Of the various characters that appear in the Gospels’ accounts of Good Friday—Pilate, Herod, the chief priests, the soldiers, Simon of Cyrene, the thieves—one character that is often forgotten is the temple. Throughout the Gospel narratives, the temple looms as a significant player in the story. Jesus cleanses it twice (John 2:13–17; Matt. 21:12–13), teaches … Continue reading Good Friday: A House Condemned
Maundy Thursday: Passover Fulfilled
We tend to think of Holy Week as a week that brought some small sense of dread for the Lord Jesus—from a human standpoint—based on his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and the willpower required to willingly submit to the cross. We do not often associate Holy Week with joyful anticipation. Yet for our … Continue reading Maundy Thursday: Passover Fulfilled
Holy Wednesday: Costly Devotion, Cheap Betrayal
Any of us who have been in church budget meetings know something of this attitude of pious austerity that affects Christians of all stripes. For some reason, no one is more careful with money than when it is time to judge how someone else spends it, especially in the Lord’s name. Many of us have … Continue reading Holy Wednesday: Costly Devotion, Cheap Betrayal
Holy Tuesday: The Million-Dollar Question
Though Protestants don’t typically make much of Holy Tuesday, it’s a helpful way of marking time during Holy Week and preparing our hearts for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. According to some interpretations, Holy Tuesday is when—after Palm Sunday and the cursing of the fig tree—the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes questioned Jesus (Mark 12; cf. … Continue reading Holy Tuesday: The Million-Dollar Question
Holy Monday: Jesus the Fruit Inspector
During Holy Week, I’ll be attempting to post one new devotional each day. Enjoy. Many of us know Palm Sunday—when Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem a week before his crucifixion, hailed as the coming Messiah—but what happened next? Holy Monday marks the events that followed. We’re told: “On the following day, when they came from Bethany, … Continue reading Holy Monday: Jesus the Fruit Inspector
The Downgrade of Evangelism
“If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go … Continue reading The Downgrade of Evangelism
What the Order of Love Means for Global Missions
In recent years, American culture has revived interest in a classic Christian idea: the ordo amoris, the order of love. The phrase comes most famously from Augustine, who taught that virtue consists in rightly ordered love. “Living a just and holy life,” Augustine wrote, “requires one to be capable of an objective and impartial evaluation of things: to love … Continue reading What the Order of Love Means for Global Missions
We Need High Agency Missionaries
In the book of Nehemiah, when Nehemiah found out what was happening in Jerusalem—that the walls were broken down and the gates burned—he prayed, quietly and earnestly. He fasted and sought the Lord for days (Nehemiah 1:4). But Nehemiah also acted. Nehemiah approached the king and asked for permission to go rebuild. He worked with … Continue reading We Need High Agency Missionaries
Spectacle, Globalism, and the Soil of Missions
In recent weeks, public attention has been pulled in a dozen directions at once. Super Bowl LX took place in the middle of the Winter Olympics and just days after the Grammy Awards. For many, this layering of spectacle has felt disorienting. It forces a question worth pausing to consider: what is spectacle doing to … Continue reading Spectacle, Globalism, and the Soil of Missions
Root Causes, Restless Nations, and the Hope of the Gospel
Recent headlines remind us that the world is restless. Social unrest, cultural confusion, and moral disagreement seem to surface everywhere at once. From protests in American cities to renewed debates over marriage, nationhood, and power, the questions before us are not merely political—they are spiritual. In recent weeks, unrest in Minneapolis has again drawn national … Continue reading Root Causes, Restless Nations, and the Hope of the Gospel
