Category Christward Collective

21630-exodus

7 Exoduses*

The “Exodus” principle holds a profoundly important—yet, often overlooked—place in the Christian life. Many are under the impression that there was only one “Exodus” in the Scriptures – Israel’s coming out of Egypt by the plagues, the Passover lamb and…

21609-cart-horse

The Theological Cart Before the Horse

In his now classic work, Christianity and Liberalism, J. Gresham Machen declared that Christianity was a triumphant indicative before it was an imperative. Specifically, he noted, “Herein is found the most fundamental difference between liberalism and Christianity – liberalism is altogether…

21571-psalm-8-jesus

The Re-Humanizing of Humanity

In December of 2013 we saw the cultural memorializing of two significant events—the first was the anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting, and the second, the death of Nelson Mandela. Both events, set in the context of death, stand in…

21552-prayer

9 Reasons to Pray

Why should we pray? God already knows our hearts. He already knows our desires. So why pray? We could easily say it is because the Bible commands it. Paul goes as far as to say, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess.…

21545-john

The Power of Perseverance

Every other Tuesday, one of my church’s elders, Buz, and I head over to another elder’s house for Bible study in The Epistle to the Hebrews. If you have read Hebrews, you know that perseverance is a central theme to that…

21520-repent

The Ugh and Ahh of Repentance

Almost everything about Jesus’s encounter with the Samaritan woman is unexpected. That Jesus, a Jewish male, is engaging a Samaritan woman in conversation is unexpected and unthinkable. That Jesus, a Jewish teacher, wants to offer eternal life to this religious…

21477-gavel

James and Justification: Which Court?

I have often taken comfort in the fact that the Apostle Peter said that Apostle Paul wrote “some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures” (2 Peter 3:15-16).  I…