You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:1). With these words, the Apostle Paul challenges his young protégé, Timothy, not to grow weary or weak as he endures for the sake of the gospel and the church in Ephesus. The church at this time was experiencing heavy persecution from the Ephesian culture around it, which had little interest in the gospel. But the church was also facing pressure from inside in the form of false teachers. The church, and Timothy, was pressed on all sides.
Guest Writers
Sowing, Reaping, & George Floyd
Like most of you, I’ve been thinking a lot recently: About race and justice and police immunity and identity politics and a thousand other things that landed us where we are. But mostly I’ve been thinking about sowing and reaping. Paul said that we reap what we sow: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). It’s true for individuals and true for cultures: Life gives us back what we (individually and collectively) put into it. Not immediately. But over time and with the unbreakable rhythm of the seasons.
Lessons From Monastic Life For Quarantine
The present crisis has forced many of us into a cloistered life in our homes. For those of us with roommates or families, our residence has become something like a monastery. For those of us who live alone, our residence has become like a monastic cell. The cloistered life exposes our sins and weaknesses. Impatience, selfishness, pride, anger, laziness, indiscipline, anxiety, lust, and many other sins make themselves known when we’re confined to a small space for a long time. The revelation of such sins is a divinely appointed opportunity for repentance and revival.
How Do Smartphones Affect Relationships?
[I am reposting these thoughts from guest writer Noah Weaver, because this is such a helpful and timely topic for us all in this digital age.] The material below was shared at a recent men’s breakfast at our church. The insights given are biblical, relevant, and insightful. And they are things everyone in our day needs to be conscious of and intentional about as electronic devices are increasingly woven into the fabric of our daily lives. While smartphones may be relatively new, human invention and ingenuity is not. In a sense, Paul was using the technology of his day as
Change Me, Not My Circumstances
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds (James 1:2). This may be the hardest thing in the Christian life. It’s simple to understand, but seems impossible to do. How do you find joy during a battle with cancer? How do you rejoice when you can’t find a job or can’t kick an addiction; when you’re mocked for your faith; when all you want are your circumstances to change?
“Open My Eyes”: a Meditation on God’s Word
Here’s a brief meditation I wrote down from Psalm 119, a great text for Bible reading. You might find it encouraging as you continue looking for wonderful things in God’s law this year: “Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18).
Panning for Time: How I Finally Found the Gold Right In Front of Me
I am not what they call a math brain. Yet not long ago I stumbled upon an equation which thrills me now as much as it did when I first blinked at it with stupid awestruck eyes. It goes like this: 7 x 365 / 60 = 42.58. As I say, thrilling. Really, it is. Here’s why: Let’s say you do an activity for seven minutes every day—and keep it up every day for a year. That’s forty-two and a half hours every year!