Generated by All in One SEO v4.9.5.1, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # With God Daily | Skye Jethani | Christian Keynote Speaker and Author ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://www.withgoddaily.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [It's About the Healer, Not the Healed](https://www.withgoddaily.com/its-about-the-healer-not-the-healed/) - The miracle in Gethsemane, where Jesus healed the ear severed when Peter attacked the guard with his sword, captures a number of themes we've seen throughout our study of Jesus' miracles. First, the healing was a manifestation of God's kingdom. At that "hour when darkness reigned," it was a powerful juxtaposition of the world's ways—violence, - [The Miracle Before the Miracle](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-miracle-before-the-miracle/) - The gospel accounts of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane contain what appears to be a psychological contradiction. On the one hand, they emphasize the excruciating anguish Jesus experienced as he surrendered himself to his Father's plan. Luke says he was in so much agony that "his sweat was like drops of blood falling to - [The Choice Between Fear and Faith](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-choice-between-fear-and-faith/) - We've been examining how one of Jesus' last miracles reveals the purpose behind every miracle. By healing the guard who'd come to arrest and crucify him, Jesus manifested the presence of God's kingdom even as the world's kingdoms raged against him. The fact that the injury Jesus healed was inflicted by one of his own - [The Chicago Way or the Kingdom Way](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-chicago-way-or-the-kingdom-way/) - The 1987 film The Untouchables is about the FBI's mission to bring down the notorious mobster Al Capone. One of the most memorable lines was delivered by veteran Chicago cop Jim Malone, played by Sean Connery. Speaking to the young, naive FBI agent, Malone says, "You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a - [The Hour When Darkness Reigned](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-hour-when-darkness-reigned/) - This is the final week in our series looking at Jesus' miracles. To conclude, we'll examine the healing at the end of Jesus' ministry, which captures many of the themes we've been exploring over the last few months. On the night of his betrayal and arrest, Jesus was with his disciples in an olive grove - [Raised to Life by Christ, Unbound by the Church](https://www.withgoddaily.com/raised-by-christ-unbound-by-the-church/) - Earlier in this series, we looked at the common error of categorizing some things as "natural" and others as "supernatural." It's similar to the bifurcation of the world into "sacred" and "secular" categories. In each case, we attempt to define and limit the realm of God's activity from mere human agency, and we try to - [Devotion to Principles or a Person?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/devotion-to-principles-or-a-person/) - What makes someone a follower of Jesus? Many will say it's a matter of doctrine. Affirming certain theological ideas that conform to historic, orthodox Christianity is what marks a person as a follower of Jesus Christ. But if our faith is fundamentally defined by understanding and affirming theological beliefs, where does that leave children, the - [The Private Jesus Goes Public](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-private-jesus-goes-public/) - The raising of Lazarus is one of the most dramatic moments of Jesus’ public ministry. In the gospel narrative, it occurs shortly before Jesus' celebrated entry into Jerusalem, which the church now commemorates as Palm Sunday. The crowds that shouted and praised Jesus as he entered the city had likely heard about what he had - [Jesus' Duel with Death](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-duel-with-death/) - One of the more curious details about the story of Lazarus is Jesus’ decision to delay his journey to Judea after word arrived about his friend’s serious illness. Both Mary and Martha, Lazarus’ sisters, lamented, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” And they were correct. In the story, Jesus - [Reliving the Wonder](https://www.withgoddaily.com/reliving-the-wonder/) - As modern people, we tend to approach the Bible—and particularly its narratives—with the goal of remembering past events. Reading history for us is little more than an act of recollection, but the ancient Israelites had a different view. For them remembering wasn't merely recollection, but an act of reliving. E. Claude Gardner, writing about Jesus’ - [The Danger of Willful Ignorance](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-danger-of-willful-ignorance/) - Years ago, while working for Christianity Today, I traveled to interview the pastor of an influential church. I spent the day with him, toured the church, and met many of the congregation's leaders—including a platoon of young men who served as ministry interns overseen directly by the pastor himself. Every day, the interns were given - [Certainty Makes Us Stupid](https://www.withgoddaily.com/certainty-makes-us-stupid/) - Teaching a teenager to drive tests a parent's patience, nerves, and wisdom. It was a test I failed. I was driving with my oldest daughter the day before she was scheduled to get her driver's license when we stopped for gas. "Let me show you how to fill up the tank," I said to her - [Cognitive Dissonance (Part 2)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/cognitive-dissonance-part-2/) - Yesterday, we looked at how the religious leaders tried to reconcile their strongly held beliefs with compelling evidence that contradicted those beliefs. The Pharisees believed that blindness was a punishment from God for sin and that anyone who violated the Sabbath by working was both a lawbreaker and a sinner and therefore not from God. - [Cognitive Dissonance (Part 1)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/cognitive-dissonance-part-1/) - In John 9, we see a contrast between the emerging faith of a blind man healed by Jesus and the stubborn unbelief of the religious leaders. First, we must recognize how they occupied opposite ends of the social hierarchy of the culture. The man born blind would have been uneducated, unemployable, poor, and destitute. Even - [Compassion > Explanation](https://www.withgoddaily.com/compassion-explanation/) - It's uncommon for a gospel writer to devote an entire chapter to a single miracle, but that is what we find in John chapter 9. It's another account of Jesus healing a blind man. It's worth noting that miracles of abundance and even raising the dead are also attributed to Old Testament prophets—but none of - [Physical Blindness & Spiritual Blindness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/physical-blindness-spiritual-blindness/) - Shortly after the miraculous feeding of the 4,000, we find one of the most bizarre miracle stories in the gospels. A blind man was brought to Jesus to be healed. Unlike other miraculous healings which Jesus accomplished with merely a word or a touch, in this story, Jesus uses his saliva. He wiped his spit - [Symbolic yet True](https://www.withgoddaily.com/symbolic-yet-true/) - When Christians learn about the intentional symbolism embedded in the miraculous feeding stories and the loaded language used by the gospel writers to link these events to Israel (the feeding of the 5,000) and to Gentiles (the feeding of the 4,000), it can make them uncomfortable. Suddenly, these stories shift from appearing like plain accounts - [Gentiles and the Feeding of the 4,000](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gentiles-and-the-feeding-of-the-4000/) - Just two chapters after the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, there is another very similar story in Mark 8. Once again, a large crowd was following Jesus, they had nothing to eat, and Jesus had compassion for them. Once again, Jesus miraculously fed them with just a few loaves and fish. And, once again, - [Israel and the Feeding of the 5,000](https://www.withgoddaily.com/israel-and-the-feeding-of-the-5000/) - Every family with young children has its own lexicon; a set of words or phrases familiar to those inside the family but usually meaningless, or even bizarre, to outsiders. For example, when my oldest daughter was a toddler, she called her favorite blanket "mitme." For the next decade, in our house, everyone referred to their - [Not a Zero-Sum Kingdom](https://www.withgoddaily.com/not-a-zero-sum-kingdom/) - The Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggemann, made an observation about the opening chapter of Exodus that has transformed the way I read the Bible. You may recall that the king of Egypt was concerned that the Hebrews living in Egypt were becoming too numerous. He viewed them as a threat to his power and the - [The Dignity of Being Causes](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-dignity-of-being-causes/) - In the creation story, we read that God involved the man in his creative work by allowing him to name the animals. As his image-bearer and representative on the earth, the man was granted the dignity of co-laboring with God—a privilege given to no other creature. Similarly, throughout the biblical narrative, we see examples of - [The Vision of Blind Bartimaeus](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-vision-of-blind-bartimaeus/) - In several stories we've examined so far, a miraculous manifestation of God's kingdom is often preceded by the persistence of the person wanting to be healed. For example, when the paralytic man and his friends could not enter the house where Jesus was teaching because of the crowds, they didn't give up. Instead, they climbed - [The Futility of Fear](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-futility-of-fear/) - The final miracle story in the sequence, found in Mark 4-5, brings together the two themes of fear and authority in a climactic crescendo. Let's begin by retracing the theme of fear. First, Jesus rebuked his disciples in the boat during the storm for their fear, but after he calmed the wind and waves, their - [Prioritizing the Forgotten Daughter](https://www.withgoddaily.com/prioritizing-the-forgotten-daughter/) - Jesus said many confusing and cryptic things. Many of these came in the form of parables—stories that indirectly communicated some truth about the kingdom of God. Sometimes the message was so indirect that even his own disciples missed the point. Occasionally, however, his puzzling statements were not buried in a parable. Jesus stated them openly - [Jesus Did Not Hurry](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-did-not-hurry/) - Let's try a somewhat irreverent thought experiment. Imagine you're the Messiah, the incarnate presence of almighty God on earth. Given the world's great needs and your great power, how would you manage and prioritize your time? Most of us, being shaped by modern values, would think about efficiency and impact, and we'd develop a strategic - [The Real Meaning of Jesus Calming the Storm](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-real-meaning-of-jesus-calming-the-storm/) - Engaging the Gospels can pose a real challenge for modern readers because there is no comparable genre in modern literature. Therefore, we read (or misread) the works of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John by assuming they wrote using the same process and tactics as a modern biographer or historian. But, strictly speaking, the Gospels aren't - [Jesus the Disinfectant](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-the-disinfectant/) - In recent years, we've all become more familiar with the concepts of contagions, social distancing, and quarantines. Especially early in the COVID pandemic, when little was known about the virus or how it spread, the precautions taken to avoid exposure were extreme. In my community, people were washing their groceries and handling their Amazon deliveries - [When Faith is Stronger than Fear](https://www.withgoddaily.com/when-faith-is-stronger-than-fear/) - Immediately after the stories of the disciples being afraid of Jesus' power over the storm, and the townspeople being afraid of Jesus' power over the spirits, Mark tells us a third story about a person frightened of Jesus' miraculous power. Jesus and his disciples were traveling to a synagogue leader's home to heal his sick - [Power + Goodness = Faith](https://www.withgoddaily.com/power-goodness-faith/) - We have already seen the emphasis on fear in the story of Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4. We are told the disciples were afraid of the wind and the waves, but after Jesus calmed the storm with just a word, the disciples' fear grew more intense. They were no longer afraid of the - [Into the Heart of Darkness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/into-the-heart-of-darkness/) - Because ancient Jews, and their Hebrew Scriptures, associated the sea with forces opposed to God, the miracle of Jesus calming the storm revealed more than his authority over nature. It also implied Jesus' power over the forces of evil. In the very next story, found in Mark 5, that implicit message is made explicit. Across - [The War on Winsomeness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-war-on-winsomeness/) - Tim Keller was a Presbyterian pastor in New York City and a best-selling author. He passed away in 2023. He's sometimes referred to as America's modern C.S. Lewis because of his intelligent and winsome ability to engage a skeptical culture with the gospel—a skill honed as a church planter in highly secular Manhattan. He had - [Telephone Poles & Crosses](https://www.withgoddaily.com/telephone-poles-crosses/) - Jesus had a reputation for healing on the Sabbath, which the religious leaders saw as a violation of the Torah forbidding work on the seventh day and definitive proof that Jesus could not be a true prophet, let alone the Messiah. God’s chosen Savior, after all, would not break God’s laws. Jesus’ reputation may have - [Compassion is Always a Virtue, Never a Vice](https://www.withgoddaily.com/compassion-is-always-a-virtue-never-a-vice/) - Both of my maternal grandparents were veterans of World War II. My grandfather flew B-17 bombers over Europe and North Africa, and my grandmother was an Army nurse and among the first medical units to land on the beaches of Normandy after D-Day. She marched with General Patton across Europe, treated soldiers wounded in the - [Healing is About God's Character, Not Ours](https://www.withgoddaily.com/healing-is-about-gods-character-not-ours/) - As we saw last week with the story of the paralytic lowered through the roof, sometimes Jesus healed a person in response to their faith or the faith of their community. In these cases, Jesus is usually overt in praising the faith of the person on display. As he said to the woman who touched - [No Rest for the Weary](https://www.withgoddaily.com/no-rest-for-the-weary-2/) - It's not an exaggeration to say that in ancient Israel, people kept the Sabbath as if their life depended on it. The Old Testament law stipulated that intentionally violating the Sabbath, despite being warned, was punishable by death (see Exodus 31:15). Some Bible scholars have argued that Sabbath-keeping represented the foundation of both Israel's culture - [What is Blasphemy?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-is-blasphemy/) - When Jesus forgave the sins of the paralytic man before healing him, the religious leaders accused him of blasphemy. It's an early sign in the gospels of the trouble that awaited Jesus as his ministry grew in popularity. Ultimately, blasphemy was the charge made against him at his trial and the reason the religious leaders - [Answering Skeptics with Actions](https://www.withgoddaily.com/answering-skeptics-with-actions/) - In the 1980s, famous astronomer Carl Sagan said, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence," on his popular television program Cosmos. The aphorism, now known as the Sagan Standard, is a favorite of skeptics everywhere. I've heard it employed to debunk everything from alien visitation and fortune-telling to QAnon and #StoptheSteal. Of course, it's also commonly cited - [Does Sin Cause Disease?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/does-sin-cause-disease/) - The story of Jesus healing the paralytic man in Mark 2 is a complicated tangle of cultural, biblical, and theological beliefs about the connection between sin and disease. It's a theme that we'll see with many of Jesus' miraculous healings, and one we must understand to make sense of these stories. Here's the key idea—in - [Faith Makes the Effort](https://www.withgoddaily.com/faith-makes-the-effort/) - We can't possibly explore the issue of miracles in the gospels without discussing the role of faith. Very often, a miracle performed by Jesus is preceded by his affirmation of a person's faith. For example, in Matthew 8, when a Roman Centurion came and asked Jesus to heal his paralyzed servant with just a word, - [More Than a Personal Relationship with Jesus](https://www.withgoddaily.com/more-than-a-personal-relationship-with-jesus/) - In the 1960s, Geert Hofstede was a social psychologist working for IBM in Europe. He launched a research project to better understand how IBM employees operated in different subsidiaries of the multinational corporation. The outcome was Hofstede's Cultural Dimension Theory. It identifies each culture along six dimensions on a scale from zero to 100, including - [Different Catch, Same Message](https://www.withgoddaily.com/different-catch-same-message/) - The story of the miraculous catch of fish and the calling of Simon Peter is a sign with two meanings. First, it signifies the abundance associated with the presence of God throughout the Old Testament. This explains why Simon humbly fell before Jesus. Through the catch and his knowledge of the Hebrew scriptures, Simon recognized - [Abusing Abundance](https://www.withgoddaily.com/abusing-abundance/) - Yesterday, we saw how the miraculous catch of fish was the first of Jesus' many miracles of abundance. And we saw how the theme of abundance is associated throughout the Bible with the presence of God, going all the way back to the garden in Eden. When we see this miracle through the lens of - [Gardens in the Wilderness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gardens-in-the-wilderness/) - With the miraculous catch of fish, we are introduced to a recurring theme in the gospels. Many of Jesus' parables and his miracles are about abundance. In Luke's telling of the story, no attention is given to the mechanics or method of the miracle. Did Jesus command the fish into the net using his authority - [Universal Callings vs. Particular Callings](https://www.withgoddaily.com/universal-callings-vs-particular-callings/) - There is a cliche among more fundamentalist Christians that is often employed to end discussion and shut down dissent: "The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it." I've had this quip, or some version of it, tossed at me by a critic many times on social media. More than just a way to - [The Trembling Rock](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-trembling-rock/) - I'm a fan of Marvel movies. I realize they get dismissed by serious film critics, and I know they're created to appeal to the masses to sell merchandise and theme park tickets. However, when you get past the nonsensical action and corporate product placement, these movies often tackle timeless themes shared with great literature. Bruce - [Two Mistakes About Miracles](https://www.withgoddaily.com/two-mistakes-about-miracles/) - The gospels offer a compelling and integrated vision of miracles as sudden manifestations of God's kingdom meant to restore rather than violate the divine order of the world. Using the analogy of the White Witch's curse of perpetual winter from the Narnia books, yesterday we saw that the advent of God's kingdom is like the - [What is a Miracle? (Part 3)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-is-a-miracle-part-3/) - In C.S. Lewis's classic children's book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the land of Narnia had fallen under the curse of the White Witch so that it was perpetually winter, but a prophecy foretold that when Aslan, the rightful king, returned, the curse would be broken: "Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes - [What is a Miracle? (Part 2)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-is-a-miracle-part-2/) - When defining a miracle, a lot depends on one's perspective. Yesterday, we saw how the modern assumption of dualism—the strict separation of the natural and supernatural realms—narrowly defines a miracle as an event beyond scientific explanation. As science expands, however, the supernatural contracts. This is part of Charles Taylor's definition of secularism as the disenchantment - [What is a Miracle? (Part 1)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-is-a-miracle-part-1/) - Before we explore the miraculous stories in the gospels, we must address what appears to be an obvious and simple question: What is a miracle? Coming to an answer, however, is surprisingly difficult. The modern world usually defines a miracle as a supernatural event, meaning an occurrence that violates the laws of nature. But this - [Re-enchanting the World](https://www.withgoddaily.com/reenchanting/) - We have a problem. On the one hand, we occupy an increasingly secular, post-religious culture. On the other hand, we still long for a world of transcendent meaning which religion provided but secularism has failed to produce. At best, secularism calls us to settle for a mushy individualism where each person must define for themselves - [The Resurrection is About Redemption not Replacement](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-resurrection-is-about-redemption-not-replacement/) - Yesterday, we looked at the ancient heresy of Gnosticism—the belief that God only cares about the spiritual and has no interest in the physical; that the gospel is about saving souls but not bodies. This common assumption is shown to be mistaken through Jesus' miracles and especially his physical, bodily resurrection. There is another similar - [The Resurrection Means Matter Matters](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-resurrection-means-matter-matters/) - Gnosticism is an ancient heresy that is still very much alive today. The Gnostics were false teachers in the early church who were deeply influenced by Greek philosophy and knowledge that exalted the spiritual and condemned the material. They taught that intangible things like the souls, spirits, and wisdom were divine, while the physical world, - [There's No Gospel Without the Resurrection](https://www.withgoddaily.com/theres-no-gospel-without-the-resurrection/) - A few years ago, New Testament scholar Scot McKnight wrote a book comparing our contemporary understanding of the gospel with the way Jesus and his Apostles presented it. I was especially taken by his exploration of the book of Acts. McKnight noted that there are eight gospel sermons, or summaries of gospel sermons, in Acts. - [Easter was Just the Beginning](https://www.withgoddaily.com/easter_beginning/) - Many theologians have recognized a tension in the gospels and throughout the New Testament regarding God's kingdom. In one sense, the kingdom is already here. This was the center of the "good news" Jesus proclaimed, and his miracles revealed the presence and power of God's kingdom. In another sense, however, God's kingdom is still coming. - [There's More to the Resurrection than You Think](https://www.withgoddaily.com/theres-more-to-the-resurrection-than-you-think/) - We are beginning our study of Jesus' miracles with the most important miracle of all—his resurrection. A recurring theme throughout this series will be our tendency to reduce the role of miracles to merely verification. Many of us have been taught that Jesus performed these wonders simply as proof of his divine identity and power. - [The Idol of Mission: The Shadow Side of Service](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-missionthe-shadow-side-of-service/) - The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the most beloved and well-known stories in the Bible. We often focus on the son who left his father to selfishly pursue his desires, but it’s critical to remember that Jesus was telling the story to a group of Pharisees—religious leaders who would have identified much - [The Idol of Mission: The Wrong Fruit](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-mission-the-wrong-fruit/) - The Apostle Paul tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). It’s important to recognize that these are all virtues of character, and they correspond closely to the qualities Jesus affirms in the Sermon on the Mount like honesty, generosity, contentment, forgiveness, - [The Idol of Mission: Calling vs. Treasure](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-mission-calling-vs-treasure/) - After a miraculous conversion, Paul was called by God to carry the message of Jesus throughout the Roman Empire well beyond the Jewish community where the earliest Christians emerged. This calling would occupy the remainder of Paul’s life as he tenaciously and faithfully took the gospel from city to city. He proclaimed the good news, - [The Idol of Mission: Effectiveness is Not Faithfulness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-mission-effectiveness-is-not-faithfulness/) - As modern, post-enlightenment, Industrial Age, capitalist people we tend to celebrate values like efficiency, productivity, and effectiveness. Fortunes can be made by shaving a few minutes or pennies from a manufacturing process or market strategy. I’m writing this at an airport as I wait to board a Southwest Airlines flight—a company that has thrived on - [The Idol of Mission: Beware the Lie of Missionalism](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-mission-beware-the-lie-of-missionalism/) - I’ve already quoted Tim Keller a number of times in this series on idolatry, but it’s worth repeating his very helpful definition. He said, “An idol is usually a very good thing that we make into an ultimate thing.” That certainly applies to the church’s favorite idol—the mission of God. The goodness of God’s mission - [The Idol of Politics: Partyism vs. Politics](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-politics-partyism-vs-politics/) - To identify “politics” as an idol of our age may be a slight misdiagnosis. There is an important difference between being political and being partisan. Partisanship, what some scholars now call partyism, is about rooting one’s identity in a political party, its candidates, platforms, and the scrum of campaigns. It’s about my team versus your - [The Idol of Politics: A Tool to be Used](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-politics-a-tool-to-be-used/) - All idols over-promise and under-deliver. Politics is no different. During every election cycle, we are told, “This is the most important election of our lifetime.” Certain issues are elevated to destiny-defining heights, and candidates are either worshipped as deliverers or despised as devils. All of this whips our culture into a frenzy of religious zeal - [The Idol of Politics: The Last Socially Affirmed Hatred](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-politics-the-last-socially-affirmed-hatred/) - A remarkable Stanford University study co-authored in 2017 found that Americans now consider their political identity as more important than their race, religion, or ethnicity. The researchers coined a new word to describe this exaltation of partisan identification—“partyism.” Before you assume this is a new reality, the data says the trend toward partyism and political - [The Idol of Politics: The God Gap](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-politics-the-god-gap/) - For decades, sociologists and politicos in the U.S. have noted that a significant percentage of religious believers vote for one party while non-believers vote for the other. They called this the “God gap.” The common explanation for the God gap is that certain strongly-held religious beliefs and values drive people—particularly Christians—to vote for the political - [The Idol of Politics: Misplacing Power](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-politics-misplacing-power/) - One of the more curious characters in the narrative of Jesus' betrayal, arrest, trial, and crucifixion is Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. The exchanges recorded between Pilate, Jesus, and the crowds of Jerusalem are fascinating. More than once, Pilate admitted that he could find no crime necessitating Jesus’ execution, and he could not - [MLK: The False God of Money](https://www.withgoddaily.com/mlk-the-false-god-of-money/) - Every culture has its pantheon of false gods. We are obsessed with technology in a way our grandparents were not. Likewise, past generations celebrated colonialism in a way we do not. The popularity of a particular idol may rise and fall with time, but in every culture and in every age there is one false - [MLK: The False God of Nationalism (Pt. 2)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/mlk-the-false-god-of-nationalism-pt-2/) - Although more associated with the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the dangers of nationalism are not unfamiliar to the ancient world and the pages of Scripture. In fact, the tendency to view one’s nation as superior to all others was the source of great division and controversy in the early church. The Apostle Paul warned that - [MLK: The False God of Nationalism (Pt. 1)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/mlk-the-false-god-of-nationalism-pt-1/) - I used to do a fair amount of premarital counseling. After a few meetings with the engaged couple, I always asked them an important diagnostic question: “Tell me something you don’t like about your fiancé.” Healthy, mature couples could answer the question with some specificity. Couples that couldn’t answer the question meaningfully, or who responded - [MLK: The False God of Science](https://www.withgoddaily.com/mlk-the-false-god-of-science/) - In his first sermon about idolatry from July 1953, Martin Luther King Jr. makes clear that few idols are entirely evil. Their lure comes from their goodness and utility. This is certainly true of science. MLK noted how science has improved our world: “It was quite easy for modern man to put his ultimate faith - [MLK on Idolatry](https://www.withgoddaily.com/mlk-on-idolatry/) - To understand Martin Luther King Jr. as a Civil Rights leader, you first have to understand King as a minister of the Gospel. He made clear that his pursuit of justice was rooted in his faith. The two were inseparable despite the attempts of recent remembrances to erase or ignore the Christian foundations of King’s - [The Idol of Celebrity: The Father not Fans](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-celebrity-the-father-not-fans/) - As a young pastor, I read a number of books about ministry and church leadership. One memorable book included a chapter titled “Bigger is Better” in which the authors said: “a church should always be bigger than it was. It should be constantly growing.” And they “firmly believe that bigger is what God intended for - [The Idol of Celebrity: The Antidote of Prayer](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-celebrity-the-antidote-of-prayer/) - More Christian leaders and thinkers are expressing concern about the celebrity culture within the American church. Some have come to recognize the insidious nature of the problem thanks to the popularity of The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast produced by Christianity Today a few years ago. Others have seen the issue impact their - [The Idol of Celebrity: Death by Selfie](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-celebrity-death-by-selfie/) - In 2016, Mumbai, India, established 16 “no selfie zones” across the city after a series of deadly accidents. Mumbai is not alone. The Washington Post has reported that nearly 300 people have died in recent years while attempting to take selfies. The data suggests drowning to be the most common cause of death, followed by - [The Idol of Celebrity: The Evangelical Industrial Complex](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-celebrity-the-evangelical-industrial-complex/) - Richard Halverson, the former chaplain of the United States Senate, summarized church history this way: “In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centered on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution. Next, it - [The Idol of Celebrity: Proximity > Popularity](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-celebrity-proximity-popularity/) - It feels like almost every week I hear about another pastor of another very large church being dishonorably removed from ministry. Sadly, these stories are becoming all too predictable. Also predictable is the outpouring of surprise and disappointment by the thousands who followed the leader’s teaching and called him “pastor” despite most never knowing or - [The Idol of Nation: Good vs. Bad Patriotism](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-nation-good-vs-bad-patriotism/) - "The one thing I want my kids to know about America is that worst day in America beats the best day in any other country." That's how one parent described what he believed the goal of history class should be at a public school board meeting in 2010. Some have described this mindset as "American - [The Idol of Nation: Fearing Non-Christians](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-nation-fearing-non-christians/) - Earlier, we looked at a belief that remains popular among some Christians—that the United States has a special covenant with God. Often citing a 1620 sermon to a group of Puritan refugees in Massachusetts, religious and political leaders have claimed that the country’s prosperity or punishment is directly related to America’s obedience to God. We’ve - [The Idol of Nation: The Problem With “America First”](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-nation-the-problem-with-america-first/) - “America First” has been resuscitated as a political slogan in recent years. The phrase has a long and checkered history and was used by Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Warren G. Harding, but it may be best known as the rallying cry of a movement to keep the United States out of World War II. Today - [The Idol of Nation: Tourists vs. Colonists](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-nation-tourists-vs-colonists/) - The temptation to root our identity in our country is certainly nothing new. It was equally prevalent in the early church when Christians were divided by their loyalty to Christ and his church, and their loyalty to their nation of origin—whether Rome, Greece, or Israel. The Apostle Paul sought to overcome the idolatry of nation - [The Idol of Nation: America is Neither Israel nor the Church](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-nation-america-is-not-israel/) - John Winthrop, the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, preached a sermon in 1630 while sailing abroad the Arbella from England to the New World. He inspired his community of Puritan settlers by applying Old Testament promises given to Israel to their colony. If they kept God’s laws, Winthrop said, they would be blessed, and - [The Idol of Dreams: Demanding Everything, Giving Nothing](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-dreams-demanding-everything-giving-nothing/) - Andy Crouch makes this important observation about idols: "All idols begin by offering great things for a very small price. All idols then fail, more and more consistently, to deliver on their original promises, while ratcheting up their demands, which initially seemed so reasonable, for worship and sacrifice. In the end they fail completely, even - [The Idol of Dreams: Don’t Get Excited](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-dreams-dont-get-excited/) - Contemporary Christians use “dream” language to motivate and inspire. Highly influenced by the effectiveness of corporations, we mimic their strategy of displaying dream or vision statements in our churches, ministries, schools, and homes. Of course, unlike secular corporations, we attribute these “dreams” to God. He’s the one calling us to accomplish ______, and to change - [The Idol of Dreams: God’s Dream or Mine?