rebelling against low expectations
Have you ever heard the phrase: “God works in mysterious ways”? I’m sure every Christian, regardless of how long he or she has been one, has come across this statement at least once before. Have you ever wondered where it came from? The famous phrase is actually the (slightly edited) first line of a poem entitled Light Shining out of Darkness. It was written by English hymn writer William Cowper...
In this article, I will attempt to briefly take part in a rich, detailed, and historical debate involving aspects of biblical exegesis, systematic theology, and philosophical inquiry. The intimately intertwined topics of discussion are God’s sovereignty, man’s will, and the relationship between them. These are matters which are heavily laden with conflict, confusion, mystery, and emotion. But...
Some Christians commit to doing the right thing some of the time; they deem certain situations as more important than others and feel a sense of duty in those situations. Some choose to do the right thing most of the time but make exceptions or excuses in situations that are highly tempting or difficult. And then some, likely a small minority, make a daily commitment to do the right thing all of...
If you were to describe the state of the world today in one word, what would it be? Lost? Misguided? Deceived? Blind? Sick? Hurting? All of these are applicable in one way or another. But how about broken? The Origin of Our Brokenness As fallen human beings we live under the curses of sin outlined in Genesis 3:14-19. Ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden, humanity has lived in...
Once upon a time a girl found herself wandering down a trail as tears ran down her cheeks. It had happened again; she had lost something very dear to her heart and this time her insides felt shattered and bleeding. Suddenly she stumbled, but she caught herself on a post sticking out of the ground. Sobbing, she looked up at the post. A sign pointed ahead at a bend in the road. The sign said, “Life...
When I was a child, I often recited The Lord’s Prayer without an afterthought as to what I was actually uttering. If you’re anything like me, the art of prayer can be a difficult spiritual principle to grow in. Some churches teach to pray out loud or inside your head, while others remark that you need to say, “Our Father,” or “Jesus,” for it to be blessed and valid. Friends of mine raise their...
Every week, we proclaim glorious truths of Jesus Christ and His substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf through song. We lift our voices among fellow brothers and sisters, sharing a unity of our love for this Christ, who has utterly transformed us and raised us from death to life. Our once hopeless lives have been redeemed. We owe our complete and total allegiance to Jesus Christ, our Savior and...
We had disappeared into the trails, running alone beneath the trees’ dappled shadows. With swift strides, I chased after the runner ahead of me, following her down the left road at the path’s fork. For a few moments, I continued down the path until the other runner made a sudden turn. “I think we went the wrong way,” she whispered amidst heavy breaths. We ran back to the fork and turned onto the...
“The truth is like a lingering fart…everyone can smell it, everyone knows it’s there, but no one wants to admit it.” While this is just a silly quote, it’s also an attempt to show that the truth is hard to follow and even harder to acknowledge. Today it’s become popular to reject absolute truth in lieu of the mantra “follow your truth.” But what would our world look like without...
Prominent preachers today like megachurch pastor Andy Stanley claim that we need to “unhitch” the New Testament from the Old Testament. He asserts that the Old Testament is completely unnecessary to understanding the New Testament. But the Bible is one story, split into two parts, but still a single narrative. Jesus Himself claims that the Old Testament speaks of Him: “You search the Scriptures...
rebelling against low expectations
