Sin of the Fathers
Today ran across a section of Forming: A Work of Grace that I think shows very clearly how the sins committed against us can distort our world for a lifetime, unless we receive healing from God. When a child grows up in an abusive home environment, they learn how...
Next Year in Jerusalem
I just finished reading Exodus by Leon Uris, which is a historically-based fictional account of the founding of Israel. It was riveting. It was also sobering. More than anything, it highlighted major themes: (1) The world-wide anti-Semitism and preference for oil that almost made the state of Israel an...
Lovingkindness / Steadfast Love
Reading the Psalms, I noticed over and over the phrase steadfast love (NRSV) that kept jumping off the page. It seems like the psalmist really liked to use this word (ches-ed) as it shows up over 120 times in the Psalms. Something about the word keeps drawing me into...
Life is Not a Test
“Our life here is not a test of our resolve to see if we will do the right things, but an invitation to become part of what God wants to restore” (Forming: A Work of Grace, p.50). Most of my early Christian life was characterized by my efforts to...