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-dreams-gods-dream-or-mine/) - “God has given me a dream.” This phrase, or some variation, is frequently heard in religious communities today. I’ve heard it from ambitious pastors and gifted artists, from social activists and Christian entrepreneurs. The phrase is a fascinating amalgam of biblical and capitalist language. It’s unashamedly American while sounding just scriptural enough to be affirmed - [The Idol of Dreams: Wish Upon a Star](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-dreams-wish-upon-a-star/) - To pass the time on a 15-hour flight to Asia, and to distract myself from the cramped confines of my economy seat, I watched a lot of movies, including Disney’s Ralph Breaks the Internet—the sequel to Wreck-It Ralph. Ralph, a character from a vintage arcade game, and his best friend Vanellope von Schweetz, a princess - [The Idol of Dreams: The Dignity of a Quiet Life](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-dreams-the-dignity-of-a-quiet-life/) - In 1994, the best-selling business book, Built to Last, by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras popularized the term “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” or BHAG (pronounced, BEE–hag). Collins and Porras found that the best organizations were driven by a compelling 10-to-30-year goal. They cited JFK’s famous moon shot as an example. Since Built to Last was - [The Idol of Comfort: The Power of Contentment](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-comfort-the-power-of-contentment/) - I’ve seen it on posters, mugs, jewelry, magnets, church websites, and countless memes. Celebrities post it on their social media accounts and athletes paint it on their eye black. Steph Curry has it embossed on his basketball shoes, and it is the motto for almost every Christian youth sports league. I’m talking about words of - [The Idol of Comfort: Snowflake Spirituality](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-comfort-snowflake-spirituality/) - Comfort is a good thing, especially for those enduring pain or grief. Throughout the Bible God’s people are promised his supernatural comfort amid their sufferings, and the Holy Spirit himself is called the “Comforter.” While Scripture affirms the value of comfort, it also makes clear that we require resistance, striving, pain, and suffering in order - [The Idol of Comfort: A Self-Fulfilling Parable](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-comfort-a-self-fulfilling-parable/) - A parable written by Reverend Dr. Theodore O. Wedel in 1953 has become part of the unofficial canon of American Christianity. I’ve heard the story, or some version of it, dozens of times in sermons, at missions conferences, and at retreats. Maybe you have too. Dr. Wedel’s parable compares the church to a life-saving station - [The Idol of Comfort: Hiding Behind Holiness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-comfort-hiding-behind-holiness/) - Our cultural obsession with comfort can sometimes masquerade among Christians as a commitment to holiness. This usually appears in the form of cultural separation. Advocates of separation will usually appeal to the Lord’s many Old Testament commands that Israel separate itself from the pagan cultures surrounding it. Disengagement from the ungodliness of our neighbors, they - [The Idol of Comfort: The Problem with Avoiding Pain](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-comfort-the-problem-with-avoiding-pain-2/) - One of the more pervasive idols in our culture is comfort. What gives this false god so much allure is the widely held assumption that all pain is undesirable and a life without it would be unquestionably better. To say all pain or discomfort is evil, however, ignores the possibility that “good” and “evil” are - [The Idol of Tradition: Innovation Isn’t the Answer](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-tradition-innovation-isnt-the-answer/) - All week we’ve been talking about the dangerous idol of tradition—the way our dedication to inherited beliefs and practices can blind us to the presence of God and interfere with our obedience to him. No one should assume, however, that all traditions are bad and ought to be abandoned for every new trend we encounter. - [The Idol of Tradition: Consider the Turkey](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-tradition-consider-the-turkey/) - Author Nassim Taleb has written in numerous books about what psychologists call the “narrative fallacy.” It refers to the way our minds make cause-and-effect connections where none actually exist, and how we foolishly make predictions about the future based on patterns we’ve observed in the past. To illustrate the problem, Taleb uses the following story: - [The Idol of Tradition: Perpetuate Love, Not Practices](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-tradition-perpetuate-love-not-practices/) - The central temptation of all idols is the same: control. The false god always promises that by serving it we will gain control and avoid the fears that assail us in an unpredictable world. This is certainly the case with the idol of tradition. By strict adherence to an inherited set of values and practices, - [The Idol of Tradition: An Excuse for Disobedience](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-tradition-an-excuse-for-disobedience/) - Can you imagine having an unmediated encounter with the Creator of the universe who commands you to do something, but you say “No” to him? Remarkably, this happens several times in the Bible. What could cause a person to say no directly to God in a miraculous moment of divine self-revelation? Moses said no when - [The Idol of Tradition: Vehicle vs. Destination](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-tradition-vehicle-vs-destination/) - Like every other idol we have examined, tradition is often a very good thing. The problem arises when we make tradition—including our religious traditions—an inviolable absolute in our lives and communities. This usually happens subtly and with the very best of intentions. For example, many of us have been deeply touched by God and transformed - [The Idol of Desire: Not By Bread Alone](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-desire-not-by-bread-alone/) - Jesus had been fasting in the desert for 40 days. He was understandably hungry, so the enemy presented to him a very practical and relevant idea. “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” The enemy was not saying that Jesus should prove his identity as God’s Son by turning - [The Idol of Desire: Schooled in Insatiability](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-desire-schooled-in-insatiability/) - Listerine, the antiseptic mouthwash, was invented in 1879, but it wasn’t marketed as a mouthwash until the 1920s. Here’s the crazy part: according to advertising expert James Twitchell, before Listerine there was no mention of bad breath in popular culture. Through ads, the owners of Listerine invented the problem of halitosis in order to create - [The Idol of Desire: The Problem with Peter Pan](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-desire-the-problem-with-peter-pan/) - J.M. Barrie began his classic book, Peter Pan, with the line: “All children, except one, grow up.” The powers fueling our consumer culture’s idolatry of desire are trying hard to prove him wrong. Statistics reveal more adult children are living with their parents well into their 30s, the average age for marriage has risen steadily - [The Idol of Desire: Oprah is Wrong About Psalm 37](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-desire-oprahs-wrong-about-psalm-37/) - A few years ago on a late-night program, Oprah Winfrey shared that Psalm 37:4 is her favorite verse in the Bible. It reads, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Oprah went on to offer her interpretation of the verse. “Now what that says to me, ‘Lord’ - [The Idol of Desire: Awakening Our Affections](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-desire-awakening-our-affections/) - The idol of desire, and our consumer society that worships it, has done a remarkable thing. They have convinced us that our desires are immutable and undeniable—that we are defined by longings and are powerless to change or resist them. With some desires this is true. I cannot deny my desire for oxygen—it is hardwired - [The Idol of Family: Ads & Dads](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-family-ads-dads-fads/) - A marketing expert has observed that many television commercials, particularly those aired during sporting events like the Super Bowl, are increasingly focused on relationships, not just products. He calls them “dadvertisements.” They emphasize the joys, sorrows, and struggles of being a father or the longing for a father who is absent. There is a profound - [The Idol of Family: Naked Saint Francis](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-family-naked-saint-francis/) - There is a story from the twelfth century that vividly illustrates Jesus’ call to put our allegiance to him above even our allegiance to family. Francis of Assisi was born to a very wealthy family, but after a short career as a soldier and socialite, he experienced a dramatic transformation. Inexplicably, he began hugging lepers in the street, - [The Idol of Family: Counting the Costs](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-family-counting-the-costs/) - As a teen, I was very skeptical of faith and frequently argued with friends who attended church regularly or who parroted warm sentimentalities they picked up from listening to Christian music. I recall attending a city-wide Christian youth rally in downtown Chicago one evening where the speaker ended with an altar call. With eyes closed - [The Idol of Family: The Mafia Worships Family, Jesus Doesn’t](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-family-the-mafia-worships-family-jesus-doesnt/) - The Godfather films are about the origins and growth of the mafia throughout the twentieth century—at least that is one way to understand them. On another level, the films are simply about family. In the second movie, Michael, the patriarch of the Corleone crime syndicate, says, “Fredo, you're my older brother, and I love you. - [The Idol of Family: “Family First” is Un-Christian](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-family-family-first-is-un-christian/) - Sometimes in an effort to topple one cultural idol, we inadvertently erect another. That is the case with Christian efforts to defend the family. For decades, many Christians have lamented the rise of self-centered, sexually liberated values that have eroded the stability of the nuclear family. The result has been more children growing up without - [The Idol of Knowledge: Knowing the Bible vs. Knowing God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-knowledge-knowing-the-bible-vs-knowing-god/) - No knowledge is more valued within Christian communities than biblical knowledge, and with multiple surveys showing biblical literacy declining—including among those who regularly attend church—the value of more Bible knowledge is definitely worth affirming. However, if the Bible is seen primarily as a depository of theological knowledge it may lead to an unintended and twisted - [The Idol of Knowledge: Confidence vs. Comprehension](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-knowledge-confidence-vs-comprehension/) - Sometimes the Bible is funny. We don’t always see the humor because we’re not looking for it, but it’s there. For example, in John 10 Jesus spoke at length about being the Good Shepherd. The sheep will follow the shepherd, he said repeatedly, because “they know his voice.” Immediately after he said this we read - [The Idol of Knowledge: Puff Up vs. Build Up](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-knowledge-puff-up-vs-build-up/) - I had a professor once tell me, “When you think you know everything they give you a bachelor’s degree. When you realize you don’t know anything they give you a master’s degree. When you realize you don’t know anything and neither does anyone else, they award you a doctorate degree.” His point was memorable. A - [The Idol of Knowledge: Demons Have Good Doctrine](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-knowledge-demons-have-good-doctrine/) - In my previous role as an editor at Christianity Today, I had the opportunity to engage many Christian leaders and see behind the curtain of numerous ministries. Often I came away from these encounters deeply encouraged and grateful. Sometimes I did not. Occasionally, my time with a prominent pastor would leave me utterly confounded. Why - [The Idol of Knowledge: Reasons of the Heart](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-knowledge-reasons-of-the-heart/) - If you are a Christian living in North America, you have access to a lot of knowledge about God. We are the richest, most resourced Christians who have ever lived. We have more Christians books, radio stations, movies, colleges and universities, conferences, churches, blogs, Bibles, music albums, merchandise, and devotionals (ahem) than we can possibly - [Psalm 38: Admitting the Truth](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-38-admitting-the-truth/) - Can we be guilty of great sin and still know the blessing of God’s presence in our lives? In Psalm 38, David suffers greatly because of his own sin, but he still expected God to answer his calls for help. Was David being presumptuous as Israel's anointed king? Was he minimizing the gravity of his - [Psalm 37: The Most Abused Verse in the Bible](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-37-the-most-abused-verse-in-the-bible/) - A few years ago on a late-night program, Oprah Winfrey shared that Psalm 37:4 is her favorite verse in the Bible. It reads, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Oprah went on to offer her interpretation of the verse. “Now what that says to me, ‘Lord’ - [Psalm 36: Discovering Ultimate Goodness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-36-discovering-ultimate-goodness/) - While praising God’s steadfast love and faithfulness in Psalm 36, David says something that seems nonsensical: “in your light we see light.” Scholars think “in your light” is an abbreviated form of Aaron’s blessing from Numbers 6:25–26 that speaks of the light of God’s countenance. If they are correct, then Psalm 36 is making a - [Psalm 35: Should We Love Our Enemies, or Destroy Them?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-35-room-for-gods-vengeance/) - There is a popular belief that the Old Testament emphasizes war, judgment, and wrath while the New Testament is about peace, grace, and love. This can be taken even further by critics who say the God of the Old Testament is contrary to the Christ revealed in the New. Without careful reflection, Psalm 35 would - [Psalm 34: Freedom From Fear](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-34-freedom-from-fear/) - The great theologian of the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas, said that fear is a contracting posture of the soul. Fear pulls a person inward into a position of self-protection like a turtle into its shell. Once drawn inside, we become so self-consumed that we lose the capacity to empathize with the needs of others. Aquinas - [Psalm 33: Hope in the Lord, not Political Power](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-33-hope-in-the-lord-not-leaders/) - For decades, sociologists and politicos in the U.S. have noted that a significant percentage of religious believers vote for one party while non-believers vote for the other. They called this the “God gap.” The common explanation for the God gap is that certain strongly-held religious beliefs and values drive people—particularly Christians—to vote for the political - [Psalm 31: The Last Word](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-31-the-last-word/) - Sooner or later we all discover the truth that we spend our lives denying—we are not in control. Eventually, circumstances will arise that we are unable to overcome through our own power, intelligence, or skill. When that moment comes, we will face a final choice. We will either be consumed by the despair of a - [Psalm 30: In Praise of Anger](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-30-in-praise-of-anger/) - We don’t like to think about God’s anger, and the church certainly don’t publicize it to our hyper-tolerant culture. Sermons like Jonathan Edwards’ classic “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” would not find a popular audience in the modern church. Today we are far more focused on praise than punishment, but have we - [Psalm 32: Why Confess?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-32-why-confess/) - “If God is all-knowing, why do I have to confess my sins to him? Doesn’t he already know everything I’ve done and everything I’m going to do?” Buried in that statement is a view of prayer and confession that is incredibly anemic. We don’t pray to inform God about what’s going on, nor does he - [Psalm 29: Above All Powers](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-29-above-all-others/) - In the Old Testament, God’s people struggled with fidelity to the Lord. They were often tempted to put their trust in the foreign gods worshipped by the nations around them. One such deity was Baal, who was believed to govern weather and therefore the harvest on which the people depended. When fearful of a drought - [Psalm 28: Everything is From God’s Hand, Not Ours](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-28-from-gods-hand/) - As a young man in seminary I served as a hospital chaplain. Part of my training included visiting hospice patients—most dying from AIDS—in some of Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods. It was difficult to accept that these communities of despair were just a few miles from the comfortable suburbs were I grew up. Hearing the tragic stories - [Psalm 27: The Purpose of Worship](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-27-the-goal-of-worship/) - Some people go to church on Sundays with the view that they are doing God a favor—as if he benefits in some way from their presence. A wider look at religious traditions shows this posture is very common. Many ancient religious rituals were ways of supplying a god’s needs through material sacrifices. In exchange the - [Psalm 26: Alone but Never Lonely](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-26-test-my-heart-and-mind/) - Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” In our busy, information-saturated culture it is increasingly difficult to pause for self-examination. With so much to attend to around us we can neglect to pay attention to what is happening within us. And with the proliferation of portable digital devices, we now have an immediate - [Psalm 25: Sports, Politics, and Religion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-25-sports-politics-and-religion/) - Part of the appeal of both sports and politics is their lack of ambiguity. The teams are always explicitly identified, the rules are predetermined, and there is always a definitive result in the end. (Although in politics that's increasingly questionable.) We are drawn to sports and politics because they offer a temporary escape from the - [Psalm 24: Intimacy Requires Proximity](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-24-intimacy-require-proximity/) - Psalm 24 captures a paradox we find throughout the scriptures. The psalm begins with a declaration of God’s creation and ownership of the whole earth. As with other parts of the Bible, these verses capture the omnipresence of the Lord—his “everywhereness.” The rest of the psalm, however, emphasizes God’s unique presence in one place, the - [Psalm 23: God's Uncontainable Abundance](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-23-gods-uncontainable-abundance/) - If you hear a pastor use the word “abundance,” hold on to your wallet. It has become a common word among prosperity preachers promising an outpouring of material blessings to those who give their money to God (via the pastor’s own ministry, of course). The hijacking of "abundance" by those shaped more by consumerism than - [Psalm 23: The Hound of Heaven](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-23-the-hound-of-heaven/) - When my daughter was little she liked to play hide-and-seek, but she was terrible at it. She would hide (very poorly) and the moment I finished counting she would burst out of her hiding spot. “Here I am!” she’d announce without giving me any chance to search for her. She wanted to be found so - [Psalm 23: Eating with the Enemy](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-23-eating-with-the-enemy/) - There was no fast food in the ancient world. Meals were long, complicated endeavors. When David says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,” he is illustrating the peace he feels even when surrounded by danger. Because of the Lord’s presence with him, he does not have to fight or - [Psalm 23: God's Good Wrath](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-23-gods-good-wrath/) - No other aspect of God’s character makes people more uncomfortable than his wrath. We try to avoid talking about it these days, and we will go out of our way to avoid those parts of the Bible that address it. And yet we find a reference to his wrath in one of the most comforting - [Psalm 23: Fight, Flight, & Faith](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-23-fight-flight-faith/) - It's the honesty of Psalm 23 that's made it an enduring passage of Scripture for so many. It speaks of life with God not only with images of peaceful green pastures and still waters, but it also acknowledges that life includes shadow seasons through the valley of death. Even in these dark places, however, we - [Psalm 23: God's Glory & Our Well-Being](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-23-gods-glory-our-well-being/) - Why does the Lord make us lie down in green pastures, lead us beside still waters, and restore our soul? Psalm 23 says he does these things “for his name’s sake.” That may not seem consistent with what we’ve always been told about God’s motives. Doesn’t he do these things because he loves us? Doing - [Psalm 23: The Restoration of Relationship](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-23-the-restoration-of-relationship/) - In 2020, Disney and Pixar released an animated movie that tackled an uncommon subject for a family film—the afterlife. To be more accurate, the film is about the afterlife and the before-life. It's called Soul and it reinforces a popular assumption that humans possess two parts—a physical component (the body) and a non-physical component (the - [Psalm 23: Gifts vs. Giver](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-23-gifts-vs-giver/) - My son was reading about World War II and commented to me about the enormous sacrifices the entire country made for the war effort. "I don't think we could do that today," he said. "Why not?" I asked. "We're just too self-absorbed," he said. I suspect he's right, but there's more than selfishness to overcome. - [Psalm 22: Abandoned by God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-22-abandoned-by-god/) - In Jesus’ final moments of suffering on the cross, it was the cry of Psalm 22 that he quoted: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Although the gospels only record Jesus saying the opening verse, it is fair to read the entire psalm as messianic, as it captures both the agony (verses - [Psalm 21: Praising Power](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-21-praising-power/) - If you have studied the history of ancient Israel, then you know many of their kings were scoundrels. Even those identified as "good kings," like David, had significant shortcomings. In this regard, the ancient world seems much like our own, with frail leaders of weak character that too often abused their power. Given the tyranny - [Psalm 20: Divine Assistance](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-20-divine-assistance/) - On February 11, 1861, Abraham Lincoln addressed his neighbors in Springfield, Illinois, from the train depot before heading to his inauguration in Washington, D.C. Knowing the country was on the edge of civil war, and aware of new threats on his own life, Lincoln asked for their prayers. He said: “I now leave, not knowing - [Psalm 19: General & Special Revelation](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-19-gods-glory-in-creation/) - When Jesus was born a star appeared in the East. In a way, the coming of our Savior was celebrated first by the heavens. When the time came for Jesus to begin his ministry, he was baptized in the waters of the Jordan River, the clouds parted, and the Spirit descended on him as a - [Psalm 18: More than Remembrance](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-18-remember-like-a-jew/) - Last week, as part of my tour of significant locations from the Civil Rights Movement, I visited The Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. The museum traces American history from the Atlantic slave trade, through Reconstruction, Segregation, and the modern mass incarceration crisis. Apart from spotlighting often overlooked, or deliberately ignored, parts of our history, the - [Psalm 17: The Reality of Injustice](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-17/) - Last week I was in Georgia and Alabama visiting historic sites of the Civil Rights Movement including the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. On March 7, 1965, 600 peaceful protesters began a march from Selma to Montgomery to bring attention to the unjust voting restrictions against Black Americans in the South. When they crossed - [Psalm 16: Trust the Catcher](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-16-the-catcher/) - Near the end of his life, Henri Nouwen, a Dutch priest, professor, and author, became fascinated by a German trapeze troupe called the Flying Rodleighs. In their flying and spinning, he saw more than an exhilarating show—he saw an illustration of life with God. Nouwen recognized that the flyer—the person soaring through the air—is really - [Psalm 15: An Integrated Life](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-15-an-integrated-life/) - All people are susceptible to unhealthy compartmentalization including religious people. In fact, because they often carry a bifurcated vision of the world in which everything is categorized as either “sacred” or “secular,” religious people may be more likely to succumb to the dangers of compartmentalization. For example, we are tempted to isolate our sacred relationship - [Psalm 14: We Are All Functional Atheists](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-14-we-are-all-atheists/) - There is some debate among scholars over “the fool” in Psalm 14 who says, “there is no God.” A strong case can be made that atheism was not a concept in ancient Israel—or anywhere else in the ancient world. The concept of a godless, entirely material cosmos would not emerge until long after the Hebrew - [Psalm 12: Big Talk vs. Big God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-12-big-talk-vs-big-god/) - It requires willful compartmentalization to read Psalm 12 and not think about the recent state of political leadership in the United States. The writer laments the absence of godly, faithful people. They have been displaced, he cries, by those who “utter lies . . . with flattering lips” and tongues that “make great boasts.” The - [Psalm 13: Choosing to Sing](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-13-choosing-to-sing/) - In just six short verses, Psalm 13 takes us on a long journey of the soul. It begins with a cry of anguish: “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” But it ends with a song of praise: “I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.” And yet, - [Psalm 11: Imminent and Transcendent](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-11-imminent-and-transcendent/) - In our reflection on the first ten psalms, we have already seen how they employ paradox to speak about the mystery of God and our relationship with him. In Psalm 11, the writer uses this same device to find peace for his soul amid terrible circumstances. After recognizing the great threat surrounding him—the bows of - [Psalm 10: Honest About the Problem of Evil](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-10-the-problem-of-evil/) - The themes of Psalms 9 and 10 are so similar that in some translations of the Old Testament, they are combined into a single poem. They both lament the mistreatment of the poor and vulnerable by the powerful and wicked. They both acknowledge the rampant injustice of our world and wonder why a good and - [Psalm 9: Choose Your Universe](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-9-choose-your-universe/) - The French biologist Jacques Monod, in his book Chance and Necessity, concluded that the cosmos was an accident and that God was an illusion. Our existence, therefore, has no ultimate meaning. If Monod is correct, how then are we to live? He wrote: “If he is to accept this message in its full meaning, man - [Psalm 7: Celebrating Judgment](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-7-good-judgment/) - As a culture, we carry an almost universal disdain for judgment. To judge another person is viewed as intolerant—and we now live in a society where the only thing not tolerated is intolerance. To judge another’s value system or beliefs is seen as cultural imperialism; an abuse of power that must not be permitted in - [Psalm 8: We Are Everything & We Are Nothing](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-8-everything-and-nothing/) - Properly understood, the Christian faith is a set of holy paradoxes. Our most cherished theologies, when carefully examined, are logical contradictions that only give life if we allow them to remain divine mysteries. If we attempt to resolve them by forcing them to conform to shallow reason, they collapse into the heaps of powerless human - [Psalm 6: Validating Pain](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-6-validating-pain/) - There are many voices claiming the mantle of “Christian leadership” today while hocking the idea that faith in God is a formula for the fulfillment of your dreams. While a very popular message, this is not Christianity. It's consumerism, and anyone tempted to believe such nonsense would do well to read and reflect on Psalm - [Psalm 5: Filthy Mouths](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-5-filthy-mouths/) - Scripture often contrasts the righteous and the wicked, and it's a theme particularly central to the wisdom literature in the Old Testament. The composer of Psalm 5 alternates between God’s goodness toward the upright and his judgment of the evil, but notice how almost every description of the wicked focuses upon their mouths. They are - [Psalm 4: Anger Management](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-4-anger-management/) - As I shared at the start of this series, the Psalms cover the full spectrum of emotions experienced by those living with God, and not merely the upbeat, positive feelings that dominate many popular churches in America today. The Psalms are often raw, brutal in their honesty, and even theologically problematic as they reveal people - [Psalm 3: Chicken Littles, Pollyannas, & Defining Reality](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-3-defining-reality/) - I'm not certain, but I may be developing an allergy to the word leader. Maybe it's because I used to be an editor for a magazine for pastors called Leadership Journal, and I spent a lot of time at ministry conferences that fetishized an American vision of leadership by assuming it was thoroughly biblical. In - [Psalm 2: What Makes God Laugh?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-2-the-lord-laughs/) - The best art always shifts our perspective. It invites us to see what we might otherwise overlook. It inspires us to imagine what we hadn't previously considered. Or, it challenges us to reconsider the familiar from another point of view. This is one of the reasons I admire the work of Vincent Van Gogh. The - [Whose Name Will You Carry?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/whose-name-will-you-carry/) - While establishing his covenant with Israel, YHWH commanded his people to not “carry” his name in vain (Exodus 20:7). Although many have understood this commandment to be about our speech—not cursing with or blaspheming about God’s name—the evidence from the book of Exodus itself shows that the command is really about hypocrisy. Like the high - [Psalm 1: Knowledge and Affection](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-1-knowledge-and-affection/) - The book of Psalms begins by describing two types of people—the righteous and the wicked. The righteous person is compared to a flourishing tree, firmly rooted and well-watered. The wicked person, by contrast, is blown away like chaff. These are frequent themes in Scripture. Jesus spoke about identifying good and bad trees by their fruit. - [Sealed With the Name of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/sealed-with-the-name-of-god/) - Since college, I’ve accumulated a lot of books. So many, in fact, that a few times each year I must thin the herd by disposing of books that I’m unlikely to need in the future. Some books, however, carry sentimental value because they were meaningful to my formation. I may not open them for years, - [No Other Name Under Heaven](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-one-who-faithfully-carries-gods-name-2/) - Throughout this series, we’ve been looking at Exodus 34:6-7 where God proclaims his proper name, YHWH, and his character. These are the most quoted verses in the Bible by the Bible. Therefore, it’s very difficult to overstate the importance of this text and YHWH’s name to our understanding of the scriptures. Yet, as central as - [The One Who Faithfully Carries God’s Name](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-one-who-faithfully-carries-gods-name/) - When YHWH established his covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai, he called them a “kingdom of priests.” And like a priest, the nation was warned not to carry YHWH’s name in vain. That meant they were to faithfully represent YHWH to the rest of the world. As his chosen people, they were to display his - [YHWH Saves](https://www.withgoddaily.com/yhwh_saves/) - *NOTE TO SUPPORTERS* After a disruption in service, the With God Daily mobile app has been repaired. Please delete your current WGD app and download the newest version from the Apple App Store or Google Play to restore service. Sorry for the delay and thanks for your patience. _____________________ Before we conclude our series about - [Clothed in the Name of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/clothed-in-the-name-of-god/) - *NOTE TO SUPPORTERS* After a disruption in service, the With God Daily mobile app has been repaired. Please delete your current WGD app and download the newest version from the Apple App Store or Google Play to restore service. Sorry for the delay and thanks for your patience. _____________________ We’ve been exploring what it means - [Carrying God’s Name in Vain](https://www.withgoddaily.com/carrying-gods-name-in-vain/) - *NOTE TO SUPPORTERS* After a disruption in service, the With God Daily mobile app has been repaired. Please delete your current WGD app and download the newest version from the Apple App Store or Google Play to restore service. Sorry for the delay and thanks for your patience. _____________________ I’ve joked for years that I - [The Scandal of Modern Evangelicalism](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-scandal-of-modern-evangelicalism/) - Back in 2005, Ronald Sider released a book called The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience. In it he compiled data from numerous market research companies, government agencies, academic institutions, and pollsters about the moral habits of Americans. Then, Sider extracted the numbers for evangelical Christians and compared this data to the wider population. He described - [Misusing the Name of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/misusing-the-name-of-god/) - *NOTE TO SUPPORTERS* After a disruption in service, the With God Daily mobile app has been repaired. Please delete your current WGD app and download the newest version from the Apple App Store or Google Play to restore service. Sorry for the delay and thanks for your patience. _____________________ When something is used for a - [A People Called by God's Name](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-people-called-by-gods-name/) - Throughout this series, we've been trying to understand who God is by examining the most quoted verses in the Bible by the Bible—Exodus 34:5-7. There, God proclaims his proper name to Moses and describes his character. Through these verses, we've examined YHWH's compassion, grace, patience, love, faithfulness, forgiveness, wrath, and justice. But before we finally - [Scaring the Hell Out of People](https://www.withgoddaily.com/scaring-the-hell-out-of-people/) - My flight landed at O’Hare after midnight. It was January in Chicago, and although I’d only been away in California for less than 48 hours, returning to the cold was jarring. After exiting the airport tram, exhausted and eager for my bed, I found six inches of fresh snow blanketing the economy parking lot making - [Chesterton’s Fence, Slippery Slopes, & Rethinking Hell](https://www.withgoddaily.com/chestertons-fence-slippery-slopes-rethinking-hell/) - As we approach the end of our exploration of hell, there is one final question we must ask. Given the lack of biblical support for the doctrine of eternal conscious torment, and considering the repeated and consistent biblical message that the wicked will be repaid for their sins and then be destroyed, why is there - [Why Finite Sin Cannot Justify Infinite Torture (Part 2)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-finite-sin-cannot-justify-infinite-torture-part-2/) - Apart from a lack of strong biblical support, the traditional view of hell, known as eternal conscious torment (ECT), must overcome another challenge. It must explain why it is necessary for a finite amount of human sin to be punished with an infinite amount of suffering. This unbalanced equation must be solved by adding something - [Why Finite Sin Cannot Justify Infinite Torture (Part 1)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-finite-sin-cannot-justify-infinite-torture-part-1/) - As a high school student, the only advanced classes I ever took were in science. (I know, that’s surprising given the career path I eventually took.) The course I struggled most in was chemistry, likely because balancing chemistry equations was very similar to math—my poorest subject in school. A balanced chemical equation refers to a - [What About Abraham, Lazarus, & the Rich Man?