Simul justus et blogger.
About the authorA few months ago, I wrote on the fact that we as evangelicals tend to baptize mediocrity in the water of false humility. By contrast, God calls us to a kind of Christ-exalting, cross-carrying striving for excellence and achievement for God’s glory and the good of others. Since this is a lesson worth learning more … Continue reading Holy Ambition, Part Two
If you would, indulge me in a test of your knee-jerk reflexes. What rises in you when you read the command submit? Hostility? Ambivalence? Don’t decide too quick; sometimes surrender is sweet.
When I boot up in the morning, my default operating system is works-righteousness. Not that I consciously believe that my good deeds can merit eternal life for me—but when left to myself, my natural mode is to believe I have to bring something to the table in order for God to reciprocate. Having firmly established … Continue reading Glut Yourself on Grace
There is often a bit of irony that strikes when the wicked twist Scriptures for their own purposes. Like the God-hating, do-anything-I-want playboy who ventures down to the tattoo parlor to get “only God can judge me” emblazoned on his chest—to which any preacher of repentance might reply, “That’s exactly the point, young man”—when unbelievers … Continue reading Satan Really Walked Into That One
Dear all, I contributed a little piece titled “3 Things Evangelism Isn’t” for the most recent issue of ABWE’s Message Magazine. If you check it out, I’ll give you a cookie. (Not really.) Yours, Alex
Once, there was a national leader who, though the country had sworn to protect a population of natives, had in nationalistic, ethnocentric zeal instead sought to exterminate them. Years after his death, his actions brought misery upon all the people in the country, causing the new administration to investigate the source of their cultural ailments. … Continue reading Race, Biblical Justice, and Lessons From an Execution
Jesus is Lord. So, the collective vocation of the church for the last 2,000 years has been, essentially, victoriously waging a war against any idea that would attempt to usurp Christ’s throne (2 Cor. 10:5). We do this not with swords or AR-15s, but with the subversive leaven of a gospel that asserts Christ—not Caesar … Continue reading Giants in the Land, Yeah-Buts in the Camp
We know that self-seeking and domineering are bad, so we assume that mediocrity is good. But self-discipline makes you a Pharisee the same way whitewash makes you a tomb.
We cannot appeal to his moral teachings when they happen to match the current conventional wisdom without also being obliged to submit to his absolute authority over marriage, the womb, and our wallets. A partial Lord is no Lord.
Why are we naming our daughter Lydia? Acts 16 has the answer—and contains the basis for our prayer for her.
