of the land. In short, the Lord declares, “You have not obeyed my voice.” This stern reprimand ends with an open-ended question: “What is this you have done?”
Have we ever been in a place where this question has been applied to our hearts and minds, where we are brought by God’s word preached, or the loving confrontation of a brother or sister in Christ, to see how we have lacked in obedience to our heavenly Father? We know like the Israelites that God is with us; we know what we ought to do, but instead of faithful obedience we are not fully obedient, or even not obedient at all.
Israel responds to the news of God’s assessment and subsequent judgment with weeping. They have no answer of justification for God; they acknowledge that what he has said is true, and sorrow follows. Yet, is this the end of the story for sinners who fail in faithfulness, who do not take full advantage of God’s power, presence, and blessing in their lives? How should we respond when we are confronted with the stark words of “What is this you have done?”
Like the family of Caleb, we also should be expecting God to work on our behalf as we strive against spiritual enemies.
In this section of Judges we find three small stories told in great detail; the fall of a pagan king, the faithfulness of a family, and the unfaithfulness of a tribe. The middle story should be an encouragement for us as it is placed at the center of this passage.
From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher. And Caleb said, “He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife.” And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife. When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. (Judg. 1:11-15)
Here we find here a faithful father, Caleb, encouraging brave conquest by offering his daughter as the prize in marriage to any faithful hero. We have a faithful daughter asking blessing of her father, and he freely grants it. If only the people of Israel had been like this family. As Keller writes, “The narrator narrows the focus to one spiritually brave family in Israel— the family of faithful Caleb. Here, in miniature, is what all Israel should be like.”[5]
In fact, Caleb’s family exemplifies what we all should be like: trusting in God’s presence and power, attacking our besetting sins with vigor, expecting God to work on our behalf as we strive against spiritual enemies, being willing to fell giants (Judg. 1:20). Yet, like the people of Israel, we make excuses for our lack of faithfulness. Like the people of Judah later in the passage, we say, “God, I know you are with me, but I can’t do that hard thing, there are ‘chariots of iron’ preventing me.”[6]
We need a champion like Caleb or Othniel who can overcome our enemies for us, for we cannot win our own victories in our own strength.
The book of Judges then brings us modern-day Christians to the realization that we are often like the failing Israelites—our faithfulness is not complete. We need a champion like Caleb or Othniel who can overcome our enemies for us, whose victory we can participate in, for we cannot win our own victories in our own strength—we find we constantly fall short.
So where does this leave us? If we recognize we are more like the faltering and disobedient Israelites, tending toward less and less faithfulness, and we recognize that our obedience pales in comparison to Caleb or Othniel, where do we look when our conscience and the Word of God confront us with the words, “What is this you have done?”
We look to be like Achsah, the only woman in this passage. She doesn’t do any fighting, yet she becomes the bride of the great warrior Othniel and receives an inheritance and a blessing from her father. In fact, Achsah is the only individual in this passage who asks for a blessing, and she promptly receives it from her loving father. We need to be wedded to a great warrior, gifted an inheritance earned by another, and receive blessing because we are children, just as Achsah received streams of water from her father Caleb.
Like Achsah did in asking for—and receiving—a blessing, Christians are to humbly come before our heavenly Father in prayer and thanksgiving and receive the blessings he has for us in Christ.
The central story and family of this passage teaches us that we need a hero who is like Othniel, who will conquer a city and obey God fully to gain a bride. We need a father who will graciously give gifts because he is giving them to his children, and we need to be like Achsah, a faithful bride and persistent child, asking for blessing.
If we have Christ, we have our faithful warrior who fulfilled all of God’s commands willingly and with love toward his Father. He is a warrior who never sinned nor fell short of the righteous call of God. He is a warrior who has secured for those who trust in him an eternal inheritance and blessing. He has fought the hard fight to earn a bride, his church, of which we are part if we place our trust in him. And, because Christ has paid the price for our faithlessness and sin, we can be called children of God and come to our heavenly Father with petitions whenever we still sin. We can be blessed with repentance, forgiveness, and renewal from our heavenly Father. Let us praise the Lord, that he has done all that is required to earn heaven on our behalf, and let us humbly come before him and ask for his streams of blessing in Christ.
This article was originally published on July 25, 2023.
[1] Timothy Keller in his book, Judges for You (The Good Book Company, 2013), has a very helpful section explaining what this type of warfare was that God commanded, as well as the reason behind it, and how it differs from present day evil atrocities like genocide.
[2] Dale Ralph Davis, Judges, Such a Great Salvation (Christian focus Publications Ltd.: Geanies House, Great Britain) 21.