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-about-abraham-lazarus-the-rich-man/) - The Bible repeatedly affirms two things about the fate of those who reject God. First, the Lord, being just, will repay them proportionally for the evil they have done. Second, the final fate of all who remain in their sins, after they’ve faced the Lord’s justice for their wickedness, is death—the cessation of existence. Rather - [What is the Lake of Fire?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-is-the-lake-of-fire/) - When my children were little, we were visiting a friend’s home during the Christmas season. Our children and theirs began to play with a ceramic Nativity scene displayed on a table. Two of the younger kids were tossing the little figurine manger and baby until an older sibling interrupted. “Be careful,” she said, “that’s Jesus!” - [Revelation is Not a Guide to Hell](https://www.withgoddaily.com/revelation-is-not-a-guide-to-hell/) - As we saw yesterday, the overwhelming and repeated message throughout the Bible is that the wicked will be destroyed. This presents a significant, and I would argue an insurmountable, challenge to the universalist position that all people will ultimately be saved and enjoy eternal life with God. But it also challenges the traditional view of - [Sodom, Gomorrah, & Eternal Fire](https://www.withgoddaily.com/sodom-gomorrah-eternal-fire/) - Without question, the most vivid and ubiquitous aspect of hell is its eternal fire. Even those who have never opened a Bible know that hell is described as a blazing furnace of suffering where the flames never end. This is the image that fills our imaginations, our literature, our movies, and our art. Any conception - [Marriage, Hell, and How to Misread the Bible](https://www.withgoddaily.com/marriage-hell-and-how-to-misread-the-bible/) - Interpreting the Bible is no easy thing. It is a complicated, ancient, multi-faceted collection of writings from distant cultures, originally composed in foreign languages and for communities that share little in common with our own. All of these factors, and more, should humble us as we come to the text of scripture. While maintaining this - [Undying Worms & Unquenchable Fire](https://www.withgoddaily.com/undying-worms-unquenchable-fire/) - Many years ago, when we were newlyweds and I was in graduate school, a new restaurant was being built near our home that we passed by regularly. One day the restaurant’s name appeared on a newly erected sign. “Asia Go,” I said to my wife as we drove by. “It must be some kind of - [Did Jesus Really Pay it All?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/did-jesus-really-pay-it-all/) - Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, Isaiah prophesied about the meaning of the Messiah’s suffering: “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - [The Principle of Proportionality](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-principle-of-proportionality/) - The destruction of the wicked, which Scripture appears to repeatedly and consistently affirm, does raise one significant question. Will everyone who rebels against God and his ways experience the same justice? Will everyone be destroyed by death? For the most egregious evildoers, death seems like too merciful a fate. Even human justice, as flawed as - [Evil is Temporary, Not Eternal](https://www.withgoddaily.com/evil-is-temporary-not-eternal/) - A Bible professor once told me, "When you read the Bible you must be careful to know what you see, and not simply see what you know.” It was a warning to let the text of Scripture speak for itself and to be on guard against the temptation to read assumptions or traditions into the - [Hell is Not Just a Place on Earth](https://www.withgoddaily.com/hell-is-not-just-a-place-on-earth/) - Yesterday, we looked at the linguistic and historical context of gehenna, the word that Jesus used that is translated as “hell” in our English Bibles. Gehenna referred to an actual place; the valley outside of Jerusalem that had long been associated with evil. It was where earlier generations had worshipped false gods and even sacrificed - [Hell is Also Place on Earth](https://www.withgoddaily.com/hell-is-a-place-on-earth/) - Singer Belinda Carlisle had a huge hit in 1987 with the song “Heaven Is a Place on Earth.” The sappy, pop love anthem accidentally offers some pretty good theology. Rather than a far-distant realm, the Bible presents heaven as a dimension that regularly intersects and interacts with the earth. And there are numerous stories in - [“Eternal Punishment” Isn’t What You Think](https://www.withgoddaily.com/eternal-punishment-isnt-what-you-think/) - Over the last few days, we've examined two assumptions—one modern and one ancient. First, we looked at the popular belief in a non-existent or empty hell in which all people escape judgment to enjoy eternity with God. While very appealing to modern sensibilities, that view—known as universalism—finds little support in the Bible. Then, yesterday, we - [Is Every Human Soul Immortal?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/is-every-human-soul-immortal/) - In 1978, the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati aired an episode called “Turkeys Away.” Some TV critics still call it the best Thanksgiving television episode ever. In it, Arthur Carlson, the radio station manager, devises a publicity stunt but keeps the details secret from the rest of the team. Later, the station’s reporter, Les Nessman, is - [Our Problem is Heaven, Not Just Hell](https://www.withgoddaily.com/our-problem-is-heaven-not-just-hell/) - Our skewed vision of hell is linked in no small measure to our skewed vision of heaven. Rather than taking the biblical narrative of redemption as our guide, many of us have inherited our vision of the future from traditions and imposed those assumptions onto the biblical text. For example, it is widely assumed that - [The Unintended Consequences of Erasing Hell](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-unintended-consequences-of-erasing-hell/) - Back in 1940, C.S. Lewis first wrote about the doctrine of condemnation in his book, The Problem of Pain, and expressed a tension many contemporary Christians still feel. Lewis said, "There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full - [Unbundling Hell](https://www.withgoddaily.com/unbundling-hell/) - We’ve been exploring the name of God and his self-description from Exodus 34:5-7. Before we wrap up the series, I’ve decided this is a good time for a break to travel down a side road before returning to God’s name. For the last few weeks, we’ve been focused on God’s judgment of evil. After emphasizing - [Copy God's Mercy, Not His Anger](https://www.withgoddaily.com/copy-gods-mercy-not-his-anger/) - Core to the Christian life is the belief that we are to emulate the character of God. If he is the ultimate standard of virtue and the foundation of all reality, then our vision of God will define and determine our own actions in the world and what we believe to be good, true, and - [The Surprising Math of Wrath](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-surprising-math-of-wrath/) - There's a well-known book within the Christian charity and philanthropic community called When Helping Hurts. The thesis is that sometimes a godly desire to help the poor may unintentionally cause them harm, therefore we must be more thoughtful and careful about our charitable actions. Simply put, good intentions aren't enough. The same argument could apply - [Does God Punish Children for a Parent's Sins?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/does-god-punish-children-for-a-parents-sins/) - Sociologists will plot cultures along a spectrum with collectivism as one pole and individualism as the other. Collectivist cultures emphasize social conformity, group harmony, selflessness, and interdependence. More individualist cultures celebrate autonomy, self-actualization, individual rights, and personal achievement. The modern United States is extremely individualist, while the ancient cultures of the Bible were far more - [God's Wrath Isn't What You Think](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-wrath-isnt-what-you-think/) - After proclaiming his compassion, mercy, love, and forgiveness, YHWH says he "not leave the guilty unpunished." This statement can make us wince in part because we just don't know the Bible very well. The modern church, particularly in America, often ignores large sections of scripture, and more people have their theology shaped by popular worship - [God is Slow to Anger, Not Without Anger](https://www.withgoddaily.com/god-is-slow-to-anger-not-without-anger/) - Earlier in Exodus 34, YHWH said he is "slow to anger." In the original language, the phrase literally says YHWH is "long in nostril." As we already noted, this is a Hebrew idiom related to anger. In English, we use idioms like "fly off the handle" or we describe an anger-prone person as "having a - [We All Want Justice](https://www.withgoddaily.com/we-all-want-justice/) - The final phrase of God's self-proclamation in Exodus 34 makes many of us uncomfortable. In fact, I've been receiving messages from With God Daily readers on social media expressing precisely that point. While YHWH says he is compassionate, loving, patient, and forgiving, he sticks the landing of this verbal vault by declaring he is also - [Do We Really Want a World Without Judgment?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/do-we-really-want-a-world-without-judgment/) - I'm a fan of animated movies. As a kid, I watched all of the Disney classics, and as a teenager, I enjoyed the films created during the animation renaissance in the 1990's like The Lion King, Alladin, and Toy Story. Because they're targeting a younger audience, these films usually carried a clear message of good - [God is Wrathful Because God is Love](https://www.withgoddaily.com/god-is-wrathful-because-god-is-love/) - I suppose we could end the series about God's name right here. So far, everything we've examined from Exodus 34 about YHWH's name and character has been undeniably positive. He is compassionate and gracious, patient, overflowing with loyalty and faithful to his promises, and he is eagerly forgiving. But that's not the end of his - [The Eagerness to Forgive](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-eagerness-to-forgive/) - A few nights ago, after a busy day of activity and chores, my wife and I settled down to watch a television show together. As we started, she suddenly remembered that we needed a few groceries for the next morning. "Would you be willing to run to the store for me?" she asked. "I will," - [Evil in All Its Forms](https://www.withgoddaily.com/evil-in-all-its-forms/) - It's possible to decipher how important something is to a culture by how many words exist within their language to describe it. For example, the Baniwa tribe in Brazil has 29 words for different kinds of edible ants. Likewise, Hawaiians have 108 words for sweet potato, 42 for sugarcane, and 47 for bananas. The Somali - [God's Covenant With His People Was Unique, Not His Love For Them](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-covenant-with-his-people-was-unique-not-his-love-for-them/) - I'm writing this on my 24th wedding anniversary. It's hard not to think about my own marriage covenant as I study YHWH's covenant with his people in Exodus 34. Part of Christian marriage is the vow to "forsake all others." And in Exodus, the Lord promises to live in a special relationship with Abraham's descendants - [God's People Have Greater Responsibility, Not Greater Superiority](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-people-have-greater-responsibility-not-greater-superiority/) - My son is a senior in high school. That means the last year has been filled with college visits, applications, filling out financial aid forms, and a flood of junk mail from institutions of higher learning large and small. Thankfully, he has been admitted to a number of good schools and we're now weighing the - [Learning to Choose What We Did Not Choose](https://www.withgoddaily.com/learning-to-choose-what-we-did-not-choose/) - We are studying the name of God and the declaration of his character in Exodus 34 for two reasons. First, if we are to live in communion with God we must know who he is and what he is like. But the Christian's calling is more than knowing God. We are also to represent him - [God Carries the Burden of Our Evil](https://www.withgoddaily.com/god-carries-the-burden-of-our-evil/) - In Exodus 34, YHWH proclaims his name and character to Moses. These verses are important for a number of reasons. First, they are the most complete yet succinct description of who God is anywhere in the Old Testament. And, second, these verses are the most quoted verses in the Bible by the Bible. Even the - [The Burden & Blessing of Debt](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-burden-blessing-of-debt/) - Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “YHWH, YHWH, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does - [Jesus Represents God Loyal Love & Our Disloyal Sin](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-represents-god-loyal-love-our-disloyal-sin/) - In Exodus 34:6, YHWH describes himself as "abounding in love and faithfulness," and the Apostle John quotes these same words, although through a few leaps in translation, when he said Jesus came "full of grace and truth." None of these English translations, however, sufficiently capture the real intent of this phrase. It speaks of God's - [To Will the Good of Another](https://www.withgoddaily.com/to-will-the-good-of-another-2/) - For the last few days, I've been building an argument that our English translations of Exodus 34:6, where YHWH declares that he is "abounding in love," is incomplete and maybe even misleading. The Hebrew word hesed simply cannot be translated into any single English word, let alone one as widely misused as the word "love." - [Love & Truth; Truth & Love](https://www.withgoddaily.com/love-truth-love/) - I've had the opportunity to preach at a historically black church on a few occasions. Preaching in many churches is like a golf tournament. The crowd is hushed so as not to distract the pastor from his concentration in the pulpit. It's a lonely, cerebral activity. Preaching in a black church is more like a - [Full of Grace and Truth](https://www.withgoddaily.com/full-of-grace-and-truth/) - It's time for a little Bible history. The Old Testament, also known as the Hebrew Bible, was originally written in Hebrew. Duh. That's why in our exploration of God's name in Exodus 34 we've often ventured into the meaning of Hebrew words. Sometimes this can be bizarre, like when YHWH describes himself as "slow to - [Missed Expectations](https://www.withgoddaily.com/missed-expectations/) - A few weeks ago, I took my son on a college visit. After a treacherous drive through a snowstorm, we arrived at our hotel in the small town exhausted and hungry. The only restaurant still open was McDonalds which thrilled my son who can inhale a 20-piece McNugget meal in seconds. On the other hand, - [Abandon Ship!](https://www.withgoddaily.com/abandon-ship/) - When I was 13, my father thought it would be fun to take family sailing lessons. I have no clue where this idea originated, except that my dad has a curious and adventurous spirit. He probably suggested flying lessons for the family until my mom talked him down to sailing instead. So, that summer my - [Cutting the Covenant](https://www.withgoddaily.com/cutting-the-covenant/) - Then YHWH came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, YHWH. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “YHWH, YHWH, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave - [Defining the Undefinable](https://www.withgoddaily.com/defining-the-undefinable/) - Then YHWH came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, YHWH. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “YHWH, YHWH, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave - [Seeing Through a Window Poorly](https://www.withgoddaily.com/seeing-through-a-window-poorly/) - Then YHWH came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, YHWH. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “YHWH, YHWH, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave - [The Unbreakable Love of Saint Valentine](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-unbreakable-love-of-saint-valentine/) - Then YHWH came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, YHWH. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “YHWH, YHWH, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave - [We Cannot Bring the Kingdom Ourselves](https://www.withgoddaily.com/we-cannot-bring-the-kingdom-ourselves/) - An episode of the Freakonomics Radio podcast focused on a team of brilliant researchers competing for a $100 million grant. The prize will be given to the group with the best idea for curing one social problem anywhere in the world. Angela Duckworth and Katy Milkman are competing for the grant because they believe they’ve identified the - [The Kingdom & the Problem of Evil](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-kingdom-the-problem-of-evil/) - One of the most persistent challenges to faith is what philosophers call the Problem of Evil. The problem is easy to understand, but much harder to solve. It says: If God is all-powerful and all-good, why is there so much evil in the world? This sets up three possible, but unsatisfying, solutions: 1) God is good but - [Evil in the Church & Evil in the World](https://www.withgoddaily.com/evil-in-the-church-evil-in-the-world/) - Among causal readers of the Bible, there has been a long tradition of confusing the kingdom of heaven with the church. This was especially common during the era of Christendom in which European churches and state powers were enmeshed, and it persists today where people assume the organizational structures of the church and the power - [Who Will Enter God's Kingdom?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/who-will-enter-gods-kingdom/) - In Jesus’ parable, after the invited guests made ridiculous and insulting excuses for not coming to the host’s banquet, he became angry. He then told his servant to instead fill his banquet with “the poor and crippled and blind and lame.” In ancient Israel, these people lived on the margins of society because they were - [Saying "Yes" to God's Kingdom Isn't Enough](https://www.withgoddaily.com/saying-yes-to-god-isnt-enough/) - We have looked at how banquets were conducted in ancient Israel. A host would send two invitations. The first ensured there were no conflicting events planned in the community, and asked guests to accept or respectfully decline the invitation. The second invitation was then sent once the banquet was prepared. This second invitation is what - [A Welcoming Kingdom of Inclusion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-welcoming-kingdom-of-inclusion/) - While Jesus was dining at the home of a religious leader, another guest said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!" (Luke 14:15). A banquet or feast was a common image in ancient Israel to describe the age to come when heaven and earth are united under God’s - [Don't Mistake Gloom for Godliness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/dont-mistake-gloom-for-godliness/) - Religious people use the word sacrifice a lot. I looked up the word’s definition and among its uses are two seemingly contradictory understandings: 1) the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher value. 2) a loss incurred in selling something below its value. Both definitions are - [Why We Reject the Kingdom](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-we-reject-the-kingdom/) - Jesus taught two very similar parables about the response of those who discover the kingdom of heaven. In one he compares it to a man who finds a treasure in a field, and in the other to a merchant who discovers a pearl of great value. Both stories take an unfamiliar concept—the unseen realm of - [Teaching 'Slant' About the Kingdom of Heaven](https://www.withgoddaily.com/teaching-slant-about-the-kingdom-of-heaven/) - During the climax of the classic courtroom movie, A Few Good Men, the prosecutor demands to know the truth and Jack Nicholson’s character, Colonel Jessep, famously shouts back, “You can’t handle the truth!” Maybe he was right. Maybe most of us have a difficult time accepting the truth when it’s presented to us directly. Emily - [More Than Ministry Matters for Eternity](https://www.withgoddaily.com/more-than-ministry-matters-for-eternity/) - What we believe about the future determines what we believe matters in the present. This is why a heaven-centric view of the Christian life is so damaging. It severely limits what we believe Jesus cares about and, therefore, narrows the mission and works his followers engage. For example, if eternity will be in a heaven - [Eternity Will Be Ruled by One Kingdom, Not Two](https://www.withgoddaily.com/eternity-will-be-ruled-by-one-kingdom-not-two/) - When we reach the final chapters of the Bible, we discover imagery that echoes back to the opening chapters of Genesis. This is deliberate and cements the link between the Hebrew vision of creation and the Christian vision of redemption, and that God is restoring the unity of heaven and earth first encountered in the - [The City of Gold & the Holy of Holies](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-city-of-gold-the-holy-of-holies/) - Revelation is a notoriously difficult book to interpret. It is an ancient literary genre totally foreign to the modern world, and it is loaded with apocalyptic symbolism, convoluted timelines, and cultural references we easily miss. Consider the way John describes the heavenly city, New Jerusalem, which descends to the earth. He says the massive metropolis - [This World Will Not be Replaced](https://www.withgoddaily.com/this-world-will-not-be-replaced/) - When Christians first hear that the New Testament does not teach that we will spend eternity in heaven, but that the renewed earth will be our permanent home, those with any familiarity with the Bible will immediately counter with 2 Peter 3. There, the Apostle says the earth will be "destroyed" by fire and that - [Jesus' Resurrection & the Earth's Resurrection](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-resurrection-the-earths-resurrection/) - The widely held belief that God is concerned with redeeming souls but not bodies is utterly unbiblical. This common assumption is shown to be mistaken through Jesus’ miracles of healing and especially his physical, bodily resurrection. But there is another similar error that dominates much of modern Christianity—the widely held belief that God will completely - [God is Redeeming the Material, Not Just the Spiritual](https://www.withgoddaily.com/god-is-redeeming-the-material-not-just-the-spiritual/) - The heaven-centric mental map carried by many people says heaven is a celestial paradise inhabited by disembodied souls. Although our bodies are temporary and will return to dust, this view says our souls are eternal and will endure forever. This elevation of the spiritual and disregard for the material is similar to a very ancient - [We Will Rule With God on Earth, Not in Heaven](https://www.withgoddaily.com/we-will-rule-with-god-on-earth-not-in-heaven/) - After his resurrection, Jesus continued to appear to his disciples and teach them for a period of forty days. We are told in the opening chapter of Acts, that he spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and the disciples asked when the kingdom would be fully revealed. They wanted to know when heaven - [The Way of Heaven is the Way of the Cross](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-way-of-heaven-is-the-way-of-the-cross/) - On the night of his arrest, in his final conversation with his disciples, Jesus spoke to them about returning to his Father, preparing a place for them, and returning to take them to be with him. He was speaking of his death, resurrection, and second coming. Then Jesus added, “You know the way to where - [Greatness is Defined by When & Where, Not What](https://www.withgoddaily.com/greatness-is-defined-by-when-where-not-what/) - When Jesus’ told his disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father," (John 14:12), he did not mean that they would do more spectacular miracles, but rather more numerous - [Why Did Jesus Say His Followers Would Do "Greater Works"?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/26022-2/) - During his farewell discourse with his apostles, Jesus makes one of the more shocking—and often misunderstood—promises found anywhere in the gospels. He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the - [Ignoring the Cross to Focus on Heaven](https://www.withgoddaily.com/25978-2/) - The night before his crucifixion, Jesus told his disciples he was leaving, “to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2). This is widely misunderstood to mean Jesus was leaving earth to build a heavenly paradise with gold streets and gilded mansions for his followers to inhabit after they die. Although this idea might ignite the - [Jesus is Not Building You a Mansion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-is-not-building-you-a-mansion/) - Popular culture, both inside and outside the church, has long equated heaven with the afterlife despite the lack of biblical support for this view. As we’ve already seen, the Apostles never spoke about heaven in any of their gospel sermons, and the “kingdom of heaven” carried a very different meaning in Jesus’ culture and for - ["Redemption" is Not Going to Heaven](https://www.withgoddaily.com/redemption-is-not-going-to-heaven/) - Redemption is a very common biblical theme and one that Christians engage regularly in our songs, prayers, and sermons. We speak a lot about God’s redeeming power as a past, present, and future reality. For example, the Bible identifies Jesus’ death on the cross as a “redeeming sacrifice” (past), there are numerous popular worship songs - [The Kingdom is Not a Gated Community](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-kingdom-is-not-a-gated-community/) - Our culture has formed us to think of the kingdom of heaven like a celestial country club or posh gated community surrounded by slums. We assume the kingdom of heaven is an extravagant and exclusive residence for those special souls allowed to enter. We’ve already debunked part of this definition. The kingdom isn’t where righteous - [Heaven is Not the Goal](https://www.withgoddaily.com/heaven-is-not-the-goal/) - Ask most Christians what the goal of their faith is and you’re likely to hear something about reaching heaven. As Dallas Willard summarized, “For most American Christians, the gospel is about getting my sins forgiven so I can go to heaven when I die.” In other words, many of us have a very heaven-centric mental - [Kingdom ≠ Church](https://www.withgoddaily.com/kingdom-≠-church/) - In Jesus’ most famous sermon, found in Matthew chapters 5 through 7, he repeatedly speaks about the kingdom of heaven. In fact, he uses the phrase in the opening sentence: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The prominence of this kingdom language throughout Matthew’s gospel, and particularly within - [The Kingdom of Heaven is Within Our Reach](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-kingdom-of-heaven-is-within-our-reach/) - So far, we've learned three important things about the biblical understanding, or map, of heaven. First, heaven is not a distant realm for the dearly departed, but another dimension that exists alongside our own just as the atmosphere exists alongside the earth. Second, in the beginning, heaven and earth were united and the dwelling place - [Jesus is the Stairway to Heaven](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-is-the-stairway-to-heaven/) - Rather than a distant paradise for the dead, the biblical authors understood heaven to be an unseen realm alongside our own, and they believed it interacted with our world the way the atmosphere interacts with the earth. They also believed these two realms—heaven and earth—could intersect and be occupied simultaneously. This is what we see - [Revising Our Map of Heaven](https://www.withgoddaily.com/revising-our-map-of-heaven/) - I have always loved maps. Growing up, we had a giant National Geographic atlas the size of a coffee table. I used to flip the massive pages and wonder about the strange places on the other side of the planet. And on the light-up globe in the den, I would try to measure with my - [Heaven is Closer Than You Think](https://www.withgoddaily.com/heaven-is-closer-than-you-think/) - The first clue that Jesus' map of heaven is different from ours is found in the word itself. The Hebrew word for "heaven" in the Old Testament is shamayim, and the Greek word in the New Testament is ouranos. Both words are plural and are usually accompanied by a definite article. Therefore, they should more - [The Bible is About Heaven & Earth, Not Heaven & Hell](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-bible-is-about-heaven-earth-not-heaven-hell/) - "Where will you spend eternity, in heaven or hell?" That's a question Christians have sometimes used to start conversations with non-believers, and it's one I heard frequently as a teenager when I was wrestling with questions about God and faith. Although asked with good intentions, those who employ this question are unaware that it contains - [Treason's Greetings](https://www.withgoddaily.com/treasons-greetings/) - The angel’s greeting to the shepherds outside Bethlehem is a scene we’ve encountered many times in Christmas pageants, movies, and holiday TV specials. “Fear not,” the angel said, “for behold, I bring you good news of great joy for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, - [The Power & Value of Pondering](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-power-value-of-pondering/) - Following the angel’s instructions, the shepherds arrived in Bethlehem to find the newborn baby lying in a manger. Wondering why these strangers had come to see her child, the shepherds told Mary about the angels’ announcement. Luke tells us that, “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” It seems like an - [Good News for Everyone](https://www.withgoddaily.com/good-news-for-everyone/) - In Chicago’s Daley Plaza, there is an annual German Christmas market. It has the usual assortment of holiday symbols—a Christmas tree, Santa’s cottage where children get a photo with jolly old St. Nick, a life-sized nativity, and a 20-foot high menorah. Between the nativity and the menorah, there is another, less traditional, display. It contains - [Lowest of the Low & Highest of the High](https://www.withgoddaily.com/lowest-of-the-low-highest-of-the-high/) - Properly understood, the Christian faith is a set of holy paradoxes. Our most cherished theologies, when carefully examined, are contradictions that only give life if we allow them to remain mysteries. If resolved or forced to conform to narrow human reason, they collapse into the heap of powerless human philosophies that litter the landscape of - [The View from the Bottom](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-view-from-the-bottom/) - I first encountered the writings of Henri Nouwen as a college student in the mid-1990s. Up to that time, my vision of the Christian life had been deeply formed and influenced by American culture. This meant my faith was an odd amalgamation of the Bible and American values like individualism, consumerism, and entrepreneurialism. For this - [Love > Freedom](https://www.withgoddaily.com/love-freedom/) - While God’s people lived under the tyranny of bad shepherds, Jeremiah prophesied about the coming of the Messiah. The people longed to be free from the abuse and injustice of their leaders as well as the threat from the foreign powers surrounding them, but Jeremiah promised that the divine Shepherd would offer more than liberation. - [No More Bad Shepherds](https://www.withgoddaily.com/no-more-bad-shepherds/) - Centuries before Jesus’ birth, Jeremiah describes the people of Judah as afraid. They had no peace, no security, no rest, and no joy. The reason for their despair, the Lord said, was Judah’s terrible leaders. He compared them to bad shepherds appointed to protect and care for God's people, his flock. Rather than providing protection - [Advent & Agony](https://www.withgoddaily.com/advent-agony/) - Anthony Van Dyck’s painting of the Nativity (1625) not only communicates the humble reality of Jesus’ advent, but also the coming agony of his crucifixion. Apart from Mary and the baby, the only recognizable figures in the painting are a donkey over Mary’s shoulder and a tree in the distance. Both are included by Van - [All Creation Sings](https://www.withgoddaily.com/all-creation-sings/) - Van Dyck’s painting of the Nativity narrows the focus to Mary and Jesus rather than the other figures traditionally included, but he does include one other witness to the scene. The head of a donkey can be seen in the upper left over Mary’s shoulder looking at her child. Some may find it odd that - [Ordinary Glory](https://www.withgoddaily.com/ordinary-glory/) - The magnitude of the contemporary Christmas season stands in contrast to the humble scene of Jesus' actual birth. Today, the entire culture transforms for weeks. Special ornaments and lights decorate homes and skyscrapers, secular radio stations completely change their programming to include Christian hymns, and households everywhere—both believing and non-believing—pause to gather, exchange gifts, and - [Surfing the Fullness of Time](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-fullness-of-time/) - My daughter has a Christmas countdown app. It shows the exactly days, hours, minutes, and seconds until Christmas. She regularly shows it to me with excitement. I’d like to believe her uncontainable anticipation for Christmas has to do with being with family, good food, and celebrating the birth of Christ, but I know it’s about - [Joseph's Choice](https://www.withgoddaily.com/josephs-choice/) - Joseph had his dilemma figured out. He planned to quietly divorce Mary and preserve his righteous reputation. After all, he couldn’t wed a pregnant woman—the scandal for his family would be devastating particularly in an honor-shame based communal culture like ancient Judea. Then the angel visited him in a dream telling him not to abandon - [Mary's Choice](https://www.withgoddaily.com/marys-choice/) - We’ve been looking at the role of choice in Jesus’ Incarnation. Unlike the exile of God’s people in Babylon in which they were called to make the best of a lousy situation they did not choose, Jesus chose his humble circumstances willingly and deliberately. Rather than viewing the Christian life as a form of exile, - [Choosing the Culture](https://www.withgoddaily.com/choosing-the-culture/) - One of the most important themes in the Old Testament is exile, and it’s one that many modern Christians are now employing as well. In 597 BC, the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem, removed many of God’s people from their land, and carried them off to exile in Babylon. These events, recorded by Jeremiah, include the Lord’s - [God’s Love is a Choice](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-love-is-a-choice/) - Compulsion is the enemy of affection. For love to be received as genuine its recipient must know, perhaps only on a subconscious level, that the one offering it could have withheld his love instead. It is precisely the freedom to not love that gives love its power, and it is the surprise of another’s love - [Remembering Christmases Long, Long Ago](https://www.withgoddaily.com/remembering-christmases-long-long-ago/) - The holidays are a time of remembrance. We recall traditions, family memories, and "tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago" (as the song says). Of course, remembrance may also bring sorrow as we recall our losses, and given the challenges of recent years, I imagine the holidays will be painful for many of - [The Empathy Deficit](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-empathy-deficit/) - A 2012 study authored by four psychologists showed that empathy has declined dramatically in the United States over the last 30 years. To understand why we first need to recognize the basic ingredients necessary for empathy. Mark Honigsbaum notes, “Decades of scientific research show that people are kinder…when we make the imaginative effort to step - [Kings, Priests, and the Incarnation](https://www.withgoddaily.com/kings-priests-and-the-incarnation/) - Our celebration of Christmas incorporates a lot of royal language. Hymns and carols declare “Joy to the world…Let earth receive her King.” Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth emphasizes his royal identity with the visit of the Magi and King Herod’s anger over the birth of a rival. And the Old Testament prophesies we read in - [Pontifex Maximus](https://www.withgoddaily.com/pontifex-maximus/) - While traveling in Italy, I often saw monuments or ruins with the Latin inscription “Pontifex Maximus.” It is found on statues and fountains, and it is even written on the Colosseum in Rome. Pontifex Maximus has been used to identify the Pope since at least the fifteenth century, and since 2012 @pontifex has been the - [Stairway to Heaven](https://www.withgoddaily.com/stairway-to-heaven/) - In the Old Testament, the patriarch Jacob had a dream of a ladder between heaven and earth with angels ascending and descending on it with YHWH himself at the top. When he awoke Jacob said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of - [God in the Open](https://www.withgoddaily.com/god-in-the-open/) - Florence, Italy is known for its unparalleled collection of Renaissance art, and by far the most famous item on display is Michelangelo’s sculpture of David. The massive five-meter marble statue is located in the Accademia Museum which requires a paid ticket to enter. Many tourists purchase their tickets in advance—like we did when we visited - [Desiring God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/desiring-god/) - Why did Jesus come? There are many answers to that question. For example, the angel told Joseph that Jesus would “save his people from their sins.” Jesus himself said that he’d come “to be a ransom for many.” And Paul said Jesus came to “reconcile all things to God.” But sometimes we forget one of - [Hear < See < Touch](https://www.withgoddaily.com/hear-see-touch/) - Research about human learning has determined that we remember only 10 percent of what we hear, about 30 percent of what we see, but an incredible 90 percent of what we do. For example, a child may forget if you tell him not to touch a hot stove, but he will never forget the lesson - [The Patience of the Cross](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-patience-of-the-cross/) - We cannot move on from our exploration of God’s anger and patience without examining how his “slow to anger” attribute finds fulfillment at the cross. For centuries before Jesus, God’s people sacrificed animals as a means of atoning for sin. However, drawing from Jewish theology, the writer of Hebrews later said: “the blood of animals - [The Cosmic Final Exam](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-cosmic-final-exam/) - All three of my kids have their final exams in the coming weeks. I recall my son, when he was a high school freshman, being unusually relaxed about the exams which he'd never taken before. During the week, his mother and I tried to encourage good study habits, plenty of sleep, and boundaries with devices. - [Anger is Urgent; Love is Patient](https://www.withgoddaily.com/anger-is-urgent-love-is-patient/) - We live in an instant-gratification culture. The development of digital media and smartphones has only compounded this value. Delayed gratification is the unpardonable sin of modern life, and telling someone they ought to wait to fulfill a desire—or heaven forbid, not fulfill it at all—is an American heresy. This explains why the divine attribute of - [Feasting on Anger](https://www.withgoddaily.com/feasting-on-anger/) - When the biblical authors reference YHWH’s “slow to anger” attribute, it’s noticeable that they do not call us to emulate his anger, but rather his patience. James, for example, commands us to “be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James - [Addicted to Anger](https://www.withgoddaily.com/addicted-to-anger/) - It seems like our entire culture is addicted to outrage, including the church. Anger has become the acceptable and even expected sign of one’s commitment to any cause. But the passionate advocate is rarely satisfied with their own anger—they insist that others must get angry too. For example, on my weekly podcast where we discuss - [Blind Anger](https://www.withgoddaily.com/blind-anger-2/) - Having explored the nature of God’s anger, now we need to examine our own. It has long been affirmed that virtue should be defined by how closely a person emulates the character of God. So, if the Lord gets angry should we as well? Is anger a trait we ought to desire for ourselves, seek - [Mercy Presumed is Mercy Denied](https://www.withgoddaily.com/mercy-presumed-is-mercy-denied/) - Apart from his “I Have a Dream” speech, Martin Luther King Jr.'s best-known message is the letter he wrote to white pastors from a Birmingham jail on April 16, 1963. In it, King responded to calls from white Christian leaders for African-Americans to wait more patiently for societal change rather than protesting and marching for - [An Invitation for Mercy](https://www.withgoddaily.com/an-invitation-for-mercy/) - After rescuing his people from slavery in Egypt, the story of Israel's journey to the Promised Land is one of almost continual rebellion and rejection of God. For example, in Numbers 14 despite YHWH’s miraculous deliverance and provision, the people complain once again about their circumstances in the wilderness and decide to abandon their covenant - [The Wisdom of Cooling-Off](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-wisdom-of-cooling-off/) - Recently, a friend told me he received a particularly unfair criticism via email. Fueled by equal parts justice and self-defense, he quickly composed a heated response but then decided to let the email sit in his ‘Drafts’ folder until the morning. The next day, after his emotions had cooled and he could assess the situation - [Remember Mercy](https://www.withgoddaily.com/remember-mercy/) - Exodus 34:5-9, where YHWH declares his name and describes his character, are the most quoted verses in the Bible by the Bible. Very often a biblical writer will quote these words amid terrible circumstances as a way of saying to God: You said you were merciful and compassionate, YHWH, and we could use some mercy - [The Fear Paradox](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-fear-paradox/) - Addressing the topic of God’s anger isn’t easy not only because it makes contemporary Christians uncomfortable, but also because the Bible itself appears to send mixed signals about how we are to relate to an all-powerful Creator who both loves us and condemns evil. For example, in Luke 12 Jesus explicitly tells his disciples to - [Holy Fear](https://www.withgoddaily.com/holy-fear/) - Jesus spoke about and displayed the anger of God, and he taught that the Lord’s judgment against evil was something to be feared. In this way, we discover the distance between YHWH in the Old Testament and Jesus Christ in the New is an illusion fabricated by those who hold more assumptions about the Bible - [Jesus & the Anger of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-the-anger-of-god/) - When we read in Exodus that God describes himself as “slow to anger,” it generally fits with popular assumptions about the Old Testament. Even among Christians, it is widely affirmed that the Lord of the Old Testament is marked by anger and wrath, while the Jesus we find in the New Testament emphasizes love and - [Injustice & the Anger of God (Part 2)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/injustice-the-anger-of-god-part-2/) - God’s people suffered terrible injustice while slaves in Egypt, and in Exodus 3 the Lord declares, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people...and have heard their cry... I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them” (Exodus 3:7-8). It is a remarkable revelation of God’s compassion and pursuit of justice, - [Injustice & the Anger of God (Part 1)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/injustice-the-anger-of-god-part-1/) - There is an important progression to the provocation of God’s anger. We’ve already seen how failing to recognize God’s care and provision often leads to the delusion that our well-being is the result of our own power or misappropriating the credit to a false god—money, power, and nation being among the most popular. We see - [Infidelity & the Anger of God (Part 2)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/infidelity-the-anger-of-god-part-2/) - The importance of God’s expectation that his people remain faithful to him is evident by the frequency of this command in Scripture and its prominent place as the first of the Ten Commandments. There he says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Some of us read that and think, No problem. I’m a - [Infidelity & the Anger of God (Part 1)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/infidelity-the-anger-of-god-part-1/) - The Bible uses a number of familiar relationships to metaphorically capture God’s relationship with his people—a shepherd and his sheep, a king and his subjects, a father and his children, a farmer and his field, even a potter and his clay. One of the most frequently employed metaphors is that of a husband and wife. - [Ingratitude & the Anger of God (Part 2)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/__ingratitude2/) - The longer I live with God, the more I recognize my limitless capacity for self-delusion. It’s particularly tempting when my circumstances are comfortable and my soul is content. That’s when I begin to believe in my self-sufficiency—that I am responsible for my well-being, and that I can control the future to ensure my well-being in - [Ingratitude & the Anger of God (Part 1)](https://www.withgoddaily.com/ingratitude-the-anger-of-god-part-1/) - So far, we’ve looked at how anger is one of God’s attributes but not his foundational quality, the positives and negatives of his long-suffering patience, and how his anger is rooted in—rather than contrary to—his love. But any exploration of God’s anger must address one basic question: What makes God angry? In the coming days, - [Fear -> Walk -> Love -> Serve](https://www.withgoddaily.com/fear-walk-love-serve/) - In Exodus 34, God describes himself as “gracious and compassionate” but also as “slow to anger.” In our examination of this divine attribute, we must be careful to avoid two extremes. One is the more traditional view of a perpetually angry and wrathful God. The other is the common, consumeristic view of a God who - [Justice & Anger](https://www.withgoddaily.com/justice-requires-anger/) - Modern people are uncomfortable with the idea of an angry God. They tend to see divine wrath as belonging to an earlier, more superstitious and moralistic era. We now prefer an amiable god; a sort of divine life coach to offer therapeutic advice. Many consumer Christians think of Jesus as a genie who helps them - [The Lord’s Long Nostrils](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-lords-long-nostrils/) - Do you read the Bible literally? It’s a question that frequently arises when people discover I was a pastor. It’s a more polite way of asking, “Are you one of those fundamentalists I need to be worried about?” Sometimes the question comes from fellow Christians who want to know whether to accept me as one - [Is God’s Patience Good or Bad?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/is-gods-patience-good-or-bad/) - As we proceed to the next attribute of God's character, let's first review the context where YHWH announced his name to Moses. While atop Mount Sinai, Moses boldly asked to see God’s glory, and God responded by proclaiming his proper name, YHWH, and his character. These verses from Exodus 34 are the most referenced and - [Copied Compassion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/copied-compassion/) - When we introduce ourselves it is usually a courteous way to convey information about our identity. For example, at a recent school meeting, I introduced myself to a coach by saying, “I’m Skye Jethani, Isaac’s dad.” The coach learned my name and my relationship to one of his players. Enough said. When God—the creator and - [Irrational Compassion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/irrational-compassion/) - In Jesus’ parable about the prodigal son, it isn’t difficult to imagine his audience of self-righteous religious leaders identifying with the older son in the story. After his brother returns and the father throws a celebration banquet, the older son is outraged. His anger stems from at least two complaints. First, the older son interprets - [Complete Compassion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/complete-compassion/) - I’m suspicious of biblical interpretations that extract significance from obscure symbols or numbers. I’ve seen this approach employed to abuse both Scripture and those gathered to learn from it. Symbolic numbers in the Bible are also over-emphasized by immature Christians still fixated on superstition, as well as the end-times hucksters who prey upon them. Nonetheless, - [Scandalous Compassion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/scandalous-compassion/) - As we draw near the end of our exploration of God’s compassion and move on to the next aspect of his name and character, there is one passage of the Bible we cannot ignore. Jesus’ story about the prodigal son in Luke 15 epitomizes YHWH’s extravagant compassion. The story was more than surprising to Jesus’ - [Holy is Your Name](https://www.withgoddaily.com/holy-is-your-name/) - Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” (Matthew 6:9). The word hallowed is a form of the word holy, and the Bible frequently speaks of God and his name as “holy.” But what does this mean? Although we now associate holy with spiritual rituals and moral purity, the word - [How Do You Define Holiness?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/how-do-you-define-holiness/) - In Matthew’s gospel, after Jesus commands his followers to imitate God’s love and mercy even toward their enemies, he says something startling. “You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Perfection is a ridiculously high standard, and this command is one reason some readers dismiss the proceeding command to love one’s - [The Mark of Maturity](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-mark-of-maturity/) - What is the mark of spiritual maturity? Every religious community answers this question—some answer it explicitly and many more answer it implicitly. In some communities, the explicit answer is contradicted by the implicit one. For example, a church may say godliness is the true mark of spiritual maturity, but in reality, they value giftedness above - [Carrying On the Name](https://www.withgoddaily.com/carrying-on-the-name/) - One of the more famous—and challenging—teachings of Jesus is his call to love our enemies. The reason we ought to do this, Jesus said, is rooted in God’s identity and ours. “Your Father,” he said, “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends the rain on the just and the - [Mission Without Compassion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/mission-without-compassion/) - Some Christian traditions emphasize God’s justice. They seek to reform the world to better reflect the values of his kingdom. Other traditions focus on God’s truth. They emphasize the importance of right doctrine and theological purity. There is another Christian tradition that exalts the importance of God’s mission—often defined as the proclamation of the gospel, - [Jesus’ Greatest Hit](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-greatest-hit/) - An older pastor once told me, “Every preacher really only has five messages, and once your church has figured yours out it’s probably time to move on.” His point, while perhaps exaggerated, is still valid. Most preachers (and I include myself) have a limited set of core ideas they return to over and over. We - [Cosmic Mission, Personal Compassion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/cosmic-mission-personal-compassion/) - There have been volumes written about the meaning and significance of Jesus’ miracles. For example, some biblical scholars argue that Jesus healed primarily as a way to authenticate his teaching. While sometimes true, this doesn’t account for the many times Jesus healed in secret and commanded his patients to not tell anyone. Secrecy is an - [The Bowels of Jesus Christ](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-bowels-of-jesus-christ/) - In Exodus 34, the Lord describes his character as “compassionate and gracious.” It’s not insignificant that compassion is listed first because ordering is often important in Hebrew lists. While the Lord is certainly just, righteous, and powerful, what Exodus 34 emphasizes is that he is above all else compassionate. Earlier we looked at how the - [The Name Takes on Flesh](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-name-takes-on-flesh/) - In the Old Testament, the pinnacle of God’s self-revelation occurs in Exodus 34 when he proclaims his proper name and character to Moses while together on Mount Sinai. Of course, this was not the final or fullest of God’s self-revelations. That came with the incarnation of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. In a scene - [Who Deserves Compassion?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/who-deserves-compassion/) - We all want God to be compassionate and gracious toward us, but merciless and just toward those who’ve wronged us. Maybe this would be an acceptable posture if we were pure, righteous, and utterly without sin, but as Jesus said, “Let him who is without sin throw the first stone” (John 8:7). Still, whether consciously - [Grace is More than Forgiveness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/grace-is-more-than-forgiveness/) - When the Lord proclaimed his name and character to Moses on Mount Sinai he began, “YHWH, YHWH, compassionate and gracious...” (Exodus 34:5). We’ve already explored how the Hebrew word for compassion is deeply emotional and affectionate. Derived from the word meaning “womb,” it’s connected to the tenderness a parent feels for her child. Now let’s - [Merciful or a Monster?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/merciful-or-a-monster/) - “A little learning is a dangerous thing,” said Alexander Pope. This may be especially true regarding the Bible. There are many in our culture, based on a superficial understanding of Scripture, who assume the God revealed in the Old Testament is wrathful and angry, while the Jesus we find in the New Testament is forgiving - [Why God Answers Prayer](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-god-answers-prayer/) - **TWO NOTES** First, I apologize for not including an audio version of today's devotional. I've been ill and my voice is weak. Once I've recovered I will add audio versions to these devotionals in the archives. Thanks for understanding. Second, we are aware that the mobile app is forcing users to login every time the - [Brief Anger, Everlasting Compassion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/brief-anger-everlasting-compassion/) - **TWO NOTES** First, I apologize for not including an audio version of today's devotional. I've been ill and my voice is weak. Once I've recovered I will add audio versions to these devotionals in the archives. Thanks for understanding. Second, we are aware that the mobile app is forcing users to login every time the - [God is Biased](https://www.withgoddaily.com/god-is-biased/) - **NOTE** I apologize for not including an audio version of today's devotional. I've been ill and my voice is weak. Once I've recovered I will add audio versions to these devotionals in the archives. Thanks for understanding. -Skye Everyone wants to believe God is on their side. After all, claiming divine approval is the ultimate - [Compassion & Judgment](https://www.withgoddaily.com/compassion-judgment/) - **NOTE** I apologize for not including an audio version of today's devotional. I've been ill and my voice is weak. Once I've recovered I will add audio versions to these devotionals in the archives. Thanks for understanding. -Skye Would you rather face man’s judgment or God’s? There is a very curious story from late in - [Mercy Over All He Has Made](https://www.withgoddaily.com/mercy-over-all-he-has-made/) - In Exodus 34, the Lord revealed his proper name, YHWH, and knowledge of his character to the Israelites. Possessing this special knowledge, however, sometimes led the Israelites into arrogance and a sense of national superiority. Indeed, the Lord had chosen them for a special relationship and purpose, but it was not because Israel was better - [The Lord’s Paternal Love](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-lords-paternal-love/) - The Hebrew word for compassion/mercy comes from the root word meaning “womb.” The connection between God’s compassion and a mother’s love is undeniable, but that doesn’t mean compassion is a gendered idea in the Bible. Scripture does not categorize certain qualities as “feminine” and others as “masculine,” and it certainly does not equate some divine - [The Lord’s Maternal Love](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-lords-maternal-love/) - Pregnancy literally changes a woman’s brain. Neurological research reported in The Atlantic explains how a flood of chemicals during and after pregnancy increases activity in parts of the brain regulating what researchers call maternal motivation. “In other words, those maternal feelings of overwhelming love, fierce protectiveness and constant worry begin with reactions in the brain.” - [Justice & Mercy](https://www.withgoddaily.com/justice-mercy/) - After the Lord proclaims his divine name twice in Exodus 34, the first attribute he declares is his mercy. In Hebrew, the order of items in a list is often significant, and the fact that God’s mercy is named first magnifies the importance of this aspect of his character. The prominent place of mercy in - [The 13 Attributes](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-13-attributes/) - A.W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” At first, that seems like a dramatic overstatement, but Tozer recognized that each person is shaped by what he desires. We become like the thing we worship. For example, if we see God as a - [Knowledge & Grace](https://www.withgoddaily.com/knowledge-grace/) - Ask any Christian when they grew most in their life with God and few are likely to mention a conference they attended, a sermon they heard, or a book they read. As good and helpful as those things may be, most of us have grown closest to God through events and circumstances we would never - [We Find God in Humility not Victory](https://www.withgoddaily.com/we-discover-god-in-humility-not-victory/) - The most explicit revelation in the Old Testament of God’s name and character comes in Exodus 34. While Moses is on Mount Sinai, he makes a bold and memorable request of God, “Please show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18). In response, the Lord proclaims his name and attributes not just for Moses’ benefit, but so - [Revelation Precedes Illumination](https://www.withgoddaily.com/revelation-precedes-illumination/) - I’m a curious person. By that I don’t mean odd; I mean I like to learn—although odd may apply as well. For example, a few years ago I found myself unoccupied for an afternoon in Washington, D.C. I spent hours wandering through the museums along the National Mall alone, exploring, reading, learning. It was glorious. - [Glory & Goodness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/glory-goodness/) - In Exodus 3, God appeared to Moses through a burning bush on Mount Sinai. There he revealed his proper name to Moses, YHWH…likely pronounced “Yahweh” in Hebrew and meaning “I Am” in English. Later in the Exodus story, the Lord proclaims his name again to Moses but in very different circumstances. After defeating Pharaoh and - [Respecting the Name](https://www.withgoddaily.com/respecting-the-name/) - Before we go any deeper into our study of God’s name, there is an important matter of language and translation we must tackle. Although the name of God revealed to Moses is YHWH meaning “I Am,” you won’t find that Hebrew word nor its English translation in your Bible. The obvious question is, why not? - [A Bid for Control](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-bid-for-control/) - In the 1988 Tim Burton film Beetlejuice, the title character is a mischievous spirit who magically appears if his name is spoken three times. While used comedically in the movie, reciting a spirit or deity’s name to control it was a common practice in the ancient world. Remember, in the culture of the ancient Near - [God's Proper Name](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-proper-name/) - Throughout the Old Testament, there are a number of ways God is identified, and most of these titles were not unique to ancient Israel. For example, the Hebrew word for “God” is El, but the Canaanites also called their god El. Those familiar with the story of Elijah will remember his showdown with the prophets - [A Fire That Needs No Fuel](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-fire-that-needs-no-fuel/) - I often eat my breakfast while writing these devotionals. (On a crisp fall day I like pumpkin spice oatmeal, but more often it's a less appetizing protein shake.) I find that failing to eat in the morning will result in fatigue and a slow mind later in the day. I am, after all, a contingent - [There's Power in the Name](https://www.withgoddaily.com/theres-power-in-the-name/) - Names are important in the Bible. In our culture, a person’s name is simply whatever their parents’ liked when they were born. Sometimes a name will carry family significance. For example, my middle name is Charles which I share with my maternal uncle and grandfather. Names today may also identify a person’s cultural background. My - [The Way of the Cross vs. the Way of the World](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-way-of-the-cross-vs-the-way-of-the-world/) - Watching the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was surreal. Like many Americans, I was hooked to the news coverage in a way I hadn’t been since the 9/11 attacks twenty years ago. What made the scenes of rioters invading the Capitol particularly disturbing was the Christian symbols they carried—crosses, flags, - [What Did Jesus Mean by "I Am the Way"?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-did-jesus-mean-by-i-am-the-way/) - Without question, the most formative story for Jews—including Jesus and his followers—was the exodus. It told of God rescuing his people from slavery in Egypt with signs and wonders. The climax of the story found God's people trapped between the sea to the east and Pharaoh's army rushing toward them from the west. Believing the - [What Does "God So Loved the World" Mean?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-does-god-so-loved-the-world-mean/) - In his final discourse with his disciples before the cross, Jesus repeatedly contrasts those who love and obey him with "the world." He is explicit that the world cannot receive the Holy Spirit (John 14:17), and that Jesus will reveal himself to his disciples but "the world will see me no more" (John 14:19). Like - [What Does it Mean to be "One in Christ"?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-one-in-christ/) - After speaking at an event, a middle-aged man approached me to ask a question. He was clearly bothered by something I’d said in my message. It turned out he disagreed with my assertion that our highest allegiance should be to Christ rather than to our country or political party. After a few minutes of clarifying - [What Did Jesus Mean by "I Go to Prepare a Place for You"?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-did-jesus-mean-by-i-go-to-prepare-a-place-for-you/) - As we draw near to the end of our study of the cross, I want to step back from the various theories and interpretations of Jesus' death to look again at the big picture. Whatever doctrine of the cross your tradition may emphasize, or whichever we have found particularly meaningful in our spiritual formation, there - [What Does It Mean to be "In Christ"?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-in-christ/) - **IMPORTANT UPDATE... For users of the WITH GOD DAILY mobile app... Some have been experiencing login problems or are being directed to the sign-up page rather than to the devotional content. The tech team has found the problem and has updated the app to mend these glitches. To fix the issue, please delete the With - [A New Adam](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-new-adam/) - We have been exploring different facets of the cross; the many ways the New Testament writers understood and interpreted what Jesus accomplished through his death. Some Christian traditions or denominations will put a great deal of stock in one doctrine of the cross while ignoring the others. This not only creates a myopic vision of - [Agents of a New Age](https://www.withgoddaily.com/agents-of-a-new-age/) - Some Christians assume that the cross is about our redemption alone, meaning Jesus died to atone for the sins of his followers only. Theologically, this is known as limited atonement. Other Christians widen the scope of the cross to affirm what John the Baptist declared when he saw Jesus, “There is the Lamb of God - [The Hour When Darkness Reigns](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-hour-when-darkness-reigns/) - Earlier in our exploration of the cross, we saw how the extreme shame and brutality of Jesus’ death revealed the magnitude of our sin. A Christian may fail to acknowledge the depths of God’s love and self-sacrifice because, in Anselm’s words, “You have not yet considered the weight of sin.” The horror of the cross - [The Devil Didn't Make You Do It](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-devil-didnt-make-you-do-it/) - Previously, we looked at the danger of not recognizing the ongoing battle in our world against the “powers and authorities” aligned against God. This happens when we embrace the Christus Victor view of the cross—the true and biblical message that through the cross Jesus has defeated and disarmed his enemies—but fail to recognize that this - [Already but Not Yet](https://www.withgoddaily.com/already-but-not-yet/) - The Christus Victor understanding of the cross says that through his death and resurrection Jesus has defeated the powers and authorities aligned against God in the world, and has inaugurated a new age of God’s kingdom. While a clear theme throughout the New Testament, some Christians have mistakenly understood this to mean that the powers have - [A Struggle of Three](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-struggle-of-three/) - During my years in pastoral ministry, I did my share of pre-marital counseling. One of the most common issues to arise for engaged couples was how to balance family obligations during the holidays. “Whose family do we visit for Thanksgiving? Whose parents for Christmas?” Sometimes the conversations got tense because the need to adjust family - [What are the “Principalities and Powers?”](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-are-the-principalities-and-powers/) - We have been exploring the Christus Victor understanding of the cross which says through Jesus’ death he has defeated the “powers and authorities” aligned against him in the world. It is a more cosmic, even apocalyptic, vision of the cross than most of us are used to, but one that the New Testament affirms in many - [Which Dictator?