During the last three years, I was engaged in the fight of my life—concerning depression—and I failed in significant ways. I had endured an extended depressive episode earlier in life, but in retrospect, had not learned the lessons from that episode that I should have learned. Thus, in my more recent episode, I was not [ Read More ]
During the course of our lives, many of us undergo suffering at a level we thought we would never experience. The pain is excruciatingly protracted and seemingly endless. It seems the darkness will never lift. It is during times such as these that the ancient story of Job provides light for the dark path ahead. [ Read More ]
The sixth line of the Lord’s prayer is, “For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory.” It is a fitting summary because the entire prayer is about God’s kingdom, God’s power, and God’s glory. God is unspeakably majestic and powerful, and the kingdom he promises to consummate will radiate his majesty and power. [ Read More ]
The fifth line of the Lord’s Prayer is “lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Now that we have hallowed God’s name and his intentions, relied on him for provision, and practiced gospel-centered forgiveness, we have begun “playing offense” in the world of spiritual warfare. However, we need also to “play defense.” [ Read More ]
Now that we have explored the concept of toxicity and delved into how we can identify people who are toxic to us, we can explore the concept theologically, employing biblical-theological categories to understand the phenomenon and to craft a faithfully Christian posture toward toxic people. As Gary Thomas writes in When to Walk Away, Scripture [ Read More ]
The story is told of a man who received a call from the middle school down the road. The voice on the other end of the line said, “Sir, we are calling because your son has become a serial liar.” To which the man responded, “Well, he must be pretty good, because I don’t have [ Read More ]