[3] see Davis, Judges, 18. on “Divine Adequacy.”
[4] Davis, Judges, 26.
[5] Keller, Judges for You, 18.
[6] Keller, writes, “Judah does not trust in God’s strength, so they measure their own strength against their enemies’, and fail to push the chariot-owning plain-dwellers out of the land. Common, but faithless, sense, begins to prevail here. Judah doesn’t trust God; and so they don’t secure their inheritance so that they can worship God without compromise,” 19.
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Kickstart the new year by adding these key books on the Christian faith to your 2025 reading list, and they make great Christmas gifts too! (Click here for the 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018 lists.)
As the preacher declares in Ecclesiastes, “There is nothing new under the sun” (1:9). The early church struggled with those who claimed to be God’s shepherds but instead put themselves first over the gospel (e.g., Rom. 16:17-18; Phil. 3:18-19; 2 Pet. 2:1-3; Gal. 1:6-7; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; Col. 2:8), and today the church is faced with an onslaught of leftist advocates who are infiltrating the church via both gullible and knowledgeable leaders at the local and national level.
In Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda, author and reporter Megan Basham addresses the following leftist agendas being pushed from the pulpit and Christian media elites, a.k.a. “Big Eva”: climate change activism, illegal immigration, the hijacking of the pro-life movement to push for more social welfare, Covid-19 propaganda, the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements, and increasing acceptance of LGBTQ beliefs.
But why would influential leaders in the church push for the above agendas? As someone once said, “The answer’s the money. Now what was the question?” According to Basham, huge sums have been spent by leftist organizations to entice Christians to open the door to teachings that may seem loving but at their core deny the whole counsel of God’s word and attack God’s moral law. And we all know that with money comes power. According to Voddie Baucham, bestselling author of Fault Lines and dean of the School of Divinity at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia,
Anybody paying attention to the current state of the culture can see that things are in disarray. And many have wondered where Evangelical elites have been. Well, Megan Basham has the answer. She reveals that many of them have served as puppets and pawns of the enemies of the Gospel, and she provides receipts! This book is riveting, and, at times, difficult to read because of the deeds it uncovers. But we must read it. And those exposed within its pages must give an account.
There are people named in the book (and their supporters) who have not agreed with all of Basham’s evidence and conclusions since its publishing date of July 2024. Any author making such claims must be up to the challenge of defending those claims as people’s reputations are on the line, which Basham has worked diligently to do. Yet, as Jesus said in Luke 8:17, “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” It is our duty as Christians to hold our spiritual leaders and trusted Christian influencers accountable for pushing any agenda that takes the focus away from preaching and teaching Christ and him crucified. As Voddie Baucham notes above, Shepherds for Sale isn’t an “easy” read in the sense of what the book reveals, which is all the more reason to add it to your reading list. Click here for Amazon link.
Parents worry about their children. Churches worry about their children. Will they travel in their footsteps as faithful followers of Jesus Christ, or will they drift away to be lost in the world without the hope of eternal life? In The (Not-So-Secret) Secret to Reaching the Next Generation, Pastor and theologian Kevin DeYoung provides five clear and “simple” ways to reach the next generation of believers, and they are not worldly gimmicks, edgy programs, or innovations that try to push God’s Word toward irrelevancy. In fact, they focus on Scriptural truth centered on the gospel. The five are: “Grab them with passion; Win them with love; Hold them with holiness; Challenge them with truth; Amaze them with God.”
These five principles grounded in biblical truth are not new, but too often they can get lost in efforts to engage with the culture. DeYoung brings them back into clear focus in the context of how Christians can pass on the truth of the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit to the next generation. Surely it is time to be less anxious and instead steadfastly teach and do what God desires as he brings all his people into union with our Lord Jesus Christ. Click here for Amazon link.
When Christians go to pray, often it is the Lord’s Prayer that first comes to mind. And this is good, as it is the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray. Yet, did Jesus mean that we are to stay within the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer when we pray? How should Christians approach praying to God in light of the most famous and beloved prayer ever spoken?