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/which-dictator/) - The late author and celebrated atheist Christopher Hitchens often compared God to a dictator. During a debate in 2008, he said: “Religion is a totalitarian belief. It is the wish to be a slave. It is the desire that there be an unalterable, unchallengeable, tyrannical authority who can convict you of thought crime while you - [A New Lord](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-new-lord/) - Christians frequently refer to Jesus as “Lord,” but do we recognize the gravity and significance of that word? Some assume Lord is a title of divinity used for Jesus rooted in the linguistic tradition of the Hebrew Bible. When the ancient Jews read their scriptures, they would substitute the word Adonai, meaning Lord, whenever they - [The Start of a New Age](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-start-of-a-new-age/) - Why do we worship on Sunday? You may know the Sunday school answer: because Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday. That is certainly true and it is why the earliest Christians exchanged the traditional Jewish Sabbath on Saturday to gather together for worship on Sunday. But have you ever wondered why Jesus rose from - [The Hinge of History](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-hinge-of-history/) - In our exploration of the cross thus far, we have focused primarily on individual explanations of Jesus’ death. We’ve seen how the cross has liberated us from our slavery to sin (the exodus model), and we’ve recognized Jesus’ death as a self-sacrifice for our sins (the substitutionary atonement model). These visions of the cross tend - [A Ransom for Many](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-ransom-for-many/) - One view of the cross that was commonplace in the early centuries of the church, but which has fallen out of favor since the Middle Ages, is known as the ransom theory of the atonement. A ransom is a payment given to purchase or redeem the life of another. Today we usually think of ransom - [The Cross Confronts Tribalism](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-cross-confronts-tribalism/) - In case you haven’t noticed, America is becoming increasingly divided. A 2018 article in The Atlantic by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld tries to explain our nation’s shift to tribalism: “The causes of America’s resurgent tribalism are many. They include seismic demographic change, which has led to predictions that whites will lose their majority status - [From Self-Sacrifice to Self-Centered](https://www.withgoddaily.com/self-sacrifice-to-self-centered/) - Despite substitutionary atonement being a theme throughout the Old Testament and a reoccurring understanding of Jesus’ death in the New Testament, there is a growing movement of Christians who oppose this vision of the cross. Some more progressive Christians find the entire notion of blood sacrifice barbaric—a throwback to ancient, tribal religions that have no - [The Last Sacrifice](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-last-sacrifice/) - In the Old Testament, the sacrifice of animals to atone for sins was an ongoing, repeated process. For example, every year on the Day of Atonement the high priest would sacrifice one goat for the people's sins while another scapegoat symbolically carried the transgressions of the people away into the wilderness. The need for this - [Scapegoats and Sacrifices](https://www.withgoddaily.com/scapegoats-and-sacrifices/) - Nowhere in Scripture is the substitutionary nature of a sacrifice more clearly seen than in Leviticus 16 which describes the Day of Atonement. Two goats were needed for the ceremony. The first animal was killed as a sin offering for the transgressions of the people, and its blood was sprinkled in the temple to “make - [The Blood of Another](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-blood-of-another/) - Yesterday we saw how the sacrificial system outlined in Leviticus was intended to communicate the costliness of sin, and how the value of the sacrifice offered to God was to be proportional to the magnitude of the offense committed against him. The whole system was rooted in a notion of justice—the need to repay a - [Sin is Costly](https://www.withgoddaily.com/sin-is-costly/) - Leviticus isn’t the most popular book in the Old Testament. Given its strange dietary rules, pre-modern sexual mores, and details about moles and skin growths, one can understand why the book doesn’t make it into children’s Sunday school programs as frequently as Noah’s flood or David and Goliath. However, there is a tenet of Leviticus - [Why So Much Blood?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-so-much-blood/) - Christians talk a lot about blood. If that seems weird in the modern world, it was only marginally less weird in ancient times. In fact, when the Romans heard that the earliest Christians gathered to “eat the body” and “drink the blood” of Jesus, they accused Christians of being cannibals—which became a useful reason for - [God Still Delivers](https://www.withgoddaily.com/god-still-delivers/) - The New Testament draws heavily from the story of the exodus in the Old Testament to explain the cross. Just as the Lord delivered his people from slavery in Egypt, through the cross God was delivering his people again—this time from their slavery to sin. This link was made explicit by Jesus at the Passover - [More Than a Memorial](https://www.withgoddaily.com/more-than-a-memorial/) - On the night he was betrayed, Jesus gathered with his disciples to share the Passover meal. The meal commemorated God’s deliverance of his people from slavery in Egypt, and Jesus used elements of the dinner—specifically the bread and wine—to explain the meaning of his coming crucifixion. Jesus' words from the Last Supper continue to echo - [Our Passover Lamb](https://www.withgoddaily.com/our-passover-lamb/) - If you recall, earlier we examined two aspects of sin that relate to the cross—sin produces a guilt that must be atoned for, and sin is a power leading to death from which we need deliverance. It is this second aspect of sin that parallels the exodus story from the Old Testament. Nowhere is this - [Another Exodus](https://www.withgoddaily.com/another-exodus/) - In our exploration of the meaning of the cross, we won’t get very far without a robust understanding of the Hebrew Bible. It’s not widely appreciated by contemporary Christians, but a grasp of the Old Testament is essential because it is the foundation of the New Testament and provides a framework that defines Jesus’ identity, - [Repentance Isn’t Enough](https://www.withgoddaily.com/repentance-isnt-enough/) - President Kennedy said, “Our problems are manmade, therefore they can be solved by man.” Kennedy’s intent was to motivate action, reignite the nation’s can-do spirit, and dislodge his fellow Americans from despair and complacency. Those are all admirable goals, and while his sentiment was comforting and politically inspiring, it didn’t exactly fit with what Christian - [4.64 Sins Per Month](https://www.withgoddaily.com/4-64-sins-per-month/) - Back in the 1980s, People magazine published an index ranking sins. They called it a “Sindex.” Based on a survey of the magazine’s readers, different vices were coded from least to most offensive. Among the worst sins were murder, rape, incest, child abuse, and treason against one’s country. Parking in a handicap spot and cutting - [Guilt and Power](https://www.withgoddaily.com/guilt-and-power/) - In our exploration of sin and its importance for understanding the cross, we’ve seen that sin is much more than just bad behavior, as some moralistic Christian communities assume. Likewise, sin is more than a passive brokenness or psychological angst as some therapeutic Christian communities assume. As C.S. Lewis said, “Fallen man is not simply - [More than the Absence of Bad](https://www.withgoddaily.com/more-than-the-absence-of-bad/) - When we view sin as a category of behaviors rather than as a power to which humanity is enslaved, it leads to a number of warped perceptions. For example, it may cause us to gauge our relative righteousness or wickedness in relation to others. Consider a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip from 1990. As the - [Sin is Not a Gene](https://www.withgoddaily.com/sin-is-not-a-gene/) - Certain subcultures of Christianity have accepted the idea that sin is a genetic quality transmitted from one generation to the next the same way one might inherit heart disease or male pattern baldness. This inherited view of sin traces back to Iranaeus in the second century and was expanded upon by Augustine in the fourth - [Sin is a Condition, Not Just a Behavior](https://www.withgoddaily.com/sin-is-a-condition-not-just-a-behavior/) - Scripture repeatedly says that “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3), and it’s a phrase often heard in evangelistic preaching. But what does it mean? At the very least we can affirm that any understanding of the cross is inexorably linked to the concept of sin. We cannot grasp one without the other, and - [Seeing God, Seeing Sin](https://www.withgoddaily.com/seeing-god-seeing-sin/) - Peter and his coworkers had been fishing all night and caught nothing, but Jesus told them to go back and cast their nets again. After complaining, they finally agreed. Immediately the nets were filled and the weight nearly capsized the boat. “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, ‘Depart from - [Sin and Salvation Go Together](https://www.withgoddaily.com/sin-and-salvation-go-together/) - I was taught that in order for a person to accept Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross they first had to know and experience the true depth of their sin. It's a common trope of old-time evangelistic and revival preaching. So-called "fire and brimstone" sermons only work if the audience has a shared understanding of sin - [All We Like Sheep . . .](https://www.withgoddaily.com/all-we-like-sheep/) - In 1995 Nelson Mandela appointed Bishop Desmond Tutu to lead South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission with a seemingly impossible task: heal the country after generations of racial injustice and violence. After the downfall of the apartheid regime, many black South Africans, having been oppressed by the white minority for decades, felt justifiable anger and - [Why Not Just Forgive and Forget?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-not-just-forgive-and-forget/) - Those who find the brutality of the cross inconsistent with a loving God, or who dismiss the crucifixion of God's Son as “cosmic child abuse,” will sometimes argue that a truly benevolent God would just forgive and forget our sins. In this view, the demand for a blood sacrifice is a relic of an ancient, - [Is the Cross Cosmic Child Abuse?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/is-the-cross-cosmic-child-abuse/) - Thankfully, we live in a time when abuse of power is being taken more seriously, fewer abusers are being protected, and more victims are finding justice. As our society becomes more aware and sensitive to these matters, it has led some Christians to rethink their understanding of the crucifixion—but not for the better. When Scripture - [The Origin of the Virtuous Victim](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-origin-of-the-virtuous-victim/) - Recently, I read an article by my friend Eboo Patel, published in the journal Inside Higher Ed, about how much American society has changed since we were children. Eboo and I grew up together attending the same suburban, largely white public schools. We were also both brown kids with funny names and immigrant parents from - [Celebrating the Sacrifice, Not Just the Victory](https://www.withgoddaily.com/celebrating-sacrifice-not-just-victory/) - Nearly every respectable Star Wars fan agrees that the best film in the saga is The Empire Strikes Back, the second film of the original trilogy. When my children were younger, however, they preferred Return of the Jedi. This was entirely understandable. Return of the Jedi was the climax of the original trilogy in which - [Don’t Avoid the Quiche](https://www.withgoddaily.com/dont-avoid-the-quiche/) - A few years ago, my wife and I attended a large breakfast event in Washington D.C. While poking at the brick on my plate the menu had advertised as a quiche, the other eight guests at our table unexpectedly rose to their feet while looking at me with stunned expressions. “How do you like your - [The Cross is Not Religious](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-cross-is-not-religious/) - Why was the Christian message of the cross so scandalous in the first century? Why does it remain so unappealing to many people today? The answer is rooted in the counterintuitive and even anti-religious sentiment at the core of Christianity. Most other religions are rooted in a desire to avoid suffering. For example, very early - [Living in the Cross, not Above or Beyond It](https://www.withgoddaily.com/living-in-the-cross/) - As we explore the importance of Jesus’ cross, we must resist the error of thinking its meaning remains locked in the past. Of course, we must interpret the cross in its own cultural and historical setting, but our task isn’t finished until we ask what the cross means for us today. Regarding the present implications - [The Death of a Nobody](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-death-of-a-nobody/) - Unlike modern retellings of Jesus’ crucifixion that fixate on his physical suffering, the four gospels do not. One explanation for this omission may be that the original audiences Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were writing to were already familiar with the brutality of crucifixion. Their imaginations did not need any prompting. The other explanation, the - [The Cross is the Climax](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-cross-is-the-climax/) - If you were tasked with writing a gospel—the account of God becoming a man and dwelling among us to redeem the world—what part of the story would you emphasize? Perhaps you’d focus on his surprising arrival, his refugee upbringing, or his unexpected emergence in a backwater village? Maybe you’d highlight his dramatic contest with Satan - [The Christ’s Passion and Ours](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-christs-passion-and-ours/) - In 2004 The Passion of the Christ became one of the top-grossing films of all time, in part because the movie was marketed directly to churches and ministers as, “Perhaps the best outreach opportunity in 2,000 years.” That quote is from official marketing materials for the movie presented at a pastors conference I attended. After - [Jesus’ Life and Cross are One](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-life-and-cross-are-one/) - Historical reconstructions of Jesus’ life, whether attempted by secular scholars or devout Christians, sometimes separate his ministry from his death on the cross. This bifurcation assumes Jesus came to preach parables, perform miracles, and reveal the way of God's kingdom until those dastardly Romans put it all to an end by nailing him to a - [Jesus Wasn’t Just a Holy Man](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-wasnt-just-a-holy-man/) - People have always been attracted to holy men and miracle workers. In many parts of the world, such figures still inspire devotion, and in the ancient world, they were even more commonplace. Recent scholarly attempts to reconstruct the “historical Jesus” almost always place him in this category. Jesus, they say, was a Jewish holy man - [The Scandal of the Cross Was Obvious, the Glory Was Not](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-scandal-of-the-cross-is-obvious-the-glory-is-not/) - So far in our exploration of the cross I’ve presented two foundational ideas. First, the crucifixion of Jesus requires interpretation. The meaning and significance of the cross weren’t obvious to those who observed the event itself. They simply saw a man who was perceived to be an enemy of the state being executed, and nothing - [The Cross is Not a Theory](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-cross-is-not-a-theory/) - Modernity hates mystery. Consider baseball. For over a century, it was the sport that came closest to being like a religion with its quirky superstitions, slow contemplative pace, and talent scouts acting like sorcerers divining the next anointed pitcher or hitter. Then came Billy Beane, general manager for the Oakland Athletics, who cast aside a - [Facets of the Cross](https://www.withgoddaily.com/facets-of-the-cross/) - Early Christianity was riddled with controversies. As the message of Jesus spread, first through his Apostles and then others, it encountered other philosophies, religions, and cultures throughout the Roman Empire. In some cases, these foreign ideas and values were congruent with the gospel and incorporated into the growing church. However, some of these non-Christian ideas - [Give Me Jesus, But Not His Cross](https://www.withgoddaily.com/give-me-jesus-but-not-his-cross/) - David St. James is a caretaker who maintains the sacristy of the Church of the Holy Cross in Midtown Manhattan. St. James locked the church on Friday afternoon, but when he returned on Saturday morning a 200-pound plaster sculpture of Jesus had disappeared from a cross near the entrance of the church. What upset the - [The Multi-Dimensional Cross](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-multi-dimensional-cross/) - Jesus’ life, as recorded by the Gospel writers, was full of religious events and activities. He was brought to the temple by his parents as an infant to be dedicated to the Lord. As a Jew, he participated in the feasts and rituals commanded by the Hebrew scriptures. Even the Last Supper celebrated with his - [Best of 2021: This is the Way](https://www.withgoddaily.com/best-of-2021-this-is-the-way/) - Originally posted on March 5, 2021 Watching the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was surreal. Like many Americans, I was hooked to the news coverage in a way I hadn’t been since the 9/11 attacks twenty years ago. What made the scenes of rioters invading the Capitol especially disturbing was - [Best of 2021: The Problem is Heaven, Not Just Hell](https://www.withgoddaily.com/best-of-2021-the-problem-is-heaven-not-just-hell/) - Originally posted on August 8, 2021 What is the goal of Christianity? What is the ultimate purpose of the gospel? Shockingly, the way Jesus and his Apostles answer this question is very different from the way the average churchgoer in America does. Pop Christianity has taught us that being welcomed into heaven after you die - [Best of 2021: Remembering the Hatches When at the Helm](https://www.withgoddaily.com/best-of-2021-remembering-the-hatches-when-at-the-helm/) - First posted on May 13, 2021 While in Egypt, God’s people suffered terrible injustice. They were persecuted and enslaved by Pharaoh, who used them to build his cities and advance his empire. After the Lord recused his people from the oppression of Egypt and gave them their own land, he commanded them to remember what - [Best of 2021: Why Did God Command Circumcision?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/best-of-2021-why-did-god-command-circumcision/) - First posted on September 7, 2021 We first encounter the practice of circumcision early in the Bible. In Genesis 17, the Lord appeared to Abraham to reiterate his promise that he would have many descendants and become the father of nations. This was a stunning commitment given Abraham's advanced age, he was 99, and the - [Best of 2021: Servant Leadership Isn't What You Think](https://www.withgoddaily.com/best-of-2021-servant-leadership-isnt-what-you-think/) - Originally posted on January 28, 2021 For 11 years I worked as an editor at Christianity Today. In the foyer of CT's office was a bronze sculpture of Jesus washing his disciple's feet. It was meant to remind us of our calling to be "servant leaders"—a phrase that's so ubiquitous in the evangelical subculture that - [Deborah: Prophet, Judge, and Vessel of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/deborah-prophet-judge-and-vessel-of-god/) - After their deliverance from slavery in Egypt, but before the establishment of Israel's monarchy, for hundreds of years the people of God were a confederacy of tribes with no king other than the Lord. During this period, when necessary, God would raise up a leader among his people to rule and lead them in battle. - [Miriam: Another Flawed Leader](https://www.withgoddaily.com/miriam-another-flawed-leader/) - I'm a big Star Wars fan. Let me qualify that—I'm a big fan of the original Star Wars trilogy. Most of what the franchise has produced since 1983, however, is much less appealing to me. For example, the sequel trilogy that started in 2015 featured a new set of characters and a female protagonist named - [Pharaoh's Daughter: Model of a Maternal God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/pharaohs-daughter-model-of-a-maternal-god/) - After Pharaoh's evil plans were thwarted by the Hebrew midwives, the next instrument of his downfall is another woman—his own daughter. We are told that she “came down” to the river where she “saw” the infant Moses and took compassion on him when she heard him “crying.” The words used to describe her maternal concern - [The Hebrew Midwives: Gentle Noncooperation with Evil](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-hebrew-midwives-gentle-noncooperation-with-evil/) - You cannot comprehend the story of Jesus, Israel's Messiah, without first understanding the story of Israel. And you cannot comprehend the story of Israel without first understanding the story of the Exodus. More than any other, the story of the Exodus establishes the major themes of the Bible, reveals the character of God, and outlines - [Mother Antonia: Pastor to Prisoners](https://www.withgoddaily.com/mother-antonia-pastor-to-prisoners/) - Mother Antonia was born Mary Clark in Los Angeles in 1926 and grew up to become a blond Beverly Hills socialite. She was married and divorced twice. At 44, her affluent American life was transformed by God and she sensed a deep calling to serve the poor. She tried to enter a religious order within - [Lottie Moon: Evangelist & Equal Rights Advocate](https://www.withgoddaily.com/lottie-moon-evangelist-equal-rights-advocate/) - The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. It also has a reputation for being one of the most conservative both theologically and politically. This wasn't always the case. About 40 years ago, what's known as the "conservative resurgence" swept through the SBC. Those with more progressive or moderate views within - [Harriet Beecher Stowe: Seeking Justice With the Pen](https://www.withgoddaily.com/harriet-beecher-stowe-seeking-justice-with-the-pen/) - Whether they admit it or not, every writer hopes something from their pen will positively change the world. If these changes come about, they will likely be deep in the hearts and imaginations of readers, and therefore imperceptible to the writer. However, occasionally a writer's work so perfectly fits the moment the way a key - [Renee of Ferrara: A Princess of Peace](https://www.withgoddaily.com/renee-of-ferrara-a-princess-of-peace/) - "When do we get to use the guns?" The question was asked by an audience member last month at an event featuring a speaker who self-identifies as a Christian activist. For some, the social, political, and religious divisions in the United States have made such a question not only acceptable but even admirable. In fact, - [Amanda Berry Smith: Grace to Be a Gazing-Stock](https://www.withgoddaily.com/amanda-berry-smith-grace-to-be-a-gazing-stock/) - Years ago I was invited to preach at a historic black church on the South Side of Chicago. My wife, who is white, and my kids, who were young at the time, joined me for the service. For the kids, it was unlike any church service they'd seen before. It was over two hours long, - [Marcella: The Way of Downward Mobility](https://www.withgoddaily.com/marcella-the-way-of-downward-mobility/) - When we look carefully, we will notice a theme of downward mobility in the Bible. For example, although raised in Pharaoh's household, when he grew up, Moses abandoned the wealth and status he knew as Egyptian royalty and chose to identify with the Hebrew slaves of this birth. The Lord later called Moses to be - [Elizabeth "Betsy" Fry: Social Reform Begins at Home](https://www.withgoddaily.com/elizabeth-betsy-fry-social-reform-begins-at-home/) - We live at a time when social activism—or at least being perceived as a social activist—is incredibly popular. I regularly meet young adults who express passion about solving some genuine injustice in the world whether racism, sexism, poverty, climate change, gun violence, criminal justice, immigration reform, refugee resettlement, education inequality—the list is seemingly endless. For - [Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad](https://www.withgoddaily.com/harriet-tubman-conductor-of-the-underground-railroad/) - The older I get, the more convinced I am that two qualities are indispensable if we are to grow in our life with God—curiosity and courage. Curiosity makes us humble and teachable. It causes us to lean in to new ideas, people, and experiences rather than build walls that isolate and protect us. If curiosity - [Mother Teresa: With Jesus, For Jesus, To Jesus](https://www.withgoddaily.com/mother-teresa-with-jesus-for-jesus-to-jesus-2/) - I spent a month in India when I was 19 years old. Although I’d seen extreme poverty before, including on previous visits to India, it affected me differently this time, perhaps because I was on the threshold of adulthood and had a deeper understanding of my faith, I felt a greater responsibility to remedy the - [Dorothy Day: Unbundling Faith](https://www.withgoddaily.com/dorothy-day-unbundling-faith-2/) - “Product bundling” is not an unfamiliar strategy in marketing. The idea is for a business to sell its less-popular items by packaging them together with its top-selling ones. For example, before iTunes and a la carte song buying, you had to purchase an entire album just to get the one song you really wanted. The - [Catherine Booth: Cofounder of the Salvation Army](https://www.withgoddaily.com/catherine-booth-cofounder-of-the-salvation-army/) - Arguments about church leadership, who may lead, where, and in what capacity, are heating up again. There are a few reasons for this. First, leadership scandals at some of the country's highest-profile megachurches and ministries have many Christians rethinking popular leadership values and models. Second, the #MeToo movement has uncovered horrific cases of sexual abuse - [Fannie Lou Hamer: Sick & Tired of Being Sick & Tired](https://www.withgoddaily.com/fannie-lou-hamer-sick-tired-of-being-sick-tired/) - I've built a life with words. I read, I write, and I speak. I believe in the usefulness of words, but I also know they have limits. So did the Apostle Paul. He was a highly educated man with unparalleled knowledge of the scriptures, and he preached the message of Jesus effectively to both friendly - [Flannery O’Connor: A World of Mystery](https://www.withgoddaily.com/flannery-oconnor-a-world-of-mystery-2/) - My early faith was shaped by an unimaginative tradition of Christianity; the Bible was to be taken literally, even many of the figurative parts, and during communion, I was taught that the bread is “just bread” and the wine is “just grape juice.” There was nothing mysterious or magical about communion; it was something we - [Catherine of Siena: The Compassionate Contemplative](https://www.withgoddaily.com/catherine-of-siena-the-compassionate-contemplative/) - A few weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of a Texas death row inmate, John Henry Ramirez. He was scheduled to die by lethal injection in September and requested his pastor be allowed to be present and pray for him during the execution. The state of Texas refused. In - [Edith Stein: The Martyr of Empathy](https://www.withgoddaily.com/edith-stein-the-martyr-of-empathy/) - I was shocked earlier this year when stories began emerging about a controversy engulfing a very influential American church. Multiple pastors resigned from the megachurch and its affiliated school after being accused of the "sin of empathy." A small but growing group of fundamentalist Christians are now arguing that it's possible to care too - [Susanna Wesley: Preacher of Righteousness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/susanna-wesley-preacher-of-righteousness/) - Mark Twain famously said, "I never let my schooling interfere with my education." He understood that schools were institutions of learning, but learning itself was a calling that extended far beyond any institution. The same logic applies to ministry. Many of us think our service to God happens within the structures of a church, but - [A Gentleman and a Rogue](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-gentleman-and-a-rogue/) - Martin Luther King Jr. committed adultery. Rumors of King's infidelity circulated before his death in 1968, but have since been confirmed by his closest friends and allies within the Civil Rights movement. This darker side of King's life was first uncovered when his criticism of America's racism, and especially his opposition to the war in - [No One Is Beyond God’s Blessing](https://www.withgoddaily.com/no-one-is-beyond-gods-blessing/) - In the Beatitudes, Jesus was turning conventional wisdom upside down, though that is difficult to see from our historical and cultural vantage point. Ancient Jewish culture was explicit about who was blessed by God—the healthy, powerful, rich, respected, and educated. In other words, the blessing (or curse) of God was clearly evident in each person’s - [Blessed Are Those Who Mourn](https://www.withgoddaily.com/blessed-are-those-who-mourn/) - While training for pastoral ministry in seminary, I was required to read a then-popular book advocating for new approaches and structures for operating a church. The author insisted that all weekend gatherings be called “celebrations,” and the tone of these gatherings should be upbeat, energetic, and focused on the victory we have as Christ’s redeemed - [Prescription or Description?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/prescription-or-description/) - We suffer from a common danger when reading Scripture. We are often tempted to make the particular universal. For example, Jesus called Peter to leave his fishing business and become an apostle, a “fisher of men.” Rather than seeing this as Peter’s particular calling, it is often taught as a universal expectation for all Christians. - [What Is The Kingdom of Heaven?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-is-the-kingdom-of-heaven/) - Jesus refers to it repeatedly in the Sermon on the Mount, including in the opening sentence: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” What is the kingdom of heaven? If we misunderstand what Jesus meant by this phrase, then we are likely to misunderstand the whole sermon, and potentially - [What If Jesus Was Serious?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-if-jesus-was-serious-2/) - The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most famous passages of the Bible, and one of the most misunderstood. It contains the central themes of Jesus’ message about the kingdom of God and has been viewed for 2,000 years as central to the Christian faith’s understanding of ethics. But in many segments of - [The Bible's Temple Narrative: From Dial-Up to Wifi](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-bibles-temple-narrative-from-dial-up-to-wifi/) - I am old enough to remember the early years of the internet with America Online, Napster, and dial-up modems. In the mid-1990s, to access the web, we had to connect a physical telephone wire to a modem, and then use a cable to connect the modem to a computer. Then, with a series of loud - [Where Everyone Carries God's Name](https://www.withgoddaily.com/where-everyone-carries-gods-name/) - In ancient Israel, the high priest of the temple wore a turban with a gold plate on the front of his forehead, engraved with the proper name of Israel’s God: YHWH. This was both a mark of ownership—the high priest belonged to the Lord and was his servant—as well as a mark of identity. The - [The Meaning of the Golden City](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-meaning-of-the-golden-city/) - The remarkable vision of the redeemed creation we find at the end of the Bible has captured the imaginations of Christians for 2,000 years—and that is exactly what it is intended to do. However, over the centuries, readers of Revelation, far removed from the Apostle John’s time and culture, began to misread his vision because - [Gates That Never Shut](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gates-that-never-shut/) - The way the Apostle John describes the new creation in Revelation 21-22 draws heavily on temple imagery familiar to his first-century audience. And, because temple imagery was linked to the Garden of Eden in Genesis, we shouldn't be surprised to find many allusions to Eden in John's description of the new Jerusalem. For example, both - [The Garden All Grown Up](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-garden-all-grown-up/) - When we reach the end of the Bible and glimpse the future in which God has defeated evil and redeemed his creation, we might expect to see another garden like Eden. If the Christian story culminated this way, it would be a cyclical narrative in which the end is really a return to the beginning, - [The Temple-City & New Creation](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-temple-city-new-creation/) - Beginning in Genesis and throughout the Bible, we've seen that temples were designed to represent the cosmos. They were dioramas of creation. This is important when we reach the end of the Bible and John's vision in Revelation 21, which begins, "Then I saw 'a new heaven and a new earth,' for the first heaven - [Why is There No Sea in the New Creation?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-is-there-no-sea-in-the-new-creation/) - Earlier, we discovered how the design of the tabernacle, and later the temple, in the Old Testament was intended to be a miniature diorama of the cosmos. The inner sanctuary represented the heavens and God's throne; the main room of the temple was decorated like a garden, symbolizing the order and abundance of Eden. And - [Heaven is Not Our Goal](https://www.withgoddaily.com/heaven-is-not-our-goal/) - To make sense of John's vision at the end of Revelation and how it's saturated with temple theology, we first need to acknowledge our cultural assumptions and how they have prevented us from properly reading both Revelation and many other parts of the Bible. As Christianity spread beyond Judea and took root in other regions, - [God's Temple-Expansion Project](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-temple-expansion-project-2/) - We began our exploration of temple theology with the opening chapters of Genesis. The entire biblical narrative starts with a vision of creation as God's temple. Therefore, we should not be surprised to discover that the biblical story ends the same way—with a vision of the entire creation as God's temple. In the final days - [The Bad Consequences of Bad Temple Theology](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-bad-consequences-of-bad-temple-theology/) - Theology matters, but not for the reason many people think. Christians often assume that theology matters because God wants us to believe the correct things about him in order to worship him in "Spirit and truth" (John 4:24). What we often overlook, however, is the way theology deeply impacts our world and our neighbors for - [More Than Painting Signs](https://www.withgoddaily.com/more-than-painting-signs/) - When he was a boy, the German theologian Helmut Thielicke used to take long bicycle rides into the country. One day, he decided to go on a long ride that would take the entire day, but he took along no food because he planned to buy his lunch along the way. At midday, he entered - [Connection & Distinction](https://www.withgoddaily.com/connection-distinction/) - Peter's vision of our calling as the followers of Jesus was deeply shaped by his Jewish understanding of the temple. That is why in 1 Peter 2 he compares the church to a temple built from "living stones," and identifies those who've given their allegiance to Jesus as a "royal priesthood." These Old Testament references - [Consumer Worship vs. Priestly Worship](https://www.withgoddaily.com/consumer-worship-vs-priestly-worship/) - In ancient Israel, the priests were responsible for maintaining and protecting the sacred space of the temple. This meant guarding it from any impurity or contamination. They were to ensure the holiness of the space by keeping it separate from the many things listed in the Torah that represented sin, death, or depravity. In this - [The Priesthood of All](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-priesthood-of-all/) - In the ancient world, every temple needed priests. Remember, a temple served as a portal between the heavens and the earth. It was the location where humans could encounter a deity, but someone had to facilitate these encounters and serve as a bridge between the two realms. That was the job of the priests, because - [Rocks, Stones, & Stumbling Blocks](https://www.withgoddaily.com/rocks-stones-stumbling-blocks/) - The Apostle Peter's given name was Simon, but Jesus later gave him the nickname, Rock. (Kepha is the Aramaic word for rock, which is why Paul often identified Simon as Cephas in his letters, and in Greek the word is petros from which we get the English name, Peter.) Jesus' exact motivation for giving Simon - [God's House & God's Household](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-house-gods-household/) - Throughout the Old Testament, one of the most common names for the temple is "the house of YHWH," (or "the house of the Lord" in most English translations). Identifying the temple as a house made sense because it was understood to be where God's presence resided. For this reason, the priests who guarded and maintained - [Who Are the "Apostles and Prophets"?