meditation

As I watched the events of Hurricane Helene unfold at the end of September, and heard of the devastation those in the western part of my state were facing, my heart was grieved. Normally I’m further removed geographically from natural disasters of this sort, but this time it hit much closer to home...

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...

If someone observed your life for a week, for what would they conclude you are living? Would they observe that you oppress others for power? Would they witness you being envious, foolish, a workaholic, or greedy? Would they say you pursue rugged individualism, or isolate yourself to gain power,...

One of the things we most want in life is to be loved. We want our parents and siblings to love us. We want our friends and extended family members to love us. We want our coaches and teachers to love us. If we are married, we want our spouse to love us. If we are parents, we desire our children to...

Have you ever considered that it is important to “guard your steps when you go the house of God” (Ecc. 5:1)? Perhaps we don’t often think of church as a dangerous place, and yet it is a very dangerous place for those who refuse to listen to the preaching of God’s word. The author of Hebrews warns...

My bookshelf is lined with prayer journals covering the years of my life beginning with childhood. Rereading them brings both joy and heartache, but most of all an overwhelming sense that I have had the privilege to bow my knees before my heavenly Father and cry out to Him in the midst of sin,...

They had one job to do: stay awake and pray. Peter, James, and John, often like the rest of us, failed to accomplish the one simple task they had. Christ took his most trusted inner apostolic circle deeper into the garden with Him as He went a stone’s throw further to spend time in prayer. He...

It is said that when Martin Luther heard of his father’s death he took his Psalter and retreated to his room and was not seen the rest of the day. This news came to the great German while he was at the Castle Coburg during the Diet of Augsburg. We may wonder what such a great man did in the...

Nathanael Ranew died in 1677, "a judicious divine, and a good historian."[1] He had served as vicar in Felsted, Essex, until his ejection in 1662 for nonconformity, after which he moved twenty miles south to teach in the town of Billericay. Well-regarded during his lifetime, he is now most known...