As pastor, author, and Core Christianity podcast host Adriel Sanchez so aptly summarizes, “the source of true prayer is the heart” (p. 14). In his book Praying with Jesus: Getting to the Heart of the Lord’s Prayer, Sanchez encourages us that it’s not about being “super spiritual” when it comes to prayer; rather, it’s about being “poor in spirit” (p. 16). He first takes readers through a general overview of prayer—what it is, the posture of prayer, times to pray, and the impediments that keep believers from enjoying an authentic prayer life, including hypocritical prayers and “spam” prayers (vain repetitions). As Sanchez writes,
God knows what you need better than you do (Matthew 6:8). A simple and short prayer rooted in God’s Word and will is more powerful than ten thousand empty phrases that seek to manipulate God. (pp. 20-21)
Next, Sanchez takes readers through the Lord’s Prayer petition by petition, providing historical, theological, and practical insight. The style is reverent and joyful at the same time, as Sanchez strives—and succeeds—in giving the reader a deeper appreciation for each petition and helpful insight into what the Lord’s Prayer means for believers right now. Sanchez concludes each chapter with a prayer from godly Christians of the past as well as some suggestions for prayer practices.
This isn’t the first book written on the Lord’s Prayer, and we’re quite sure it won’t be the last, but Praying with Jesus: Getting to the Heart of the Lord’s Prayer is one not to be missed by anyone who wants to grow in maturity in their prayer life. It’s also a wonderful gift idea for a brother or sister in Christ who needs encouragement in the area of prayer. Click here for Amazon link.
Have you ever wondered what to do with Biblical narratives, the parts of the Bible that are stories? You may have found them interesting (or strange), but wondered what or how you were supposed to learn from them. How Bible Stories Work: A Guided Study of Biblical Narrative by Leland Ryken is the guide you need to go from knowing about a story to understanding and finding the meaning the author intended to pass along to his reader—the meaning that can have a life-changing and spiritual impact.
Some may wonder why God didn’t just give us the Bible in simple, straightforward laws and precepts. Why stories in the first place? Ryken writes,
If ideas are all that matter, the writers of the Bible could have given us a list of ideas. Instead they gave us a book that is predominately more than ideas—stories, for example, and poems made out of images and figures of speech. (p. 25)
This short book, only 126 pages in total, gives readers the necessary tools to approach a biblical narrative and understand what the biblical storyteller would like them to come away knowing and experiencing. There are eight chapters in total, and each chapter focuses on either an aspect of literary analysis or how to understand stories that will help the reader unpack a story well. Ryken stresses understanding the “how” of a storyteller to help one understand “what” is being communicated. Following the explanation of the literary topic for that chapter, Ryken walks readers through an example, showing them how to apply what they have learned. This section is followed by an opportunity for readers to practice what they have learned. He concludes each chapter summarizing his big ideas for the chapter. In each chapter for the practice opportunity, Ryken helpfully includes the Scriptural text so that readers don’t have to put the book down and find their own Bibles to try the exercise.
How Bible Stories Work packs a punch for its small size and is quite dense in the sense that Ryken includes the most important information to understand biblical narratives with no wasted space. The benefits are immediate, however. After reading just the first chapter, you will better understand the purpose of biblical narratives, and after the second, you will begin to see the Bible stories you read in a clearer light. If you want to take your Bible reading from an elementary level of simply reading a Bible story to really understanding the stories on a deeper level, Ryken equips you with the tools to do Bible study without an outside study guide. This book is a treasure and would benefit any Bible study group or individual. In How Bible Stories Work, Ryken wants to move Bible readers from “story to meaning,” and he gives them the tools necessary to make that worthwhile trip. Click here for Amazon link.
“Who are you to judge others?” “That’s just your opinion.” “You can’t legislate morality. “All religions are basically the same.” “You can’t trust the Gospels—they’re unreliable.” “People claim JFK and Elvis are alive, too!”
Most Christians have encountered some of the above comments, and they can be certain their children will be confronted with similar kinds of pushback to their Christian convictions as they mature and head out into the world. Reading Paul Copan’sTrue for You, But Not for Me: Overcoming Objections to Christian Faith will give younger and older adults alike facts and reasoning skills to respond in love with sound answers while remaining strong in their faith along the way.
Copan, professor and Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University and author of numerous apologetic books including Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God helps believers untangle the relativist logic of secular approaches to the Bible and Christian morals and take a stand for absolute truth in thirty-three short chapters. Each topic Copan covers can be read quickly and discussed either briefly or in greater depth at home, in Sunday school classes, and book groups. He not only provides helpful facts regarding the reliability of biblical claims but also breaks down relativist arguments that, at first glance, may sound loving and tolerant but are actually moralist positions themselves with underlying value systems that ultimately deny biblical truth.
Parents need to prepare their children for the post-Christian world in which they must live and not assume they will just know what to say or do. Adults as well are bombarded today with moral value claims, such as “Love is love,” that have an appearance of godliness but actually seek to justify behavior that the Bible deems sinful.
True for You, But Not for Me is one of those books Christians will read, be grateful for, and wish they had read when they were younger. This is an excellent gift idea for high school and college students and anyone who wants to be better prepared to defend the faith and God’s moral law in everyday life. Click here for Amazon link.
