Month: July 2012

There is so much that could be said about grief, and what it means to grieve well as a Christian. But one of the most important things to know is that Jesus himself experienced grief and knows what that is like....

Christians who are unfamiliar with spiritual formation sometimes wonder why we do not say more about sin and repentance. The reason is that Christian formation has a far broader understanding of repentance than is traditionally taught, and as such, deals with the sin problem far more effectively. Read more...

“God is for us” (Rom.8:31). What an incredible thought! He’s not standing over us with a club, waiting for us to make a mistake — He is actively at work in us to help us become more whole....

What did it mean for Jesus to “empty” Himself in order to become human (Phil.2)? I don’t want to enter the theological debates about what could or could not be true of the God-Man. I just want to know why it matters....

I am constantly amazed at my own self-made limitations on the goodness of God! Whenever I think I’ve let Him “out of the box” I had put Him in previously, I eventually find that I’ve only given Him a slightly bigger box. And I wish I could do away...

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If you eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light” (Lk.11:34+). What does Jesus mean by having “clear” vision?...

At the Heart and Soul conference last month, we were very blessed to have Mindy Caliguire from Willow Creek Church there to present a workshop on “Soul care.” Mindy put before us an incredibly elegant and yet basic way of understanding how we are involved in our own spiritual formation. First,...

This prayer has been attributed to Billy Graham. In any case, I think it says a lot....

A friend of mine who took a class on motorcycle safety told me that the instructor repeated the following refrain many times during the course: “The bike will follow your eyes.” The basic idea being that if your eyes wander to the side of the road, your bike will...

Having accepted Jesus into my life as a small child, I grew up in a church environment that exerted tremendous social pressure to look and behave in certain ways or risk the contempt and disgust of the larger group. In practical terms, though no one would admit it, this...