The church and the state have become increasingly entangled since Constantine's rise to power in Europe in the early 4th century. Theologians call this time the Constantinian shift where Christianity was adopted as the state religion of the Roman Empire. As Christianity was legalized, persecution virtually stopped. The church began to acquire power, wealth, and… Read More »

This morning as I was reading and praying, this tweet that John Piper posted last year came to mind: Heaven is not a hall of mirrors where we like what we see, but the grand gift of self-forgetful joy in the glory of Christ. In this present evil age, sin causes us to believe that… Read More »

In this age where sin has deeply rent the human heart from its created purpose to make much of God's glory, there are heightened moments our lives when the Holy Spirit engenders faith to believe in a restoration of that purpose. Several months ago I had one of those moments - not while in prayer,… Read More »

A friend recently showed me a very intriguing cover story on the April 14th edition of Time Magazine. Entitled Rethinking Heaven, the article describes how modern evangelicals are seeking to recover the hope of "heaven". Though the article lacked a correct biblical perspective and had no mention of Jesus and His glory, I did appreciate… Read More »

During Passion Week last week, I tweeted a harmony of the chronology as recorded by the four gospels, based on The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah by Alfred Edersheim. In the Twitter sphere where humanity gets wrapped up in movies, bashing political figures, debating social justice issues, and showing off what they ate… Read More »

For over 2000 years, Christian clergy, laymen, scholars, and poets alike have often reflected on Passion Week, the holy days leading up to the most precious moments of all of Jesus' years on the earth - the days of our Lord's death and resurrection. Lent, Palm Sunday, and Easter Sunday are commonly known terms to… Read More »

From about age 9 until my early teen years I remember looking forward to camping in the woods of New England with my church's youth group. We would pack our provisions and drive several hours to set up our camp with the basics - shelter, food, and fire. We learned essential wilderness survival skills, knots,… Read More »

There is much talk in the church today about "inheritance". From healing and the ending of injustices to great revival and financial prosperity, what some have haphazardly or intentionally called the "inheritance" of the believer either falls far short or is completely set against the Bible's description of our inheritance. Put simply, we have mistaken… Read More »

Have your words or actions ever been misconstrued? Have you ever felt the pain of rejection from close friends or family? Though sin and the curse have made these things a common human experience, God Himself has felt the pain of misunderstanding. Throughout Jesus' life and ministry, there were several groups of people who interacted… Read More »

In our day, some parts of the church are experiencing a resurgence of interest in the book of the Song of Solomon. Instead of bearing the stigma of an obscure book about love and marriage from the Old Testament, the book is increasingly being understood as an allegory between Jesus and His bride. Though this… Read More »