With all the medical advances in our world today, making biblically-based decisions at the end of life for both ourselves and those under our care has become increasingly complicated and nerve-wracking. We don’t want to “play God” by giving or withholding life-extending treatment, and we also don’t want to make any mistakes when it comes to life-or-death decisions. Thankfully, Covenant College professor of philosophy and author Bill Davis has written the highly respected Departing in Peace: Biblical Decision-Making at the End of Life to help Christians faithfully approach the frequently complex challenges of end-of-life care. In the preface, Davis emphasizes the book’s focus on Scripture for its central ethical argument:
This book appeals explicitly to Scripture because Bible-believing Christians are too often persuaded that the Bible requires us to use medical means to extend physical life as long as possible. I will be arguing against this supposed requirement. My argument is built both on general ethical principles and on what the Bible teaches. The Bible does not require doing everything as death approaches; instead, the Bible requires something else. This “something else” locates our obligations about end-of-life decisions inside our more general obligation to serve God’s glory and our neighbors’ good in all that we do with our resources of time, energy, opportunity, and wealth. (Preface)
In Departing in Peace, Davis covers fundamental biblical obligations, real-life stories of implementing biblical principles, advance directives, financial considerations, what to realistically expect in hospital settings, and what we can do now to prepare well when it comes to decision making in end-of-life care.
Preparing wisely both for our own eventual death if the Lord tarries and how to best care for those we love who will need our help with managing end-of-life directives will be time well spent. God’s Word has much to say on this important topic, and Davis’s Departing in Peace is a mature and thoughtful resource for making sound judgments in sorrowful times. Click here for Amazon link.
We all love stories. Whether it’s a good novel, TV show, biography, or social media clip, a good story draws us in. Perhaps that’s what makes David Murray’s book The Story Changer: How God Rewrites Our Story by Inviting Us into His so attractive. Using the analogy of a story, along with other terms having to do with storytelling (chapter titles include “The Story-Shredder,” “The Failed Authors,” “New Story,” and “Book Club,” to name a few), Murray introduces the reader to the wonderful story of Jesus Christ and how his story changes our own terrible stories.
Murray’s use of the story genre to explain the gospel is helpful and insightful, allowing readers to examine their own lives and look for the answer to their brokenness and sin in the only one who can offer it, Jesus Christ. While this is a short book—less than 130 pages with language that is accessible to teens and adults—you might think this would be a quick read. However, because each chapter includes questions for reflection on your own life and how Jesus’ story impacts you, a thoughtful speed for reflection and application is fitting. After addressing his main topic for each chapter Murray has sections summarizing “Changing Our Story with God’s Story,” which help readers apply what he has said thus far. Murray also closes each chapter with a personal account of how his own story has been changed by the “Story Changer,” further giving examples of how to apply the given topic of the chapter.
The Story Changer is a great read and would be of benefit to any Christian who needs a fresh look at the beauty of the gospel. It is also a thoughtful introduction to an unbeliever who is examining his or her hopeless state and needs to learn more about the only one who can wipe away every tear—for Murray, chapter by chapter, encourages readers to “get to know the Story Changer and how this amazing author can change our story with his Story” (12). Click here for Amazon link.
(Written by the Rev. Campbell Markham) The thesis of theologian Matthew Barrett’s The Reformation as Renewal: Retrieving the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church is in the title. Pick up any older church history and the Reformation is presented as appearing as suddenly as Athena stepping from Zeus’s slashed brow as a grown and armored woman ready for war. Yes, we nod to John Wycliffe and Jan Hus and maybe Savonarola as “proto-Reformers,” but Luther arrives on the scene like a bolt of lightning, hammer and 95 Theses in hand, creating a glittering Protestant movement ex nihilo.
Such histories depict the Roman Catholic Church as gargantuan and solid as Europe itself, with a little boat of Protestants setting forth from this continent to settle in a new and different land. The Reformation appears as a fresh start, a new beginning. Barrett teaches how wrong this idea is.
Instead, in Reformation as Renewal Barrett shows us the one, holy, catholic [universal], and apostolic church of Jesus Christ, unfolding through the ages according to the power and plan of Jesus, who promised, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). But Jesus also promised that his church would be viciously persecuted from without, and relentlessly tested from within by temptations and false teachers, so that it would only be at the end of time that he would separate the wheat from the weeds.
It is vital, for the survival and health of the church, that we work to acquire a good grasp of church history. It is especially important for Evangelical Protestants to understand what it means to be a Protestant: we are not an appendix to Jesus’ one holy, catholic, and apostolic church, but the body itself. “You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Cor. 12:27).