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/who-are-the-apostles-and-prophets/) - In a number of Paul's letters, he compares the church to a temple under construction. In Ephesians 2, he says that this temple is being built by bringing Jews and Gentiles together through the cross of Jesus Christ. They are like individual stones that, when assembled, reveal God's glory to the world, just as temples - [Diversity is Painful but Glorious](https://www.withgoddaily.com/diversity-is-painful-but-glorious/) - When I was in seminary, I was introduced to a term that helped me understand a lot about the American church: homogeneous unit principle (HUP). The concept originated in an observation by missionaries in India. They noticed that people were more likely to convert to Christianity if they did not have to cross any social, - [Who Gives Shape to the Church?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/who-gives-shape-to-the-church/) - For years, I was an editor for Leadership Journal, a quarterly magazine for pastors published by Christianity Today. I was proud of the work our team did and of the values that guided it. For example, we had an editorial policy of never putting a pastor’s face on the cover because the journal was about - [A Temple Built with Empathy](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-temple-built-with-empathy/) - Years ago, I was invited to preach at a black church on the South Side of Chicago. Because it was less than an hour from our home, my whole family joined me for the worship service. That night, as I put my 7-year-old son to bed, I asked him what he thought of the church. - [The Failure of Fundamentalism](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-failure-of-fundamentalism/) - When I was a kid, accusing someone of having cooties was a way to exclude and diminish them. Of course, no one ever defined what cooties were; all we knew was that they were undesirable and contagious. Therefore, the best any kid with cooties could hope for was a temporary social quarantine, but sometimes cooties - [Being "Yoked" is About Commitment Not Contact](https://www.withgoddaily.com/being-yoked-is-about-commitment-not-contact/) - What does Paul mean when he says, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers" in 1 Corinthians 6? In some Christian communities, this passage is used to justify complete separation from any non-Christian institutions or neighbors. The argument is simple and unnuanced: According to Paul, we are God's temple and must remain "separate" and "touch - [You Cannot Serve both Jerusalem & Babylon](https://www.withgoddaily.com/you-cannot-serve-both-jerusalem-babylon/) - Isaiah 52 is a prophetic passage foretelling the end of the exile of God's people in Babylon. Remember, because they were unfaithful to their covenant with God, his presence had departed from the temple in Jerusalem. Shortly after this, the Babylonian army invaded, destroyed the city and the temple, and carried God's people away into - [The Tension Between Holiness and Relevance](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-tension-between-holiness-and-relevance/) - Paul returns to the theme of the temple in his second letter to the Christians in Corinth, and once again, his concern is for the church's unity and purity. This time, however, he focuses on a different source of danger. In 1 Corinthians, Paul saw the threats to the church's temple identity and mission as - [Made to be God's Image, Redeemed to be God's Temple](https://www.withgoddaily.com/made-to-be-gods-image-redeemed-to-be-gods-temple/) - Near the beginning of this series, we looked at how the creation story in Genesis is filled with temple imagery, theology, and language. Part of that included the creation of the man and woman in God's image. The Hebrew word translated as "image" is the same as the word for an idol—the statue of a - [We Care for Our Bodies, But We Do Not Own Them](https://www.withgoddaily.com/we-care-for-our-bodies-but-we-do-not-own-them/) - In the Old Testament, the Israelites are given clear, strict guidance in the Torah on how to keep the temple sacred and fit for God's holy presence to dwell among them. They were to ensure the space was uncontaminated by things contrary to God's nature and character. For example, because Israel was to worship only - [Am I God's Temple or Are We God's Temple?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/am-i-gods-temple-or-are-we-gods-temple/) - In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul grounds his call for church unity in his belief that, collectively, the followers of Jesus are the new temple. Therefore, those who are causing divisions among believers are guilty of trying to destroy God's temple. This vision of the church as God's temple and the essential need for unity is - [Being Right vs. Being Christlike](https://www.withgoddaily.com/being-right-vs-being-christlike/) - In many of his letters, the Apostle Paul roots his understanding of both Christian ethics and unity in his belief that the church is the new temple of God. As a highly educated Jew, Paul knew the Old Testament and the temple's critical importance. It was the centerpiece of Jewish faith and practice. It's where - [Church Divisions & Divine Judgment](https://www.withgoddaily.com/church-divisions-divine-judgment/) - A few months ago, I was talking to a New Testament scholar about the Apostle Paul and asked him, "Do you think Paul would be surprised by how divided the American church is?" He said, "No." After all, there were plenty of divisions in the churches Paul served in the first century. "Instead," he said, - [The Temple & Church Unity](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-temple-church-unity/) - Many of Paul's letters were written to churches facing various challenges. Some were external, the persecution that came from outsiders, but most of the problems were internal. The followers of Jesus located in different Roman cities were marked by immaturity, immorality, and divisions. Paul's letters were written to correct and guide them "to live a - [The Mission is Not the Church's Foundation](https://www.withgoddaily.com/202738-2/) - What is the most important thing in your church? What binds your Christian community together? What is the irreducible, irreplaceable foundation upon which everything else depends? In 1 Corinthians 3, the Apostle Paul uses the extended metaphor of a temple under construction to describe the community of believers in Corinth. In an unusual bit of - [Be Careful How You Build](https://www.withgoddaily.com/be-careful-how-you-build-2/) - Because of its special purpose, the Jewish temple was constructed with special materials. It was unlike any other structure in Jerusalem—massive, ornately decorated, and furnished with beautifully crafted items. Josephus, a Jewish historian who lived in the first century, said the exterior walls of the temple were overlaid with so much gold that at sunrise - [Together We Are the Temple](https://www.withgoddaily.com/together-we-are-the-temple/) - For centuries before Christ, the temple in Jerusalem was the centerpiece of Jewish faith and worship. The temple was the dwelling place of God and where he revealed himself to his people, and through his people to the world. That is why, throughout the Old Testament and the time of Jesus, the temple was revered - [Even in the New Temple, God's People Still Fail](https://www.withgoddaily.com/even-in-the-new-temple-gods-people-still-fail/) - The judgment of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 carries echoes of another married couple in the first temple mentioned in Scripture—Eden. Remember, the garden had all of the marks of a temple space where the heavens and earth overlapped. It was a high place, where humans and God interacted, and Adam and Eve were - [Contaminating the New Temple of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/contaminating-the-new-temple-of-god/) - Few things make both believers and non-believers more uncomfortable than God's wrath. When these stories arise in the Bible, we prefer to skip over them, dismiss them as misunderstood, or consider them irrelevant to God's people today. In fairness, there are remarkably few stories in the Bible of God's direct, active wrath, but they do - [The New Temple & Rivers of Living Water](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-new-temple-rivers-of-living-water/) - On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended upon the followers of Jesus with a rushing wind and manifested as flames of fire. We've already seen how these signs fit with the Old Testament stories of God's presence descending to fill the temple. Luke, the author of Acts, clearly depicts Pentecost as a temple - [No Logo, No Ego](https://www.withgoddaily.com/no-logo-no-ego/) - Years ago, while working on an article, I interviewed a church leader in the Pacific Northwest. Members of his church were heavily involved in other ministries, non-profits, and government agencies throughout their city. In fact, the church's leadership endorsed and celebrated this. The church made a point of not launching any new programs that someone - [The Nations & the New Temple](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-nations-the-new-temple/) - After Solomon had built a temple for the Lord in Jerusalem, he prayed that foreigners from distant lands would come to it to hear about Israel's God and his mighty acts. Solomon believed that through the presence of God in the temple, "all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you" - [Pentecost is the Mirror Image of Babel](https://www.withgoddaily.com/pentecost-is-the-mirror-image-of-babel/) - Bible scholars have noted many similarities between the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 and the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. This makes sense because both Pentecost and Babel are essentially temple stories, though they are rarely read or understood that way today. In addition, both stories feature God descending from the heavens, and - [The Inauguration of the New Temple](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-inauguration-of-the-new-temple/) - After his resurrection, Jesus told his followers to wait in Jerusalem. The Father was going to send them a gift. "In a few days," Jesus said, "you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:5). This event is recorded in Acts 2, and we often remember the Day of Pentecost as the Church's birthday. - [Jesus' Death Marked the End of the Old Temple System Forever](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-death-marked-the-end-of-the-old-temple-system-forever/) - According to the gospels, the tearing of the temple curtain at the moment of Jesus' death coincided with several other dramatic events. The sun stopped shining, darkness covered the land, and the earth shook so violently that rocks split apart and tombs broke open. These ominous events are often explained as the creation reacting to - [Jesus' Death Revealed the True Glory of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-death-revealed-the-true-glory-of-god/) - In his letter to the Christians in Corinth, the Apostle Paul admitted something revealing about the message he preached: it was ridiculous. Paul traveled throughout the Roman Empire announcing that a Jewish rabbi named Jesus, who was executed by crucifixion, was not only raised from the dead, but he was also God incarnate and the - [Jesus' Death Exposed the Failure of the Second Temple](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-death-exposed-the-failure-of-the-second-temple/) - The first temple in Jerusalem was built by King Solomon. When it was finished, God's presence filled the temple and his glory dwelt in the innermost chamber, the Holy of Holies (see 1 Kings 8:10-11). However, after generations of injustice, idolatry, and ignoring the warnings offered by the Lord's prophets, God's presence left the temple - [Jesus' Death Removed the Barrier Between the Heavens & Earth](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-death-removed-the-barrier-between-the-heavens-earth/) - In Genesis 3, after the man and woman rebel against God and are expelled from the garden, two cherubim are stationed at the garden's entrance with a flaming sword to prevent them from returning. Remember, in the beginning, the man and woman functioned as priests mediating between the world and God's presence, and Eden was - [Not One Stone Left on Another](https://www.withgoddaily.com/not-one-stone-left-on-another/) - To most first-century Jews, including Jesus' disciples, the temple represented their national identity, pride, and hope. It was the center of their religious and political life, and for a people living under Roman oppression, the temple was a physical manifestation of God's promise to someday return and exalt them over their enemies. Modern America has - [Living Water & the Light of the World](https://www.withgoddaily.com/living-water-the-light-of-the-world/) - In John 7, Jesus returned to Jerusalem and the temple for the Festival of Tabernacles, which in some translations is called the Feast of Booths. The celebration lasted a full week and commemorated the Lord's presence with and provision for Israel while they wandered in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt. The term "tabernacles" - [The True Temple or a Trickster](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-true-temple-or-a-trickster/) - Eden, the first temple mentioned in the Bible and the model for all the others, was described as a verdant garden, located on a mountain or "high place," with multiple rivers flowing from it. This imagery was symbolically represented by the tabernacle and later the temple in Jerusalem, both of which were decorated with garden - [Neither on This Mountain Nor on That One](https://www.withgoddaily.com/neither-on-this-mountain-nor-on-that-one/) - There is an old axiom in the real estate business that applies just as well to the ancient theology of temples: "Location, location, location." As we explored in our Old Testament study of temples, ancient Near Eastern people believed the barrier between the heavens and the earth, between the domain of the gods and of - [The Last Lamb](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-last-lamb/) - It's difficult to overstate the outrage Jesus' behavior at the temple must have provoked among the religious leaders in Jerusalem. The impressive temple built by Herod represented the spiritual, political, cultural, and economic center of first-century Judaism. As a people living under the occupation of a pagan empire, the temple stood as a monument to - [Cleansing the Temple & Replacing It](https://www.withgoddaily.com/cleansing-the-temple-replacing-it/) - John's gospel begins with a message that would have been shocking to his original audience, but which our modern ears often miss: Jesus is the new temple. We see this in the prologue where John equates the presence of God through Jesus' incarnation with the presence of God dwelling in the Old Testament tabernacle. Then, - [Jesus & Jacob's Ladder](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-jacobs-ladder/) - Rather than a distant paradise for the dead, the biblical authors understood heaven to be an unseen realm alongside our own, and they believed these two realms—heaven and earth—could intersect, be moved between, or occupied simultaneously. Throughout the Old Testament, we discover that the barrier between heaven and earth can be removed at special times - [The New Tabernacle](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-new-tabernacle/) - Yesterday, we saw how Luke's gospel links Jesus' birth to the long-awaited restoration of Israel from exile. Nearly 600 years earlier, God's presence had departed from the temple. Despite returning from Babylon, rebuilding Jerusalem, and constructing a new temple, God's people still awaited the return of his glory to dwell among them. According to Luke, - [God's Glory Returns to the Temple](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-glory-returns-to-the-temple/) - In 516 BC, the Jerusalem temple, destroyed by the Babylonians 70 years earlier, was rebuilt. This story is told in the Old Testament book of Ezra. With a remnant of Jews returning from exile and the temple's reconstruction and rededication, God's people expected that his glory would also return to dwell among them. But it - [Preparing for the Presence to Return](https://www.withgoddaily.com/preparing-for-the-presence-to-return/) - The Old Testament book of Ezekiel records a vision of God's presence departing from the temple in Jerusalem. Remember, God warned the people repeatedly that their sin and idolatry represented a rebellion against his covenant, and Israel's calling to mediate God's presence to the world would be broken. That break comes in Ezekiel 10 when - [The Enduring Exile](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-enduring-exile/) - Throughout the Old Testament, we've seen a repeated pattern. First, God desires to dwell among his people. If you recall, this is the primary definition of a temple in the ancient Near East. A temple is where a deity dwells. In Genesis, God dwelt with the man and woman in Eden. In Exodus, God descended - [The Anti-Fragile Church](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-anti-fragile-church/) - Writer Nassim Nicholas Taleb has contrasted two kinds of systems or organizations. Some may appear strong and powerful, but in truth are dangerously fragile. These are organizations in which one small change could threaten the entire system. The biblical metaphor of a fragile system is Goliath, the giant Philistine warrior. 1 Samuel 17 describes Goliath, - [Servant Leadership Isn't What You Think](https://www.withgoddaily.com/servant-leadership-isnt-what-you-think/) - For 11 years, I worked as an editor at Christianity Today. In the foyer of CT's office was a bronze sculpture of Jesus washing his disciples' feet. It was meant to remind us of our calling to be "servant leaders"—a phrase that's so ubiquitous in the evangelical subculture that I wonder if we've forgotten what - [Our Systemic Spiritual Battle](https://www.withgoddaily.com/our-systemic-spiritual-battle/) - The lawn between our church building and the parking lot attracts Canada geese. For those of you unfamiliar with the species, allow me to explain. Canada geese are evil. They swoop in like alien invaders and occupy a community’s recreational areas—golf courses, parks, and playing fields. These are not graceful swans or passive ducks. Draw - [Why the Shepherds are Silent](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-the-shepherds-are-silent/) - As soon as the service ended, my father leaned over to me in the pew and said, "Why should I believe anything that guy just said?" I was still a seminary student, and this was a rare occasion when my father, who was broadly distrustful of all religion, joined me at church. "I know the - [Christ's Quartermasters](https://www.withgoddaily.com/christs-quartermasters/) - “Right, now pay attention.” Few people spoke to James Bond with more condescension than his quartermaster—better known simply as Q. (Not to be confused with Q Anonymous, the shadowy figure behind the QAnon conspiracy theory.) Bond’s interactions with Q were often my favorite scenes in the 007 movies, and they followed a predictable formula. Having - [Character & Structure](https://www.withgoddaily.com/character-structure/) - A few years ago, while speaking at a Christian conference, I found myself at a lunch table in a private room with the other presenters. All of them were pastors of very large churches—I was definitely the oddball in the group. The conversation soon turned to the downfall of a number of high-profile Christian leaders. - [The Evangelical Industrial Complex](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-evangelical-industrial-complex/) - Richard Halverson, the former chaplain of the United States Senate, summarized church history this way: “In the beginning, the church was a fellowship of men and women centered on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution. Next, it - [The Limitations of Incarnate Church](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-limitations-of-incarnate-church/) - When Jesus came to dwell among us, the Apostle Paul says, he “emptied himself” to take on flesh (Philippians 2:6-7). This means he willingly set aside some of his divine attributes, like omnipresence, to occupy a physical body. Scripture tells us that God is spirit and is therefore unconfined. “O Lord, where shall I flee - [Many Shepherds, One Lord](https://www.withgoddaily.com/many-shepherds-one-lord/) - There are many challenges facing the modern church, but some of these are self-inflicted. A case could be made that a fair number are the result of church leaders taking upon themselves responsibilities that rightfully belong to Christ alone. This tendency for leaders to overstep their calling is nothing new. In fact, we see it - [Why We Honor Church Leaders](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-we-honor-church-leaders/) - Throughout his letters to the churches, the Apostle Paul repeatedly calls upon believers to honor their leaders. Sometimes this means respecting those holding offices of authority in the church—pastors, elders, and teachers. Those who occupy these roles faithfully and in a manner that emulates the character of Christ, he says, should be "considered worthy of - [Ps 12: A Lesson in Gravity](https://www.withgoddaily.com/ps-12-a-lesson-in-gravity/) - It requires willful compartmentalization to read Psalm 12 and not think about the current political situation in the United States. The writer laments the absence of godly, faithful people. They have been displaced, he cries, by those who “utter lies...with flattering lips” and tongues that “make great boasts.” The great sin of the wicked in - [Ps 23: The Good Shepherd Arrives](https://www.withgoddaily.com/ps-23-the-good-shepherd-arrives/) - Apart from the Lord's Prayer, Psalm 23 is probably the best-known passage of the Bible. Our familiarity with it, however, may cause us to overlook the amazing message it contains and its synthesis of themes that span the entire Old and New Testaments. The psalm was written by David, who was a shepherd during his - [Ps 22: Never Abandoned by God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/ps-22-never-abandoned-by-god/) - In Jesus’ final moments of suffering on the cross, he quoted Psalm 22. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Although the gospels only record Jesus saying the opening verse, it is fair to read the entire psalm as messianic, as it captures both the agony (vs. 1-21) and glory (vs. 22-31) of - [Ps 21: Praising Power](https://www.withgoddaily.com/ps-21-praising-power/) - If you have studied the history of ancient Israel, then you know many of their kings were scoundrels. Even the good kings, like David, had significant shortcomings. In this regard, the ancient world seems much like our own, with frail leaders of weak character who too often abuse their power. Given the tyranny of rulers, - [Ps 19: Ruler of Creation](https://www.withgoddaily.com/ps-19-ruler-of-creation/) - When Jesus was born, a star appeared in the East. The coming of our Savior was celebrated first by the heavens. When the time came for Jesus to begin his ministry, he was baptized in the waters of the Jordan River, the clouds parted, and the Spirit descended on him as a dove. The water, - [How Big is God's Mission?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/how-big-is-gods-mission/) - "I want what breaks God's heart to break my heart." You've probably heard this well-intentioned cliche in your religious community. It's a sincere way of expressing a desire to be more like Christ, and that should be affirmed. But have you ever asked, "What doesn't break God's heart?" Is there a degree of pain, suffering, - [Christ's Mission & Our Ministry](https://www.withgoddaily.com/christs-mission-our-ministry/) - Chapter 4 of Paul's letter to the Ephesians is one of the most important for understanding the connection between Christ's mission, the church, and its leaders. Paul starts by writing about our unity in God, but then transitions to describe our diversity. “Grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of - [Learning to Live with God Right Where You Are](https://www.withgoddaily.com/learning-to-live-with-god-right-where-you-are/) - Before ascending to the Father, Jesus commissioned his followers to "go and make disciples of all nations...teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). Throughout this week, we've been unpacking what this command means for the mission of the church and the common ways it is misunderstood or misapplied. Most popular - [Beware of Vampire Churches](https://www.withgoddaily.com/beware-of-vampire-churches/) - Yesterday, we looked at the scope of God's mission and the role of church leaders in it. In Ephesians 4, we saw that Jesus' goal is to fill and rule over "all things" (Ephesians 4:10) and that he's given leaders to the church to "equip" his people to serve him. This service, or "ministry," doesn't - [A Pyramid Without a Product](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-pyramid-without-a-product/) - While in seminary, I recall a book about the church's mission with a pyramid-shaped diagram explaining the multiplication of disciples. It showed a single disciple of Jesus at the top connected by lines to three more disciples just below. They, in turn, each generated three more. The pyramid continued to expand down the page until - [A Place to Wrestle](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-place-to-wrestle/) - Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” In my darker moments, however, I can doubt this claim. Because the arc is long, I often fail to recognize its curve and my imagination can feed the fear that there is no arc at all. What - [The Essential Church](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-essential-church/) - A number of years ago, an extensive study was undertaken to determine what actually helped people grow most in their faith. The findings discovered that most people didn’t need elaborate programs or pre-engineered activities to grow in their love of God and others. And it wasn’t sermons, spectacular Sunday services, or comfortable buildings that grew - [Character or Charisma?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/character-or-charisma/) - Richard Halverson, the former chaplain of the United States Senate, summarized church history this way: “In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centered on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution. Next, it - [The Peril of Visionary Churches](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-peril-of-visionary-churches/) - What is essential to bind a Christian community together? In my years of visiting congregations, interviewing church leaders, and attending ministry conferences, the answer I heard most often was “vision.” I suspect this answer is the result of business practices influencing pastors over the last 50 years. The belief that a church must have a - [The Problem With ‘You’](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-problem-with-you/) - In case you were unaware, the Bible was not written in the twenty-first century, nor was it written in English. It is an ancient book (technically, it’s a collection of ancient books) originally composed in Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament). While most modern English versions are incredibly well researched and composed, some things - [Best of Enemies](https://www.withgoddaily.com/best-of-enemies/) - Recently, I watched a documentary about the relationship between William F. Buckley, the father of the modern conservative movement, and Gore Vidal, a liberal intellectual novelist. The film was appropriately titled Best of Enemies. The two men hated each other with a stunning purity. In 1968, they did a series of television appearances together to - [Enemies No More](https://www.withgoddaily.com/enemies-no-more/) - What makes a community “Christian”? Justin Martyr, a second-century church father, described the Christian community this way: “We who formerly hated and murdered one another...now live together and share the same table. Now we pray for our enemies and try to win those who hate us.” Justin Martyr recognized the power of the gospel to - [The Middle Voice](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-middle-voice-2/) - I recently heard an interview with a Christian man who has been involved in politics for decades but has now come to a place of deep concern. As a younger man, he was very active in calling Christians to political engagement. He thought Christians would use their faith to shape their politics, but he now - [Turn Off the Autopilot](https://www.withgoddaily.com/turn-off-the-autopilot/) - In our increasingly divided culture, there is one thing that Americans still share in common—we all like to be comfortable. Our uncontested desire for comfort, however, has a dark side. Too much comfort is not only harmful, it can be downright dangerous. For example, a recent FAA study found that pilots are losing critical flying - [Unity vs. Uniformity](https://www.withgoddaily.com/unity-vs-uniformity/) - Where God’s Spirit is present, you will find a community that transcends differences. People will be bound to each other in a way that makes no earthly sense. The ordinary bonds of unity, like culture, politics, class, or ethnicity, will be insufficient to explain what connects the people of Christ. In his church, enemies will - [Seeing Beyond "Me and God"](https://www.withgoddaily.com/seeing-beyond-me-and-god/) - Can I have a relationship with God without going to church? Church leaders want people to believe that church participation is essential and that committing to a local congregation is part of one’s Christian duty. On the other hand, the American church—perhaps more than any other—has emphasized having a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” The - [The Jesus Bus](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-jesus-bus/) - Among marketplace and church leaders, two groups I often find myself with, you will hear a phrase a lot. “You’ve got to get the right people on your bus.” It’s a metaphor made popular by author and organizational guru Jim Collins. After studying why some businesses achieve great success, Collins showed that it’s about assembling - [Pure Thanksgiving](https://www.withgoddaily.com/pure-thanksgiving/) - Why do we give thanks? On the surface, gratitude is a natural response to good fortune. When life is good and we are blessed, our instinct is to be thankful. For the secular or irreligious, this can create a dilemma. As G.K. Chesterton observed, "The worst moment for an atheist is when he feels a - [What is the “Church”?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-is-the-church/) - There are four different ways we use the word church in English. First, we can mean a building where religious activities occur. (Did you see the new church being built on Main Street?) Second, it may refer to an event. (I missed you at church last Sunday.) Third, we use church when speaking of an - [11:00 Sunday Morning](https://www.withgoddaily.com/1100-sunday-morning/) - The church is called to courageously and prophetically overcome the divisions of the world, but all too often it merely reflects and reinforces them. In the mid-twentieth century, as the United States was slowly integrating after centuries of racial segregation, Martin Luther King Jr. observed that 11 o'clock Sunday morning remained “the most segregated hour - [The Uncritical Currents of Culture](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-uncritical-currents-of-culture/) - The church is intended to be an outpost of God’s kingdom; to offer a glimpse at the new world he is creating and the new society that has been inaugurated by Jesus through his death and resurrection, in which the divisions of the world are transcended and previously separate people are woven together into a - [An Unworldly Strength](https://www.withgoddaily.com/an-unworldly-strength/) - On the night Jesus was betrayed, before his arrest, he prayed to his Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke described him as being in agony. The fear and pain were so intense that “his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground” (Luke 22:44). This is not the image of a - [The Church Finds a Way](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-church-finds-a-way/) - Slaves who attended church in the South before the Civil War heard a truncated gospel—one that spoke of deliverance in the next life but not in this one. They were presented with a false god who endorsed their bondage rather than empathized with it. And unlike the New Testament church in which ethnic and social - [Master & Slave](https://www.withgoddaily.com/master-slave/) - Lord Byron once said, “Adversity is the first path to truth.” Suffering has the capacity to realign our priorities and reveal what matters most quickly. Calamity brings clarity like nothing else. Likewise, history has shown that the purpose of the church is never clearer than when it has faced persecution. In the American church, we - [The Intent Behind the Instruments](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-intent-behind-the-instruments/) - No one in the Bible epitomizes worship more than David. He composed nearly half of the psalms, was mocked by some for his enthusiastic singing and dancing before the Lord, and had the goal of building a permanent place for worship in Jerusalem. And yet, David understood worship wasn’t primarily about music, or rituals, or - [An Oasis of Beauty](https://www.withgoddaily.com/an-oasis-of-beauty/) - On May 28, 1992, Vedren Smajlovic, the lead cellist in the Sarajevo opera, put on his formal black tails and sat down on a fire-scorched chair in a bomb crater and began to play. The crater was outside a bakery in his neighborhood, where twenty-two people waiting in line for bread had been killed the - [Worship, Beauty, & Justice](https://www.withgoddaily.com/worship-beauty-justice/) - When a woman poured very expensive ointment on Jesus in Mark 14, his disciples were outraged at her wastefulness. Unlike Jesus, they were incapable of seeing past the impracticality of her actions to affirm the beauty of her worship. Like the disciples, many of us struggle to see beyond the practical. Our consumer society has - [Beautiful Worship](https://www.withgoddaily.com/beautiful-worship/) - When reading the gospels, it’s worth paying attention to what gets people upset. For example, King Herod gets upset when he hears a new king has been born. The religious leaders get upset when they see Jesus sharing a table with sinners. Jesus gets upset when he sees merchants buying and selling in the temple - [Don’t Worship Like a Pagan](https://www.withgoddaily.com/dont-worship-like-a-pagan/) - Almost every ancient creation myth says that humans were created to serve the gods. We were needed to build the gods’ temples, to provide food to the gods through our sacrifices, and to appease the gods’ anger with our prayers and worship. Pagan mythologies said our purpose was to be the gods’ slaves. This pagan - [The God Who Judges Nations](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-god-who-judges-nations/) - Lincoln's second inaugural address, delivered on March 4, 1865, came at a turning point in the Civil War. It was becoming clear that the rebels would lose and the Union would persevere. The President's speech, while looking ahead to the task of reconstruction, also sought to make sense of the trauma the country had experienced. - [A Nonsensical Gesture of Love](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-nonsensical-gesture-of-love/) - Sir Alec Guinness was one of Britain’s most celebrated actors. I first knew him as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy. Later, I discovered his earlier films, like The Bridge on the River Kwai, which remains among my favorites. In his autobiography, Guinness described an odd event that occurred while he was walking - [Ground Control, We Have a Problem](https://www.withgoddaily.com/ground-control-we-have-a-problem/) - In 1974, Colonel William Pogue became the first American to go on strike in space. Halfway through his 84-day mission on the Skylab space station, Colonel Pogue and the other astronauts requested that ground control adjust their work schedule for more rest. “We had been over-scheduled,” Pogue said. “We were just hustling the whole day. - [No Rest for the Weary](https://www.withgoddaily.com/no-rest-for-the-weary/) - Christ has called pastors to care for his sheep. That’s what the word pastor means—a pastor is a shepherd. The metaphor certainly includes feeding, leading, and protecting the flock of Christ, but we often overlook the shepherd’s role in providing rest. “He makes me lie down in green pastures... He restores my soul,” David said - [Why Not Saturday?