fear

The Christian is tasked with being a citizen of Heaven while living in a broken world alongside sinful men and women within the context of a given culture or society. One aspect of that living that has seemed to transcend all cultures or societies throughout time has been a fascination with and...

Although believers have received the promise of an eternity with the triune God in the new heaven and the new earth, we’re often tempted to lose an eternal perspective, whether during days of mundane matters or terrible trials. You may be single and dread facing another lonely night, or you may be...

Tsehay Tolessa – Through a Fiery Furnace When, on July 28, 1979, the Lutheran pastor Gudina Tumsa was abducted at the end of a church service, the troubles for his wife were far from over. [1] Kidnapped at the same time, Tsehay Tolessa was left outside the city walls without any explanations. She...

The fear of God is essential to what it means to be a believer, yet there seems to be a modern aversion to this often misunderstood theme. Tune in as James and Jonathan talk to long-time friend Keith Plummer as he shares the security and courage that the fear of the Lord is intended to give to God’...

A man loses his fortune in a fire. Shortly after, all four of his young children die in a tragic shipwreck. A young woman’s husband is brutally murdered. Her second husband dies of cancer, and she herself passes away after a decade-long battle with dementia. A promising teenager becomes a...

As my wife and I anticipate our seventh covenant child (and third daughter) joining us early next year, I told our other children that it is their fault that we’re having another baby! Because they are all so amazing—so wonderful and so precious, and so we wanted to love another of them in our...

God reveals Himself not as “Mother,” but “Father,” and so fatherhood is foundational [1] as is maintaining Biblical gender designs during the annual Gay Pride Month this June. While prototypical man and woman were in many ways the same, they also were given sex distinctions so that they could fit...

Recently, Christians have agonized over accounts of false devotion to talented but corrupt church leaders. In outwardly successful churches and ministries, leaders have covered up sin, blamed victims, and blocked investigations to protect gifted but fatally flawed pastors and their ministries. To...

The Christian life is no stranger to apparent paradoxes; apparent because they are not true contradictions. Yet there are many times where we seem pulled between two opposites. Walking the path between grace and truth can be a challenge in our interactions with others. We wrestle with the...

One of the greatest memories I have of Valentine’s Day is from my time in seminary when my friends and I helped each other focus on the love of God. We were in an accountability group together and all single at the time. Far different from the romantic cards, chocolates, jewelry, and flowers being...