Predestination. It’s in the Bible and yet many Christians don’t want to discuss it. Why? Likely the main reason is that if God predestines some people to eternal life and not others, God doesn’t seem to be fair. And what about the preaching of the gospel? Is it even necessary if God has already chosen who is going to be saved and also does the work of regenerating them to new life by the power of the Holy Spirit? How can we possibly reconcile Bible passages about election/being chosen and passages about the need to repent of our sins and trust in Jesus as our Savior? Is it true, as some claim, that God just “foreknew” but didn’t actually elect those who would come to Christ? We know Bible passages can’t contradict each other, so what’s going on when it comes to the topics of predestination and the free offer of the gospel?
Macleod first takes readers through common objections to the free offer of the gospel in light of the Bible’s teaching on predestination, covering the following topics:
Man’s spiritual bondage—Do fallen human beings still have the capacity to repent and believe? (p. 12)
God’s sovereignty—Where is man’s responsibility in repenting and receiving Christ as their Savior, and does the free offer of the gospel conflict with God’s sovereignty in a person’s salvation? (p. 30)
Christ’s atoning work—Did Christ die for all or only for the elect? (p. 46)
God’s free offer of the gospel—Does God sincerely desire the salvation of everyone who hears the gospel? (p. 53)
Next, Macleod goes into specifics of how evangelists are to deliver God’s free offer of salvation in Christ and how to be a faithful fisher of men who labors to preach God’s Word authoritatively and wholeheartedly.
Christians don’t need to be confused or embarrassed by the numerous Bible passages about God’s sovereignty, predestination, election, and being “chosen” by God for salvation. God’s Word never contradicts itself, and Jesus meant it when he said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Readers who are still skeptical about how God’s free offer of the gospel and predestination can possibly both be true, as well as those who want to have better answers when asked about this topic, will find reading Donald Macleod’s Compel Them to Come In time well spent. Click here for Amazon link.
Churches can too easily get distracted by the world, but Bryan D. Estelle, professor of Old Testament at Westminster Seminary California, helps bring them back from the brink of worldliness by providing solid biblical teaching and historical context on the primary mission of the church.
Churches need to be on guard against the distraction of trying to reform this world with endeavors that aim at social justice and cultural transformation. In The Primary Mission of the Church: Engaging or Transforming the World? Estelle grounds his exhortation in the gospel teaching of Jesus regarding the kingdom of heaven as distinguished from this worldly kingdom in which we live. The primary mission of the church as an institution is the gospel’s focus on the eternal heavenly kingdom—the spiritual kingdom that Christ Jesus came to inaugurate. On the other hand, individuals in their callings are appropriately involved in cultural endeavors while recognizing that God rules over everything.
Nevertheless, local churches need reminding that, as this world is passing away, their primary effort is to be eternally minded and spiritual, not worldly, for the church is “not of this world.” Estelle does address material matters, though, since the clear teaching of Jesus also addresses loving and caring for others, and also provides extensive historical and confessional background on the primary mission of the church. Readers of The Primary Mission of the Church will be amply edified and encouraged to help churches give important attention to what our Lord teaches is most important for his church. Click here for Amazon link.
Membership is a commitment, whether it’s a gym membership, store membership, club membership, or some other kind of organizational membership. Yet, when it comes to church membership many Christians view it as an unnecessary, archaic act from the past. Common thinking among many believers is that just attending a church on a regular basis makes them a member, and some churches don’t even offer membership. Christians may claim that the Bible doesn’t explicitly require membership, but does this mean church membership is a non-issue? According to pastor and author Jonathan Landry Cruse in his recent book, Church Membership,
Before we dive in, let me just say that this is precisely where some people err: they claim that the Bible does not, in actuality, speak to the issue of church membership, and so it cannot be required of a believer. Although I concede that there is no chapter and verse for “Thou shalt join a local church,” this does not mean the Bible is silent on the matter. The God who wrote the Bible gave us the intellect to discern its message, even when some parts of it are not spelled out as clearly as the Ten Commandments. (pp. 35-36)
The Belgic Confession, a historic statement of the Christian faith, states that a true church bears the following three marks: the pure preaching of the Word of God, the pure administering the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and the right exercising of church discipline, and, as Cruse points out, this effort to define what is a “true church” is necessary because of the reality of sin:
Just because a building has a sign that says “church” does not mean that it is a true one. “There will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies,” Peter warns (2 Peter 2:1). As a result, what some call a church, Christ actually calls a “synagogue of Satan” (Rev. 2:9). Thus, these “marks” of a true church ensure that the people who gather there get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth (see 1 Tim. 3:15). (pp. 27-28)
Cruse conveys essential truths of the Christian faith in an engaging, conversational style, and in Church Membership he goes into depth on the nature, necessity, benefits, and responsibilities of belonging to a local congregation. The book includes helpful study questions at the end of each chapter, which are very handy for group use as well. The final chapter of the book focuses on practical questions regarding church membership, such as how can a Christian know which church to join, do Christians need to join the church closest to them in proximity, and what a Christian should do if there isn’t a faithful church near to where they are moving.