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-not-saturday/) - For thousands of years, Jews have refrained from working on the last day of the week in obedience to God’s command in the Old Testament. Christians, with a few exceptions, have not followed this tradition and instead made Sunday—the first day of the week—their time for worship and rest. What’s behind this change, and why - [Why Sunday?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-sunday/) - Why does the church worship on Sunday? You may know the Sunday school answer—because Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday. That is certainly true, and it is why the earliest Christians exchanged the traditional Jewish Sabbath on Saturday to gather together for worship on Sunday. But have you ever wondered why Jesus rose from - [Glimpses of God’s Kingdom](https://www.withgoddaily.com/glimpses-of-gods-kingdom/) - If the purpose of preaching is to proclaim the present reality of God’s kingdom, why do we limit that responsibility to only one person in the church? Why not allow others to share their experience of God’s kingdom for the encouragement of the whole group? Surely a single mother, or recovering alcoholic, or teenager who - [Why Are Sermons Central?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-are-sermons-central/) - In most contemporary Protestant churches, the sermon is the center of the congregation’s worship. Sure, there are always songs or hymns, but they are like a bun merely there to hold the meat of the sermon. And in many churches, the communion table—the oldest and most enduring element of Christian worship—is just a garnish occasionally - [Hype & High Expectations](https://www.withgoddaily.com/hype-high-expectations/) - What do you expect from a church service? What have you been taught to expect? I often hear church leaders make bold promises about what will happen during their gatherings on Sunday morning. We are told it’s where we will “meet God” or that it will be “life transforming.” In part, I understand the need - [Anyone Can Preach](https://www.withgoddaily.com/anyone-can-preach/) - Ratatouille is one of my favorite movies. It’s about a rat named Remy who refuses to eat garbage like the rest of his family. Instead, he prefers the delicate interplay of flavors found in fine cuisine, and Remy discovers his own hidden talent for French cooking. No one believes a rat can become a great - [A Generation of Spectators](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-generation-of-spectators/) - Many have come to see the church primarily as an event rather than as a community. It is something they attend rather than something they are. It’s like professional sports except the ball is replaced with a Bible. It’s like a Broadway production except the performer is a pastor rather than a tenor. It’s like - [Seeing Through Another’s Eyes](https://www.withgoddaily.com/seeing-through-anothers-eyes/) - The fact that John the Baptist struggled with doubt should be a great comfort to us. Consider John’s spiritual credentials. His birth had been a miracle foretold by an angel. He grew to be a mighty prophet “strong in the spirit.” Crowds followed him; kings feared him. It was John who first recognized Jesus’ divine - [Do Not Give Up Meeting Together](https://www.withgoddaily.com/do-not-give-up-meeting-together/) - During the COVID-19 pandemic, many Christians stopped meeting together. According to many health experts, a large, indoor gathering with singing is ideal for a “super-spreader” event and poses an especially high risk for the elderly and those with underlying health problems. But they were not the only ones avoiding church meetings. In a very unscientific - [The Power of Prayer + Praise](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-power-of-prayer-praise/) - Throughout the New Testament, prayer is repeatedly mentioned as a central activity of the gathered church. Today, however, prayer has been sidelined or abandoned as an element of worship in many congregations. It seems that our appetite for uplifting music or a self-help sermon has eaten the time in our services that had previously been - [Why We Sing](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-we-sing/) - In Acts 16, Paul and Silas found themselves in prison. They’d been brutally beaten by an angry mob. They were in chains, physically destroyed, socially rejected, and likely facing death. But in the middle of the night, we are told they sang hymns to God. Understanding why Paul and Silas sang in prison can help - [Dallas Willard: The Authentic Apprentice of Jesus](https://www.withgoddaily.com/dallas-willard-the-authentic-apprentice-of-jesus/) - Although I’d read a number of his books, I first encountered Dallas Willard in person when I was 29 while attending a ministry conference in San Diego. The event featured many young, dynamic megachurch pastors with best-selling books explaining to other young, wannabe megachurch pastors the secrets to ministry success. However, when a colleague and - [Fredrick Douglass: The American Prophet](https://www.withgoddaily.com/fredrick-douglass-the-american-prophet/) - Many of us have a distorted view of prophets as divine fortune tellers. While prophets in the Bible often spoke of the future, far more frequently their words were about the present. For example, there were numerous times when the people felt safe and comfortable and interpreted their circumstances as evidence of God’s blessing. Prophets - [Fred Rogers: The Television Preacher We Need](https://www.withgoddaily.com/fred-rogers-the-television-preacher-we-need/) - Fred Rogers didn't fit the stereotype of a charismatic television preacher, but that is exactly what he was. His preaching was done with puppets, simple songs, and subtle storytelling rather than big hair, exciting sermons, or signs and wonders—but that doesn’t mean his ministry didn’t produce miraculous healing in both children and adults struggling with - [Mother Antonia: Ministry is a Posture Not a Position](https://www.withgoddaily.com/mother-antonia-ministry-is-a-posture-not-a-position/) - “I never let my schooling interfere with my education.” Although this quote is often attributed to Mark Twain, there is little evidence that he actually said it. Still, the sentiment remains true—as valuable as schools are, education is far larger than what happens in a classroom. I believe the same about ministry. As beneficial as - [Roger Williams: Father of Religious Freedom](https://www.withgoddaily.com/roger-williams-father-of-religious-freedom/) - The word secularism is scorned by many Christians today. They associate it with the marginalization of faith and the desire to erase religion from the culture, but they forget that devout Christians were the first to invent and advocate for secular government. For example, I believe James Madison, one of the founding fathers of the - [Oscar Romero: Voice of the Voiceless](https://www.withgoddaily.com/oscar-romero-voice-of-the-voiceless/) - A few years ago, political scientists Robert Putnam from Harvard and David Campbell from Notre Dame found that the best way to predict a person’s vote in any election was to know their religious affiliation. In the past, religious Americans evenly split their votes between political parties, but today there is what Putnam and Campbell - [William Wilberforce: Meditation & Action](https://www.withgoddaily.com/william-wilberforce/) - Many of us have been formed into a compartmentalized Christianity. It’s a faith that exists in certain areas of life, but is kept out of many others. For example, many white Christians in the United States would expect, and even welcome, their pastor to preach a message about marriage, but would be disturbed or even - [Desmond Tutu: Forgiveness & the Future](https://www.withgoddaily.com/desmond-tutu-forgiveness-the-future/) - In case you hadn’t noticed, America has become a much more diverse country over the last fifty years. This diversity isn’t just racial or ethnic; the spectrum of faiths, values, and beliefs has widened and splintered as well. We now live in a truly pluralistic society in which no single group or perspective holds the - [J.R.R. Tolkien: The Good Catastrophe](https://www.withgoddaily.com/j-r-r-tolkien-the-good-catastrophe-2/) - Before 2020, few of us could have imagined a global pandemic, that unemployment could reach levels not seen since the Great Depression, and that hundreds of thousands of Americans would die. Covid-19 was the definition of a catastrophe—“a sudden and widespread disaster.” When catastrophes occur, we are left stunned as our vision of the world - [John Stott: Love Needs No Justification](https://www.withgoddaily.com/john-stott-love-needs-no-justification/) - Tribalism has become a dominant force in American culture. A normal, even healthy “us against them” mentality has always existed to a certain degree. It’s to be expected in sports or even between political rivals. But lately, it has taken on a more dangerous tone in which those who disagree with us aren’t merely viewed - [Mother Teresa: With Jesus, For Jesus, To Jesus](https://www.withgoddaily.com/mother-teresa-with-jesus-for-jesus-to-jesus/) - I spent a month in India when I was 19. Although I’d seen extreme poverty before, including on previous visits to India, it affected me differently this time, perhaps because I was on the threshold of adulthood and had a deeper understanding of my faith, I felt a greater responsibility to remedy the suffering I - [Vincent van Gogh: A Terrible Need for Religion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/vincent-van-gogh-a-terrible-need-for-religion/) - My admiration for Vincent van Gogh should be obvious after just completing an entire series in With God Daily about his art and faith. Still, this current series would be incomplete without a mention of the Dutch painter as well. Apart from his incredible artistic talent, Van Gogh is remembered for his volatile mental health. - [Shusaku Endo: Jesus Doesn’t Need Your Defense](https://www.withgoddaily.com/shusaku-endo-jesus-doesnt-need-your-defense/) - As a college student, I often participated in events on campus called Open Forums. They were question-and-answer sessions held in a dorm or fraternity house, where I fielded questions about faith and philosophy. Sometimes they were organized as more formal debates between me and an atheist or skeptic. Early on, I viewed myself as a - [G.K. Chesterton: Wisdom and Wit](https://www.withgoddaily.com/g-k-chesterton-wisdom-and-wit/) - Religion is a serious business. It addresses the most fundamental and consequential questions of life and the cosmos. Therefore, it tends to attract serious people who write serious things and who gather to conduct serious meetings. In seminary, a very influential preacher told us that there is no place for humor in the pulpit. Laughter, - [Martin Luther King Jr.: A Prophetic Pastor](https://www.withgoddaily.com/martin-luther-king-jr-a-prophetic-pastor/) - I was born eight years after Martin Luther King’s assassination and grew up in the era when King was being immortalized as a civil rights hero. We learned about his fight against segregation in social studies class, and his “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered in front of the Lincoln Memorial, was required reading in - [Dorothy Day: Unbundling Faith](https://www.withgoddaily.com/dorothy-day-unbundling-faith/) - “Product bundling” is not an unfamiliar strategy in marketing. The idea is for a business to sell its less-popular items by packaging them together with its top-selling ones. For example, before iTunes and a la carte song buying, you had to purchase an entire album just to get the one song you really wanted. The - [Ignatius Loyola: Finding God Everywhere](https://www.withgoddaily.com/ignatius-loyola-finding-god-everywhere/) - Two ideas have become predominant in the practice of my faith. First, we are called to live in continual, intimate communion with God. Second, any sacred/secular divide is an illusion rooted more in church tradition or culture and absent from the teachings of scripture, which declares that Christ is Lord over all things and cares - [Dr. Paul Brand: The Gift of Pain](https://www.withgoddaily.com/dr-paul-brand-the-gift-of-pain/) - “The church should be a safe place to hear a dangerous message.” I heard that numerous times during my seminary training. I was also immersed in research about what Americans expect from a “safe church”—clean bathrooms, secure childcare, inoffensive decor, etc. With the best of intentions, we have tried to make a church gathering not - [John Wesley: Breaking With Tradition](https://www.withgoddaily.com/john-wesley-breaking-with-tradition/) - “Your system is perfectly designed to produce the results you are experiencing.” Dallas Willard said that in a meeting of church leaders discussing the pervasive spiritual immaturity evident within their congregations. Prior to Willard dropping that bomb, the assumption had been that the churches’ systems were excellent and the fault rested with the people who - [Francis of Assisi: The Simple Way of Jesus](https://www.withgoddaily.com/francis-of-assisi-the-simple-way-of-jesus/) - When did following Jesus become so complicated? Two thousand years ago, Jesus didn’t have a sprawling ministry campus. He didn’t use PowerPoint to highlight key points of his Sermon on the Mount. Jesus didn’t have elaborate programs to call and form disciples, nor did he have to hire additional musicians for the holidays. Sometimes I - [Brother Lawrence: Practicing God’s Presence](https://www.withgoddaily.com/brother-lawrence-practicing-gods-presence/) - As a young Christian, I was taught to read my Bible. I was instructed to participate in the church, watch my behavior and language, and how to communicate my faith to others—but no one taught me how to pray. Some years ago, a survey was given to a group of pastors asking them to rank - [Martin Luther: Saint for a Smartphone Generation](https://www.withgoddaily.com/martin-luther-saint-for-a-smartphone-generation/) - Recent studies show a strong correlation between social media use and an increase in depression and anxiety. Even more troubling, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, suicide rates among teens began to climb in 2007—the year smartphones debuted. Since then, suicide rates among girls ages 15 to 19 have increased by 100 percent, - [Dietrich Bonhoeffer: An Integrated Faith](https://www.withgoddaily.com/dietrich-bonhoeffer-an-integrated-faith/) - Yesterday, we looked at A.W. Tozer and the unfortunate disconnect between his dedication to Christ and his lack of dedication to his family. For me, Tozer represented a dis-integrated faith. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian killed by the Nazis for his opposition to Hitler, represents the opposite. He exhibited a profoundly integrated faith - [A.W. Tozer: A Flawed Hero](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-w-tozer-a-flawed-hero/) - Allan Carr once said, “You should never meet your heroes.” The gap between our image of the person and reality is a recipe for disappointment. I never met A.W. Tozer, but Carr’s statement captures my conflicted feelings about the man. Like most, I first encountered Tozer through his books. Two elements of his writing captured - [Flannery O’Connor: A World of Mystery](https://www.withgoddaily.com/flannery-oconnor-a-world-of-mystery/) - My early faith was shaped by an unimaginative tradition of Christianity; the Bible was to be taken literally, even the figurative parts, and during communion I was taught that the bread is “just bread” and the wine is “just grape juice.” There was nothing mysterious or magical about communion; it’s what we did to remember - [C.S. Lewis: Intellect and Emotion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/c-s-lewis-intellect-and-emotion/) - Anyone who has wrestled with evidence for the Christian faith in the last 80 years owes a debt to C.S. Lewis. As a teenager, I thought Christianity was a faith for the intellectually uncurious; the preferred superstition of less-educated Western societies. Reading Lewis shattered that assumption. He was the first example of rigorous intellect combined - [Augustine: The Struggling Saint](https://www.withgoddaily.com/augustine-the-struggling-saint/) - A few years ago, a Fuller Youth Institute study found about half of churchgoing Christian teens abandoned their faith within 18 months of graduating from high school. The research went deeper to examine what distinguished those who maintained their faith from those who did not. Interestingly, the study found that both groups struggled equally with - [Søren Kierkegaard: Religion vs. Relationship](https://www.withgoddaily.com/soren-kierkegaard-religion-vs-relationship/) - The name Kierkegaard was often heard in my college philosophy classes, but my professors never discussed the deep Christian faith of the nineteenth-century Danish philosopher. I did not learn about that side of Kierkegaard until I found a book of his prayers, which emphasized his direct experience of God rather than the structures of mere - [Henri Nouwen: Downward Mobility](https://www.withgoddaily.com/henri-nouwen-downward-mobility/) - I first encountered the writings of Henri Nouwen as a college student. It was a season when the American evangelical tradition most shaped my vision of the Christian life. This form of Christianity is a popular blend of biblical principles and entrepreneurial ambition in which ever-increasing influence and impact are celebrated. Nouwen entered my world - [The Grace of Saints](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-grace-of-saints/) - Before his death, Jesus told his disciples, "I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away" (John 16:7). What is this advantage Jesus had in mind? He understood that his departure would mean the arrival of the Holy Spirit. "I still have many things to say to you," Jesus told - [The Normalcy of Suffering](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-normalcy-of-suffering/) - Back in 2006, Time magazine did an article on the growing popularity of the prosperity gospel. They quoted a well-known television preacher who said, “Who would want to get in on something where you’re miserable, poor, broke and ugly and you just have to muddle through until you get to heaven? I believe God wants - [Prophetic Presence](https://www.withgoddaily.com/prophetic-presence/) - Africans are cognitively deficient, morally inferior, and primitive, and therefore lack the qualities necessary to be functional citizens in a modern democracy. This was the widespread belief among white Americans in the nineteenth century—including those in the North. Even among those whites who supported the abolition of slavery, most believed that freed slaves should be - [Rights & Responsibilities](https://www.withgoddaily.com/rights-responsibilities/) - Jesus' words about persecution in his farewell discourse present a unique problem for those of us in modern, free societies that value religious liberty. We've been shaped by our culture to believe religious persecution is inherently wrong. No one should be mistreated, denied equal access to the law, or prevented from following their conscience simply - [Persecution or Privilege?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/persecution-or-privilege-2/) - Yesterday, we looked at what Jesus meant when he told his disciples, "the world hates you" (John 15:19). We saw that in John's gospel when Jesus speaks about "the world" he's not referring to everything and everyone outside the community of his followers, but to those forces opposed to God and his kingdom. Therefore, we - [The World's Persecution or the Lord's Discipline?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-worlds-persecution-or-the-lords-discipline/) - In his farewell discourse, Jesus told his disciples that "the world hates you," and, "Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:19-20). As more Christians feel marginalized in our culture, we hear these verses cited more - [Measuring the Wrong Fruit](https://www.withgoddaily.com/measuring-the-wrong-fruit/) - Years ago, I interviewed a successful pastor nearing retirement. Early in his ministry, his church grew rapidly. Thousands flocked to hear him every weekend, other pastors sought his advice about how to grow their churches, and he even received an award for having one of the fastest-growing churches in the country. (The fact that such - [Improvised Love](https://www.withgoddaily.com/theres-no-jesus-formula/) - I told my wife when I was in seminary that I would never build a ministry around offering marriage or parenting advice. At the time, I had two reasons. First, I had so little experience—and even less wisdom—that I shouldn't be giving advice to anyone about marriage or raising kids. Second, I didn't want to - [We Are Jesus' Friend; He's Not Ours](https://www.withgoddaily.com/we-are-jesus-friend-hes-not-ours/) - In the 1980s, Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede examined the way different cultures understand and relate to power. Some cultures, he said, exhibit a "high power-distance" where rank and authority are highly respected. There is a clear hierarchy, and it's accepted that power will be unevenly distributed within society. Those at the top have more, - [Raising the Bar on the Golden Rule](https://www.withgoddaily.com/raising-the-bar-on-the-golden-rule/) - Mohandas Gandhi was fond of saying, “The various religions are like different roads converging on the same point. What difference does it make if we follow different routes, provided we arrive at the same destination?” His sentiment has become very popular in our globalized, pluralistic culture, and it is often linked to platitudes about the - [Is Obeying God Possible or Impossible?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/is-obeying-god-possible-or-impossible/) - Is obeying God difficult? I was shaped by a tradition of the church that not only said obeying God was difficult, it took every opportunity to remind me that it's impossible. I was told his expectations are so high, his standards so demanding, that he doesn't actually expect us to reach them. This message was - [Discipline & Freedom](https://www.withgoddaily.com/discipline-freedom/) - I live about two miles from the house where I grew up, which is located on the corner of one of the main avenues in town. Close to the street is a very tall elm tree that still draws my attention every time I happen to drive past. I planted that tree with my brother - [Actions & Emotions](https://www.withgoddaily.com/actions-emotions/) - Roger Ailes, the late founder and president of Fox News, famously said, “People do not want to be informed, they want to feel informed.” This may explain why a 2012 Fairleigh Dickinson University study found Fox News viewers were less informed about current events than those who don’t follow the news at all. By no - [Joy & Obedience](https://www.withgoddaily.com/joy-obedience/) - At first, it seems strange that Jesus would talk about joy on the night of his betrayal and arrest. In fact, later he would refer to it as "the hour when darkness reigns" (Luke 22:53). And yet, the theme of joy appears repeatedly throughout his farewell discourse with his disciples. Rather than fixating on the - [Cut Back & Cut Off](https://www.withgoddaily.com/cut-back-cut-off/) - Jesus' metaphor about the vine and branches in John 15 contains an interesting bit of wordplay that gets lost in most English translations. Jesus said, "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit" (John 15:2). In - [God's True Vine](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-true-vine/) - Most agree that the first half of Jesus' farewell discourse happened in the upper room of the house where he and his disciples ate the Passover meal. But the end of chapter 14 indicates a change of location. Jesus said, "Rise, let us go from here" (John 14:31). The discourse then resumes with the well-known - [Christ's Peace vs. the World's Peace](https://www.withgoddaily.com/christs-peace-vs-the-worlds-peace/) - I often close my emails with the word "Peace." It's an abbreviated version of the traditional Christian greeting, "Peace be with you," which is also common in other religious traditions. When you or I offer this message, we intend it as a wish. Our hope is for the recipient to experience well-being and peace, but - [The 3-Dimensional Peace of Jesus](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-3-dimensional-peace-of-jesus/) - Jesus' farewell discourse was intended to comfort and prepare his disciples by helping them understand and see beyond the trauma that was about to unfold. Jesus knew his arrest, torture, and crucifixion would shake them to their core, but he was already beginning to reframe these events for them not as a defeat at the - [The Problem with Applying Scripture](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-problem-with-applying-scripture/) - Studying and applying scripture is difficult. As a result, some traditions discourage Christians from engaging the Bible, fearing its misapplication, and instead reserve the study of scripture for those trained to handle it correctly. Of course, this doesn't guarantee the correct use of scripture either, as there is no shortage of bad biblical scholarship throughout - [Slow Learners, Slow Leaders](https://www.withgoddaily.com/slow-learners-slow-leaders/) - One of the more common claims made by critics of the gospels is that the disciples exaggerated the stories of Jesus' miracles and fabricated the account of his resurrection entirely. For those who reject the possibility of supernatural events, this is the only possible explanation. However, an honest reading of the gospels raises serious questions - [The Spirit & Anti-Intellectualism](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-spirit-anti-intellectualism/) - Sadly, some Christian traditions have become synonymous with anti-intellectualism. They have earned this reputation by viewing higher learning, scholarship, and science as somehow a threat to their faith, and by criticizing believers who pursue them as rejecting the sufficiency of scripture. This is unfortunate given Christianity’s unparalleled contribution to education and scholarship for 2,000 years, - [God so Loved the World](https://www.withgoddaily.com/god-so-loved-the-world/) - In his farewell discourse, Jesus repeatedly contrasts those who love and obey him with "the world." He is explicit that the world cannot receive the Holy Spirit (John 14:17), and that Jesus will reveal himself to his disciples but "the world will see me no more" (John 14:19). Like so many other things Jesus said - [Jesus' Work & Ours](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-work-ours/) - Jesus says that the Spirit will come and dwell within those who love him and obey his commandments (John 14:15). Throughout the farewell discourse, we will see that Jesus often links love and obedience. Unlike pop consumer Christianity, Jesus does not define love sentimentally. It's not a feeling of affection or the rush of euphoria - [Arguments vs. Affections](https://www.withgoddaily.com/arguments-vs-affections/) - Some people are impervious to facts. They see facts as inconvenient things that get in the way of the reality they'd prefer to inhabit. For example, when my son, Isaac, was about four, he would disrobe entirely to use the bathroom. Afterward, his clothes were rarely reassembled properly. When I came home from work one - [The First Paraclete](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-first-paraclete/) - Although Jesus had spoken frequently to his followers about the Father throughout his ministry, it wasn't until shortly before his arrest and execution that Jesus emphasized the role of the Holy Spirit. This makes sense because the goal of Jesus' farewell discourse was to prepare his disciples for his departure and to reassure them that - [God, Party of Three](https://www.withgoddaily.com/god-party-of-three/) - Because Jesus' farewell discourse is full of the Trinity—the relationship and unity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit—we've been trying to better understand this doctrine, which can never be fully understood. We've seen how scripture affirms that God is one and he exists as three persons. These three are diverse; - [A Never Ending Community of Love](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-never-ending-community-of-love/) - Jesus' farewell discourse is saturated with trinitarian theology. He spent his final night with his disciples in deep conversation about returning to his Father, sending them the Spirit, and his longing for his followers to share in the unity he experiences within the godhead. From these chapters and others, Christians have assembled the doctrine of - [What the Trinity Is and Isn't](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-the-trinity-is-and-isnt/) - In Jesus' farewell discourse with his disciples, he speaks repeatedly about his relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus identifies himself with the Father, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9), but also speaks of himself as distinct from the Father. For example, Jesus says he is going to the - [What Does it Mean to Pray in Jesus' Name?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-does-it-mean-to-pray-in-jesus-name/) - We've covered a number of tricky issues and misunderstood verses so far in Jesus' farewell discourse, but no verse may be more misunderstood or more abused than John 14:14—"If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." On the surface, this appears to be a blank check from the Lord of the - [Location is Everything](https://www.withgoddaily.com/location-is-everything/) - Yesterday, we looked at what Jesus meant when he said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12). Although some have understood “greater works” to mean more spectacular, - [What Does it Mean to Do "Greater Works" than Jesus?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-does-it-mean-to-do-greater-works-than-jesus/) - During his farewell discourse with his apostles, Jesus makes one of the more shocking—and misunderstood—promises found anywhere in the gospels. He said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father" - [Separating Jesus' Identity & His Words](https://www.withgoddaily.com/separating-jesus-identity-his-words/) - A few months ago, I was a guest on a radio program in the U.K. to discuss Jesus' more radical teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. The other guest had also written a book about Jesus' commands, but he was an atheist. The conversation focused on whether one had to be a Christian and - [Why Did Jesus Hide His Identity?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-did-jesus-hide-his-identity/) - After one of the devotionals last week, I received this question from a friend—"Why didn't Jesus just come out and say 'I am God'? I am the Father in human form? In all fairness to the disciples, he was constantly vague and mysterious." It's a very good question. Why did Jesus wait until his farewell - [Suckers for the Spectacular](https://www.withgoddaily.com/suckers-for-the-spectacular/) - I once heard a pastor argue that Sunday morning should be the most exciting hour of the week and more entertaining than anything people see on TV. "I believe a boring church is a sin!" he said. I can confirm that he practiced what he preached. The shepherd turned showman was very successful—at least as - [The Irony of the Incarnation](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-irony-of-the-incarnation/) - At the center of Jesus' identity, there appears to be a paradox. In the farewell discourse, and elsewhere in John's gospel, Jesus proclaims his equality with the Father. "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). With this remarkable statement, Jesus is not only declaring himself worthy of our obedience as our teacher - [Unlearning What We Have Learned](https://www.withgoddaily.com/unlearning-what-we-have-learned/) - In 2014, I spent a week speaking in South Africa. Because my family joined me for the trip, I rented a car—a decision that caused us all a great amount of stress. South Africans drive on the left side of the road, and their cars are right-hand-drive. The adjustment proved to be more difficult than - [Austere Audacity](https://www.withgoddaily.com/austere-audacity/) - In his farewell discourse, after declaring himself to be the exclusive way to God the Father, Jesus then makes one of the clearest statements of his own divinity anywhere in the gospels. “If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” - [There's No Bypassing Jesus](https://www.withgoddaily.com/theres-no-bypassing-jesus/) - As a teenager, I encountered a small shrine built around a tree along a street in Mumbai, India. The shrine had tiles depicting the expected Hindu gods—Vishnu, Krishna, Hanuman, and Ganesha. Some tiles, however, were unexpected. Like one with Arabic script—a verse from the Quran, I assumed. Another tile showed Moses holding the tablets of - [Desiring Christ or Using Him?