Church membership is not only a wonderful blessing and duty of the Christian life but also something every believer should approach with the utmost seriousness. Reading Cruse’s book is a good step to take in learning more about what it means to belong to Christ’s kingdom and be part of the communion of the saints. Click here for Amazon link.
(Written by BCL associate editor Ayrian Yasar) “The Bible is a big book.” This statement was a favorite by a seminary professor of mine and while it seems simplistic, it is exceedingly true. A person can study and study and still have so much to learn of God from his Word. Thankfully, through the ages God has been pleased to gift his church with godly teachers and expositors of the Scriptures so that each new generation can build on the truths unearthed by the previous one.
One of the most thorough expositions of the Bible is found in the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF), a historic confession of the Christian faith that was written in the seventeenth century. Yet, the language and vocabulary of this worthy document are quite foreign to most modern readers. If only these scriptural truths distilled by seventeenth-century churchmen could be explained for a modern audience in a style and vocabulary that was accessible! They took great care in presenting and explaining the Scriptures well, but are we able to learn from them? Yes. Theologian Sinclair Ferguson notes that
R.C.’s [Sproul] passion for the Holy One was expressed in his whole-souled commitment to and his remarkable ability to communicate the truth, power, and life-transforming wisdom of the theology that the Reformers and Puritans had mined from the pages of Scripture. (Foreword)
And Sproul’s Truths We Confess: A Systematic Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith does just that. Each of the book’s thirty-three chapters covers a chapter from the Westminster Confession of Faith, which is quite comprehensive (some topics covered in the WCF include Scripture, God and the Trinity, Justification, saving faith, the Law of God, Marriage and Divorce, what happens after death, and the resurrection, to give just a sampling). If you would like to get a firmer grasp on the teachings of the Bible in an orderly way, Sproul’s Truths We Confess is a fantastic resource that you cannot but go right in reading. Click here for Amazon link.
A seminary education is most certainly a worthy pursuit, but not everybody has the time and resources to make it a reality. Of course, we can try to study God’s Word at a deeper level on our own, but how do we know if what we are reading is sound doctrine? If you desire to “understand what the Bible teaches, defend what the Bible teaches, and enjoy the God whom the Bible reveals” (p. 27), then you should definitely consider reading pastor, theologian, and author Kevin DeYoung’s recently published Daily Doctrine: A One-Year Guide to Systematic Theology.
First, what is meant by the term “systematic theology”? DeYoung explains:
Systematic theology is a specific type of theology, having its own method and structure. If historical theology looks at how doctrine has developed over the centuries, and natural theology examines what can be known about God by reason and observation, and biblical theology traces big themes across the redemptive storyline of Scripture, systematic theology organizes doctrine logically around topics and questions. (p. 33)
DeYoung’s systematic theology brings together teachings throughout the Bible on subjects such as the doctrine of man, the doctrine of God, covenant theology, the Person and work of Christ, the doctrine of salvation (soteriology), the nature, mission, and ordering of the church (ecclesiology), and last things (eschatology). Systematic theology helps us make sense of the Bible as a whole by taking a deep dive into major biblical topics about God, man, and God’s redemptive plan in Christ.
Daily Doctrine can be used as a year-long devotional, a reference tool, or a mini-systematic theology. DeYoung organizes the content into fifty-two weekly sections with five entries for each week, and each entry is comprised of a very readable-in-one-sitting 500 words in length. Everyone wanting to grow in knowledge of the great doctrines of the Christian faith will benefit from owning a copy of DeYoung’s Daily Doctrines. Click here for Amazon link.
With over 11,000 five-star ratings on Amazon, Paul David Tripp’s New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional is a book you won’t want to miss. Pastor and author Paul David Tripp has written a devotional for every morning of the year. Each one is an encouragement for the day, a positive way to begin and to help us focus not on ourselves but on the love and grace of God toward us. Limited to one page per day, each meditation begins with an overarching statement followed by three or four paragraphs to illustrate truth about God—“his plan, and his kingdom, and his glory” (p. 1). Some of the daily devotions will explain a portion of God’s Word, others may have a helpful illustration, while some are written in the first person to lead us to a more personal reflection about God and the love he has given to us through Jesus Christ. At the end Tripp provides a Scriptural reference to serve “for further study and encouragement.” What better way to start the morning than in prayer and meditation about the beauty and glory of God and to be encouraged by him throughout the entire day! Click here for Amazon link.
Many are familiar with J. Gresham Machen’s classic work, Christianity and Liberalism, which is a must-read for any Christian today. But, what is less well known than his work as a professor of theology in Old Princeton, a founder of Westminster Theological Seminary, and his important influence leading to the formation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, are a number of sermons, lectures, and radio addresses Machen delivered to a wide audience of students, teachers, and ordinary Christians. In the form of a systematic theology, these writings and presentations have been collected into a single volume, Things Unseen: A Systematic Introduction to the Christian Faith and Reformed Theology.
This valuable book covers the main areas of Reformed theology in three parts: Part 1 is “The Christian Faith in the Modern World,” which includes the authority of Scripture and the doctrines of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Part 2 is “The Christian View of Man,” which includes the doctrines of creation and providence, predestination, the law of God, and mankind’s sin and redemption by the grace of God. Part 3 is titled “The Final Broadcasts” and includes such varied and critical topics such as creeds; Christ’s three offices of Prophet, Priest, and King; prophecy; and the doctrine of the atonement.
Grounded in Scripture with a particular ability to present the teaching of the Word of God in a clear and understandable way, every one of Machen’s presentations compiled in Things Unseen is valuable for anyone desiring to know God more deeply and intimately. Read this book academically, and—even better—read it devotionally to be encouraged and edified by J. Gresham Machen, one of the most important Christian leaders of the twentieth century. Click here for Amazon link.
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I don't often remember the details of conversations with people. It would be nice if I did. Then I wouldn’t be so surprised when my husband leaves for ten days of business. ("Don't you remember? I told you I'd be gone on an extended trip.") Actually, no, I don't remember, because I can't even remember what I did yesterday.
But there is one conversation I do remember. It's one that still haunts me. And I remember it in great detail.
I went to see my midwife for a visit following the birth of my first child. I had numerous health problems after the delivery, and I hoped she would help me resolve them. I can still picture the room where I sat with my son asleep in his carrier on the floor.
She looked at me with concern and said, "I wonder if you might be suffering from postpartum depression."
In my mind, I thought: This is not depression. I know depression. I've diagnosed it and treated people for it. This is fatigue and stress.
I shook my head and said, “I'm just exhausted. And stressed. I need to get my health problems under control. That's all it is.”
Almost ten months later, I watched a show on television where a woman described her experience with postpartum depression, and with tears streaming down my face I whispered aloud, “That’s me.” I called my doctor the next day.
Depression is insidious like that. It hides itself behind circumstances and experiences. It can mask itself as anger or stress or grief. It remains in the shadows until it's become such a part of us, we don't remember when we didn't feel that way. Like the proverbial frog slipped into slowly warming water that eventually comes to a boil, depression creeps up on us until we can't remember the last time we felt joy.
With my second pregnancy, I told my doctor right away about my history, and we prepared for its return after the birth. And it did return, with a vengeance. The second time around, however, I told people about my struggle. I reached out for community. I knew I was in the thick of it and that I needed people to walk with me in it. And they did.
For those who struggle with depression, we need other people. We need those who know us well enough to spot the water boiling, who recognize that something isn't right. We need the church to love, support, and serve us. We need the body of believers to carry us through the darkness until the sun shines again.
Here are six practical ways the church community can help those with depression:
1. They can help by knowing one another.
When we know each other beyond the simple, “Hi. How are you? How was your week?” then we'll know when someone is struggling. We’ll notice when they’ve missed church. We’ll see the fatigue and sadness etched across their face. When we take the time to know one another well in the church, we’ll know when one part of the body is suffering, because we'll feel it too.
2. They can help by serving in practical ways.
When someone is depressed, there are many practical details of life that are hard to do. Fellow brothers and sisters in Christ can volunteer to babysit. They can prepare meals. They can drive their friend to the doctor or counselor. They can take over ministry duties for a while. In these ways and more, the church can serve the hurting.
3. They can be present.
The church ought not shy away from or abandon the hurting, nor should the church fear the depressed person's emotions. Christians don't have to know what to say or how to make the depression go away. But they can be there for their depressed brother or sister.
They can listen. They shouldn't say pithy statements about how they’ll feel better if they pray or read the Bible more. People who are hurting don’t need advice. They don’t need a spiritual to-do list. They don't even need a theology lesson. Rather, they need to know they are loved and cared for.
4. They can encourage and help friends to get the care they need.
The church can encourage the hurting to get help from a wise counselor and seek a medical evaluation. They can offer to drive and/or accompany them to their appointments. And they can remind them that even the giants of faith in church history have struggled with depression (such as C.H. Spurgeon).
5. They can remind them of the Man of Sorrows.
This is something my pastor did for me. He helped me lift my eyes to see Christ, the One who knows what life is like in this sin-stained world. Jesus took on our frail human flesh and lived a life of poverty, sorrow, and pain. He knew temptation, grief, abandonment, fear, and rejection. He cared about the suffering of my life so much so that he entered into it, living the perfect life I could not live, dying the death I deserved, and rising from the dead so that I would have life eternal. Jesus Christ, the Man of Sorrows, is my hope both now and in the future. For me, this truth brought light to dark places.
6. They can be patient.
Some people struggle with depression for long seasons. Some battle with it their entire lives. It's important that the church sticks with them. It's not like getting over a cold. As the church, we need to patiently walk beside the hurting as long as it takes.
Depression is lonely. It’s isolating. It’s also deceptive. Those who suffer with depression need the body of Christ to walk alongside them, lifting them up when they can't do so for themselves. May we be believers who know when someone in the church is hurting and care enough to journey with them in the darkness. After all, it's what Jesus did for us.
Thisarticlewas originally published under the title “Depression and the Need for Community” atchristinafox.comand was originally featured at Beautiful Christian Life on August 17, 2018.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.
The very first fallacy theologian D. A. Carson lists in his classic book Exegetical Fallacies is “the root fallacy.” What is the root fallacy and why is it of such importance to merit being first of many potential errors we risk committing while interpreting what the Bible says and means?
The etymology of a word is its history of development over time.
In short, Dr. Carson defines the root fallacy as determining the meaning of a word in the Bible by its etymology or component parts. The etymology of a word is like its genealogy—its history of development over time. For example, consider how English words have changed over the years.
“Awful” used to mean full of awe and worthy of respect or honor. However, awful now tends to mean terrible or bad. In fact, “terrible” once had a meaning similar to “awe” and “wonder”; but the negative side of the word has won out, and today it means something extremely bad. Word meanings change over time as cultural usage redefines them.
This brings us to the root fallacy of biblical interpretation—exegetical root fallacy.
How does someone commit the error of the exegetical root fallacy?
When people try to define the meaning of a biblical word by appealing to its etymology (its history of how a word’s meaning changes over time) or to its component parts, they are committing the error of exegetical root fallacy. They are trying to say a word now means such and such because its meaning used to be such and such or because its parts mean such and such.
Using the etymology of compound words is a common case of root fallacy. Though the errors most often occur with biblical Greek words, Dr. Carson gives the example of “pineapple” to help us understand the mistake. Surely we know pineapples are not apples that grow on pines! Yet, some interpreters of Scripture have tried to define compound words in a similar way, attempting to define the meaning of words by their component parts.
We need to know how a word was used at the time the author wrote the text.
The basic problem is this: writers use words in their current context—their current meaning—not necessarily how they were used in prior times. In other words, though an author may even be aware of the history of a word’s usage (diachronic—over time), writers use words in their current meaning at the time of writing—at the time the author used it (synchronic—at that time).
“The meaning of a word is found only in its current usage in its particular context at the time it was written, not in how its meaning may have changed from the past.”
Dr. Carson uses the Greek word agape to illustrate the problem. Though the word agape may at one time have meant an incestuous type of love (agape) such as Amnon’s for his half-sister Tamar (2 Sam. 13:15, Septuagint), or the type of love (agape) Demas had for the world (2 Tim. 4:10), its usage in John 3:35 for the love (agape) between the Father and the Son Christ Jesus is quite different in meaning. The meaning of a word is found only in its current usage in its particular context at the time it was written, not in how its meaning may have changed from the past.
Using reliable Hebrew and Greek lexicons is of great help in understanding biblical words in their immediate context.
Dr. Carson summarizes his point this way:
I am simply saying that the meaning of a word cannot be reliably determined by etymology, or that a root, once discovered, always projects a certain semantic load onto any word that incorporates that root.[1]
To avoid root fallacies when interpreting the meaning of biblical words, use the help of reliable lexicons along with knowing how the same writer uses the particular word elsewhere. Then strive to understand the word in its immediate context. Your understanding of the Bible will be noticeably and fruitfully enhanced.
To learn more about exegetical fallacies, please seeExegetical Fallaciesby D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1996).
This article was originally published on January 9, 2020.