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/desiring-christ-or-using-him/) - Jesus’ friend Lazarus had been dead for four days when he arrived at his home in Bethany. Comforting Lazarus’ sister, Martha, Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” It was widely believed among Jews at the time - [Redefining Truth](https://www.withgoddaily.com/redefining-truth/) - Years ago, when I engaged more regularly with college students, I noticed a trend among the young Christian men. Many of them were attracted to a pack of angry, bombastic preachers growing in popularity at the time. These pastors established themselves as theological authorities by proclaiming their beliefs with certainty and dismissing those who disagreed - [Jesus' Way & Our Way](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-way-our-way/) - Without a doubt, the most formative story for Jews—including Jesus and his followers—was the Exodus. It told of God rescuing his people from slavery in Egypt with signs and wonders. The climax of the story found God's people trapped between the sea on the east and Pharaoh's army rushing toward them from the west. Believing - [This is the Way](https://www.withgoddaily.com/this-is-the-way/) - Watching the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was surreal. Like many Americans, I was hooked to the news coverage in a way I hadn’t been since the 9/11 attacks twenty years earlier. What made the scenes of rioters invading the Capitol especially disturbing was the Christian symbols they carried—crosses, flags, - [The Real Purpose of Jesus' Second Coming](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-real-purpose-of-jesus-second-coming/) - “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2). These opening verses of John’s gospel establish a theme that occurs repeatedly not only in his gospel but in John’s other New Testament writings as well. Some have called - [Jesus Has Prepared a Place for You...Through the Cross](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-has-prepared-a-place-for-you-through-the-cross/) - Yesterday, we saw how the popular view of heavenly mansions along streets of gold misses the true intent of Jesus' words to his disciples on the night of his arrest. His concern was to comfort them with the assurance of their place with him and his Father forever. If that's the case, however, why does - [Jesus Didn't Promise You a Mansion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-didnt-promise-you-a-mansion/) - In his book, The King Jesus Gospel, New Testament scholar Scot McKnight makes a simple but stunning observation. The Book of Acts, in which Jesus' Apostles travel broadly proclaiming his gospel, contains no mention of heaven. Not one of the seven gospel sermons in Acts speaks of salvation as entering heaven after death. (Hell is - [Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled](https://www.withgoddaily.com/let-not-your-heart-be-troubled/) - I encounter a lot of disappointed Christians. Whether raised within the church or finding the message of Jesus later in life, it seems like more are expressing a sense of disillusionment. Sometimes this is directed at the church as leadership scandals, political idolatry, and culture warring push aside the faith, hope, and love they expected - [Once and For All](https://www.withgoddaily.com/once-and-for-all/) - The Day of Atonement was an annual occurrence in ancient Israel. The purification from the contamination of sin accomplished through the blood of the first goat offered to God and the removal of sin accomplished through the second goat sent into the wilderness were only temporary solutions. Over the next year, the people's sins would - [The One Who Carries Away Our Sins](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-one-who-carries-away-our-sins/) - On the Day of Atonement, the high priest selected two goats as an offering. The first goat was "for YHWH." It was slaughtered and its blood was sprinkled to cleanse the Tabernacle from the sins of the people. This goat did not represent sin. Instead, it represented purity and innocence. That is why it was - [What Can Wash Away My Sin?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-can-wash-away-my-sin/) - This is Holy Week, and exploring how our study of the Temple can help us understand the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection makes sense. To do that, I want to look more closely at the Day of Atonement—an annual ritual of sacrifice at the Temple that the New Testament writers use repeatedly to explain - [Another Temple Ends, Another People Exiled](https://www.withgoddaily.com/another-temple-ends-another-people-exiled/) - I've tried to show that Solomon's construction of the Temple in Jerusalem, which should have been recorded in Scripture as a triumphant event in the history of God's people, is actually presented with deep ambivalence. While the king and the people celebrated, God was less impressed. He responded to Solomon's project with concerns and warnings - [Don't Claim God's Promises & Ignore His Conditions](https://www.withgoddaily.com/dont-claim-gods-promises-ignore-his-conditions/) - After Solomon inaugurated the new Temple in a series of seven-day celebrations, (remember, the seven-day temple inaugurations were the norm throughout the ancient Near East and the basis for the seven-day creation story in Genesis), God appeared to Solomon with a message: "I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I - [God's Presence ≠ God's Endorsement](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-presence-≠-gods-endorsement/) - The writer of 1 Kings appears to carry a skeptical view of Solomon's Temple at best, and perhaps an entirely negative view at worst. While clearly using the construction of the Tabernacle from Exodus as a template, the writer of 1 Kings adjusts some crucial details to throw shade on the construction of the Temple - [Bodies Under the Bus](https://www.withgoddaily.com/bodies-under-the-bus/) - In 2021, Christianity Today launched a documentary podcast series called "The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill." It followed the story of a megachurch in Seattle led by a dynamic Gen X preacher. The podcast's success can be attributed to more than the pastor's celebrity status within the American Christian subculture or the stunning details - [Missing God's Message in Ministry](https://www.withgoddaily.com/missing-gods-message-in-ministry/) - 1 Kings 6 is one of those chapters we usually skip when reading through the Bible. It explains how Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem with details that are mind-numbing to modern readers. There are a lot of measurements in cubits, descriptions of inlaid this and carved that, and specifics about what kind of wood - [Unless the Lord Builds a House, the Workers Labor in Vain](https://www.withgoddaily.com/unless-the-lord-builds-a-house-the-workers-labor-in-vain/) - The reign of Solomon, David's son, represents a significant shift in the history of Israel. Those with some basic Bible knowledge probably remember two things about Solomon—he was considered very wise, and he built the first Temple in Jerusalem. It's natural to assume both of these are good things; therefore, we should add Solomon to - [Are We Building for God or Ourselves?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/are-we-building-for-god-or-ourselves/) - History has revealed a well-established pattern, one I have observed in my decades within the Christian ministry subculture. A uniquely gifted leader rises with an uncommonly intimate communion with God. Invariably, a community begins to form around the leader that is inspired by the leader's faith and activism. Good and beautiful things are accomplished. Eventually, - [Feline Worship & Canine Worship](https://www.withgoddaily.com/feline-worship-canine-worship/) - After Uzzah died and David was angry at God and fearful of his power, he left the ark at Obed-Edom's house for three months. When word reached him in Jerusalem that God had blessed Obed-Edom and his entire household, David decided to try bringing the ark to his capital again. The second procession we read - [The Tension Between God's Goodness & His Otherness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-tension-between-gods-goodness-his-otherness/) - The story of David moving the ark to Jerusalem in 2 Samuel 6 corresponds with two popular and contrasting views of God and worship today. On the one side is the church of consumer Christianity, which emphasizes God’s goodness. Like David, consumer Christianity primarily sees God as a means of victory, success, and blessing, leading - [Leaving God for Later](https://www.withgoddaily.com/leaving-god-for-later/) - In 2 Samuel 6, motivated by gratitude for all of God's blessings, David decided to move the ark—the physical representation of God's presence—into his new capitol, Jerusalem. The scene was impressive. A procession of 30,000 men, with musical instruments "celebrating with all their might before YHWH" (2 Samuel 6:5). But David's sincere worship was also - [Extravagant, Irreverent Worship](https://www.withgoddaily.com/extravagant-irreverent-worship/) - In 2 Samuel 6, another story about the Tabernacle—specifically the ark—is worth a few days of reflection. Context, as always, is important. In the previous chapter, 2 Samuel 5, three important things happened. First, at the age of 30, David was finally installed as king over Israel. Although the prophet Samuel had anointed David as - [God's Presence Isn't Always a Blessing](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-presence-isnt-always-a-blessing/) - Eli's sons, and the Israelites overall, were arrogant and presumptuous. They assumed God's presence among them would be perpetual, that his blessings would never end, that they would not be held accountable for their sins, and that carrying the ark—the symbol of God's presence—would guarantee victory in battle over their enemies. In 1 Samuel 4, - [The Danger of Assuming God is On Your Side](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-danger-of-assuming-god-is-on-your-side/) - During the Civil War, a journalist asked Abraham Lincoln if he believed God was on the side of the North. The President responded, “Sir, my great concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” Lincoln's humble answer was remarkable—especially from - [God's Presence is Not Guaranteed](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-presence-is-not-guaranteed/) - About 400 years after Moses and the Israelites built the Tabernacle and after they had taken possession of the promised land, the Tabernacle was set up at Shiloh—about 20 miles north of modern-day Jerusalem. Eli, a descendant of Aaron, was the high priest, and his sons also served as priests there. Rather than viewing their - [God's Plan Version 2.0](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-plan-version-2-0/) - In Genesis, after six days of ordering and inaugurating his cosmic temple, God rested on the seventh day. While the Hebrew word for "rested" is accurately translated, our English word doesn't capture all of the nuances that would have been familiar to ancient readers of this text. It didn't just mean that God ceased from - [God's Spirit Builds his Temple](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-spirit-builds-his-temple/) - In his meeting with Moses on Mount Sinai, the Lord gave him detailed instructions for the Tabernacle. God also provided the materials when he plundered the wealth of the Egyptians and gave it to his people before leaving Egypt. However, building such an elaborate and intricate structure requires more than plans and materials. It also - [Where God is Present, There is Always Enough](https://www.withgoddaily.com/where-god-is-present-there-is-always-enough/) - If you recall from Genesis, Eden is described as a place planted and cultivated by God himself. In the garden, he put every kind of tree that was beautiful to behold and whose fruit was delicious to eat. Eden also had abundant fresh water—a vital and scarce resource in most of the Mideast. Genesis even - [Plundering the Pagans](https://www.withgoddaily.com/plundering-the-pagans/) - After Moses received the detailed instructions for the design and construction of the Tabernacle, the Lord told him to ask the people for the materials necessary to build it. This included precious materials like gold, silver, bronze, and jewels. The Tabernacle also required large amounts of wood, dyed yarn, linen, and animal skins. There is - [The Tragic Irony of the Golden Calf](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-tragic-irony-of-the-golden-calf/) - The detailed description of the Tabernacle and its furnishings is found in Exodus 25-31. The very next chapter contains the most infamous story in the book, and its location is not an accident. In Exodus 32, while Moses is on Mount Sinai receiving instructions from God about the Tabernacle, Aaron makes a golden calf for - [God's Image in the Tabernacle](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-image-in-the-tabernacle/) - Throughout our tour of the Tabernacle, we've seen connections between the design and decoration of this sacred space and the creation narrative in Genesis. Both are described in a seven-part structure—seven days in Genesis and seven speeches in Exodus. The Tabernacle's courtyard symbolized the unordered earth with its altar of uncut stones and enormous basin - [Faithfully Bearing the Name](https://www.withgoddaily.com/faithfully-bearing-the-name/) - We have explored the three parts of the Tabernacle—the courtyard, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place—as well as the different objects they contain. We have also seen how the Tabernacle, and later the Temple, was intended to be a diorama of the cosmos. But there is one final part of the Tabernacle we - [The Footstool of God's Throne](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-footstool-of-gods-throne/) - Having looked at the courtyard representing the earth and the Holy Place representing the Garden of Eden, we must now explore the most sacred room of the Tabernacle. It was called the Most Holy Place or, in some translations, the Holy of Holies, representing God's unseen heavenly realm. Remember, the Tabernacle was intended to be - [A Tree to Connect the Heavens and the Earth](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-tree-to-connect-the-heavens-and-the-earth/) - While all the Israelites were allowed in the courtyard of the Tabernacle, the main room was accessible only to priests. It was known as the Holy Place. Apart from being enclosed, this room was distinct from the courtyard in several ways. First, the items in the courtyard (the basin, the altar, and the fence posts) - [Prayer and the Presence of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/prayer-and-the-presence-of-god/) - The last piece of furniture in the Holy Place was an altar for burning incense. The altar was small—about 3 feet high and 1.5 feet square—and like everything else in the Holy Place, it was completely covered in gold. Importantly, the altar was located at the far end of the room, just in front of - [The Table that Was, Is, & is to Come](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-table-that-was-is-is-to-come/) - The second item in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle was a table. Like the lampstand, it was entirely covered in gold, signifying its sacredness. The table also had gold accessories—dishes, pitchers, and bowls—that revealed its purpose—it was a dinner table. Once every week, on the Sabbath, the levitical priests were to bake 12 fresh - [The Courtyard of Chaos](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-courtyard-of-chaos/) - The Tabernacle was designed in three parts. The innermost chamber was the most sacred and, therefore, the least accessible. The outermost was a courtyard surrounded by a fence or curtain. The courtyard was the largest space in the temple complex, the least sacred, and, therefore, the most accessible. All Israelites, both men and women, priests - [A Diorama of the Cosmos](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-diorama-of-the-cosmos/) - I went to elementary school in the 80s when education was still analogue, and the instruction to "cut and paste" still involved actual scissors and glue. This skill was frequently required when making a diorama—a popular kind of book report in my third-grade class. Using a shoebox and construction paper, we would recreate a miniature - [Sinai Previews the Tabernacle](https://www.withgoddaily.com/sinai-previews-the-tabernacle/) - Moses's first encounter with God happens on Mount Sinai through the burning bush. Yesterday, we saw that this story is filled with temple language and symbolism. The link between Sinai and a temple is even more explicit when Moses leads the rescued Israelites back to the mountain in Exodus 19. Just as God had previously - [Sinai as a New Eden](https://www.withgoddaily.com/sinai-as-a-new-eden/) - The Book of Exodus is 40 chapters long. 15 of those chapters are about the design and construction of the Tabernacle—the mobile temple where God's presence resided among his people. All of these chapters are in the book's second half, indicating that the Tabernacle is what the rest of the Exodus story is driving toward. - [Jacob, Jesus, & the House of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jacob-jesus-the-house-of-god/) - Yesterday, we looked at the calling of Abraham in Genesis 12. He is the first person in the Bible who travels west—symbolically back toward Eden and the presence of God. When he reached the land of Canaan, the Lord appeared to him and blessed him. So, Abraham built an altar—a kind of mini temple—at that - [Adam's Calling 2.0](https://www.withgoddaily.com/adams-calling-2-0/) - After God ordered the world from the primordial chaos, made it his temple, appointed humans as his representatives and priests, and declared all of it "good," the book of Genesis is a steady descent back toward chaos. Humans reject their priestly vocation and are exiled from the garden-temple, and their evil spreads to corrupt the - [Getting the Tower of Babel Backwards](https://www.withgoddaily.com/getting-the-tower-of-babel-backwards/) - Temple themes in Genesis don't end when the man and woman leave the garden, but recognizing them requires us to read the book through the cultural lens of the ancient Near East. For example, the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 is about people building a city and tower "that reaches to - [Cherubim are for Our Protection, Not God's](https://www.withgoddaily.com/cherubim-are-for-our-protection-not-gods/) - After exiling the man and woman east of Eden, God placed cherubim at the entrance to the garden to "guard" it. Remember, that was originally Adam and Eve's responsibility. They were to given the priestly vocation to "keep and care for" the sacred space where God and humans could dwell together, but they failed by - [Evil, Exile, & the East](https://www.withgoddaily.com/evil-exile-the-east/) - We've already explored the common qualities of ancient Near East temples. They were the dwelling places of gods on earth, the presence of a god was represented by an idol/image in the temple, and temples were inaugurated in a seven-day ceremony. Ancient temples across many cultures also shared many architectural features, and one of the - [The Fall is About Vocation, Not Just Temptation](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-fall-is-about-vocation-not-just-temptation/) - If the textual evidence is overwhelming that we are to understand the Garden of Eden as a temple space and the man and woman as priests commanded to "work and keep" it, how does that change our understanding of what went wrong? The story of Adam and Eve, the serpent, and the tree is commonly - [God's Temple Expansion Project](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-temple-expansion-project/) - Failing to read the creation chapters in Genesis as temple narratives means that we will probably interpret them with another, less accurate, lens. For example, I thought of Eden as a divine zoo when I was young. It’s where God set up a comfortable habitat to watch his naked human creatures frolic without a care - [Adam Was Much More than a Gardener](https://www.withgoddaily.com/adam-was-much-more-than-a-gardener/) - We have yet to address one important element of all temples—priests. Every temple in the ancient Near East had custodians who cared for the structure and performed the rituals within it. They were essential to the functioning of the temple and properly mediated the presence of the deity that lived there. To better understand the - [The Temple Imagery in Eden is Not Subtle](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-temple-imagery-in-eden-is-not-subtle/) - I've been trying to show you that the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2-3 has all of the qualities of a temple and that God's ancient people would have immediately recognized this and interpreted the story through this lens. First, the garden is where YHWH "walks"—a common way of identifying his presence in the temple - [Eden Wasn't Just a Garden, It Was a Mountain](https://www.withgoddaily.com/eden-wasnt-just-a-garden-it-was-a-mountain/) - Mountains play a significant role throughout the Bible. Abraham offers sacrifices to God on Mount Moriah. Moses first encounters God on Mount Sinai through the burning bush. Sinai is also where the Lord gathers his people, establishes his covenant with them, and gives them his instructions. In the New Testament, Jesus also gives his instructions - [Where God Walks with His People](https://www.withgoddaily.com/where-god-walks-with-his-people/) - Remember, the irreducible definition of a temple is where God dwells; where his presence may be encountered. In the ancient Near East, a temple was usually an ornate building, but the creation narrative in the Hebrew bible explodes this conventional thinking by declaring the entire cosmos to be the temple of YHWH. In other words, - [The Image in God's Temple](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-image-in-gods-temple/) - Apart from the seven-day structure of Genesis 1, there is another compelling reason to read the creation account as a temple narrative. In pagan temples, the climax of the inauguration ceremony was the addition of the idol into the temple. Remember, the essential characteristic of a temple is that a god dwells there. In the - [In the Beginning God Created his Temple](https://www.withgoddaily.com/in-the-beginning-god-created-his-temple/) - Imagine reading a very old document written in 1720. The writer describes playing a game with a ball and stick, organized into innings, involving running, and he uses the words umpire, outfield, and pitch. We would naturally conclude that he is writing about baseball. There's just one problem—baseball wasn't invented until 1846. The document describes - [A Temple is Where God Meets Us](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-temple-is-where-god-meets-us/) - Bob Goff is a well-known attorney and Christian author. If you've read his books or follow him on social media, then you know that he considers Tom Sawyer Island in the middle of Disneyland his "office." He has frequently scheduled meetings with important officials or potential legal clients on the island. When I first met - [A Temple is Where God Reveals](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-temple-is-where-god-reveals/) - I'm a sucker for "Behind the Scenes" videos. For example, I have the DVD, 3-box-set, extended edition of The Lord of the Rings which includes 26 hours of bonus material including behind-the-scenes features about the making of the films. I've watched them multiple times. And my interest isn't limited to movies. Years ago on a - [A Temple is Where God Rules](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-temple-is-where-god-rules/) - We are trying to understand how the ancient world of the Bible understood temples. Yesterday, we saw how temples were more than places of worship; they were seen as divine houses—where the presence of a god dwelled. And a building—no matter how ornate or sacred—could not be a true temple if the god's presence was - [A Temple is Where God Dwells](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-temple-is-where-god-dwells/) - To begin our look at the theme of temples throughout the Bible, we first need to define what a temple is. Driving around the western suburbs of Chicago, I often see temples—Jewish temples, Buddhist temples, and a growing number of Hindu temples. There are even some churches that call themselves "temples." In the modern world, - [One Person's Temple is Another's Trash](https://www.withgoddaily.com/one-persons-temple-is-anothers-trash/) - I've never been to the Capitol building in Washington D.C. The day I was supposed to go there for a meeting with my congressman, I woke up on the bathroom floor of my hotel room after battling a gastrointestinal virus all night. (Tip: avoid the $5 Chinese lunch menu at Union Station.) I had to - [The Idol of Status: Choosing Humility](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-status-choosing-humility/) - I first encountered the writings of Henri Nouwen as a college student in the mid-1990s. Up to that time, my vision of the Christian life had been deeply formed and influenced by American culture. This meant my faith was an odd amalgamation of the Bible and American values like individualism, consumerism, and entrepreneurialism. For this - [The Idol of Status: Jesus' Humility](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-status-jesus-humility/) - The magnitude of the contemporary Christmas season stands in contrast to the humble scene of Jesus' actual birth. Today, the entire culture transforms for weeks. Special ornaments and lights decorate homes and skyscrapers, secular radio stations completely change their programming to include Christian hymns, and households everywhere—both believing and non-believing—pause to gather, exchange gifts, and - [The Idol of Status: Joseph's Humility](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-status-josephs-humility/) - Joseph had his dilemma figured out. He planned to quietly divorce Mary and preserve his righteous reputation. After all, he couldn’t wed a pregnant woman—the scandal for his family would be devastating, particularly in an honor-shame-based communal culture like ancient Judea. Like most men, Joseph was determined to protect his status above all else. Then - [The Idol of Status: Mary's Humility](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-status-marys-humility/) - I recently attended a meeting of sociologists, political scientists, and theologians at Notre Dame University to discuss political trends in the U.S. One phrase was used a lot to explain the dramatic shift in recent decades among working-class white men—"status threat." Status threat refers to the fear that one's social standing, reputation, or position of - [The Idol of Status: Caesar's Humiliation](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-idol-of-status-treasons-greetings/) - We've been formed to view Christmas as a time for family traditions, shopping, and to remember the "good news" of Jesus' birth. Christmas is not typically associated with revolutions, social upheaval, and the overthrow of false idols. But when we remove our sentimental 20th century lenses, and read the nativity narratives in the Bible the - [Ideas and Affections](https://www.withgoddaily.com/ideas-and-affections/) - A significant portion of contemporary Christianity is preoccupied with the mind and oblivious to the heart. This is the inheritance of the Protestant Reformation and the European Enlightenment which emphasized learning, reason, and ideas as the foundation of both individual and social behavior. As a result, many of us assume that our faith is strong - [Psalm 150: The Conclusion of the Matter](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-150-the-conclusion-of-the-matter/) - Like the Bible itself, the Psalms are a diverse collection of writings. We have encountered songs of jubilant celebration and others of agonizing lament. There are cries for God's mercy and others for his vengeance. There are psalms of honest doubt, and others declaring dogmatic certainty. As I've noted throughout this series, the Psalms embrace - [Psalm 149: Expecting Softballs but Getting Curveballs](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-149-expecting-softballs-but-getting-curveballs/) - A few weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attack, I was invited to be a guest speaker at a college and young adult ministry at a very large church. The pastor asked me to teach a series over multiple weeks on the book of 1 Corinthians. I was still a seminary student, and these opportunities were - [Psalm 148: Hallelujah is Not a Response, It's a Command](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-148-hallelujah-is-not-a-response-its-a-command/) - Psalm 148 begins and ends with a Hebrew word that is even familiar to English speakers—Hallelu Yah. It means "praise YHWH" and is often translated in our Bibles as "praise the Lord." We usually think of hallelujah as a word of praise to the Lord. That is how it is used in many songs and - [Psalm 147: God Cares About the Immense and the Mundane](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-147-god-cares-about-the-immense-and-the-mundane/) - In 1985, Ronald Reagan went to Geneva, Switzerland, for his first meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, to discuss nuclear disarmament. While in Geneva, the Reagan’s borrowed the chateau of a Muslim friend. The homeowner’s son, Hussain, left a note for the President asking him to please feed his goldfish, which Mr. Reagan was - [We Are All Idolaters](https://www.withgoddaily.com/we-are-all-idolaters/) - The first commandment says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Some of us read that and think, “No problem. I’m a committed monotheist and have never been tempted to worship another god. Let’s move on to the more difficult commandments.” Not so fast. Our reading of this commandment depends entirely on our understanding - [Psalm 146: Investing Too Much in Politics](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-146-investing-too-much-in-politics/) - For the first time this year, my wife and I are part of a fantasy football league. It has transformed our Sunday afternoons. We have always enjoyed a low-key Sunday evening in the fall, with a fire crackling and football on the TV in the background. But this year things are more intense. We're flipping - [Psalm 145: From a Nationalistic to a Cosmic Vision of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-145-from-a-nationalistic-to-a-cosmic-vision-of-god/) - In our study of the Psalms, we've repeatedly seen how a psalm emphasizing one idea is often followed by another focused on its opposite. This can be upsetting—particularly for modern readers who engage the Bible as a formulaic book of didactic truth. But the Psalms are not a work of systematic theology, they are not - [Psalm 144: Leadership is a Responsibility, Not a Right](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-144-leadership-is-a-responsibility-not-a-right/) - In much of our culture, leadership has become a dirty word. Trust in institutions has plummeted over the last 30 years because of toxic, abusive, or corrupt leadership. The greed of financial leaders created the mortgage crisis that nearly destroyed the economy in 2008. The self-interest of religious leaders led them to cover up abuse scandals in - [Psalm 143: It's All About God's Character, Not Yours](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-143-its-all-about-gods-character-not-yours/) - In the gospels we read that “Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them all” (Matthew 15:30). Scenes like this always intrigued me because, like many, I assumed that God blessed and healed those who are - [Psalm 142: Hope When No One Cares](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-142-hope-when-no-one-cares/) - Desperation is a terrible feeling, but desperation combined with loneliness is unbearable. David expresses this powerfully in Psalm 142. Like many other Psalms, this one also outlines terrible circumstances including wicked enemies setting traps, but David's cry to YHWH is primarily about his loneliness amid these troubles: "Look and see, there is no one at - [Psalm 141: We Are Not Just Thinkers, We Are Lovers](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-141-we-are-not-just-thinkers-we-are-lovers/) - I have a knack for spotting old Pizza Hut buildings. When I was a kid, thousands of the restaurants were built with their distinctive red, hut-shaped roofs. Although many have now lost these trademark features after being converted into other restaurants, used car dealers, insurance offices, or utilized for some other mundane purpose, there are - [Psalm 140: Pain Isn't Just a Megaphone; It's a Sledgehammer](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-140-pain-isnt-just-a-megaphone-its-a-sledgehammer/) - In my role, I've been fortunate to talk with many people about faith. As you might imagine, conversations about God and religion often start when someone discovers what I do. After decades of these conversations, I've seen an undeniable pattern. Most people say their faith grew the most in a season of acute fear or - [Psalm 139: Fully Known by the Lord of Space & Time](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-139-fully-known-by-the-lord-of-space-time/) - What does God know? A child in Sunday School can answer that question. God knows everything. In grown-up language, we believe that God is omniscient (all-knowing) because he is omnipresent (present everywhere at the same time). And yet, some theologians still debate the question. Does God really know the future? Can he really know what - [Psalm 138: Full of Grace and Truth](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-138-full-of-grace-and-truth/) - Throughout our explorations of the Psalms, we have been dismantling the popular but false idea that the God revealed in the Old Testament is different from the Jesus we discover in the New. Psalm 138 is another opportunity to see the remarkable continuity between the Old and New Testaments. The Psalm reveals David, bowing toward - [One God, Many Idols](https://www.withgoddaily.com/one-god-many-idols/) - On the surface, the instructions surrounding idolatry in the Old Testament appear contradictory. On one hand, the Scriptures flatly prohibit the worship of any other gods. On the other hand, Scripture also appears to deny that any other gods exist. So, why prohibit what is not possible? How do we begin to make sense of - [What’s Wrong with “You Be You”?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/whats-wrong-with-you-be-you/) - Psychologist Jonathan Haidt has written a lot about behavioral change and he often uses a metaphor of a rider and an elephant. The rider, which represents our reasonable faculties, appears to have control of the elephant, which represents our intuitive/emotional faculties. In truth, Haidt says, the six-ton elephant does what he wants and the rider - [The Wisdom to Discern Value](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-wisdom-to-discern-value/) - At 16 years old, I remained aggressively skeptical of Christianity but found myself reading the Bible often. One day I came across a bold claim in James’ epistle. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” Biblical promises do not - [The Origin of Idolatry](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-origin-of-idolatry/) - The tendency to worship created things rather than the Creator, and to reflect a false god rather than the true God is a universal human occupation. Where does this instinct come from? Why are we so easily led astray? We find clues to the answer in the story of Adam and Eve’s rebellion in Genesis - [Using or Worshipping?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/using-or-worshipping/) - The prohibition against idolatry is too often limited to the worship of physical objects. Idolatry isn’t just elevating created things as gods, but also devaluing God as equal to his creation. Augustine defined it this way: “Idolatry is worshiping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that is meant to be worshiped.” Unfortunately, - [Eikons and Idols](https://www.withgoddaily.com/eikons-and-idols/) - Genesis says that people were created in the “image” of God. Theologian Scot McKnight uses the Greek word Eikon (meaning “image”) to describe our human calling. “To be an Eikon,” he says, “is to be one designed to love God, self, and others and to represent God by participating in God’s rule in this world.” - [We Are Broken Mirrors](https://www.withgoddaily.com/we-are-broken-mirrors/) - The creation account in Genesis contains a revolutionary notion about human dignity. Unlike pagan creation myths which devalue humans as the disposable servants of the gods, Genesis elevates human value by calling us representatives of God. The man and woman were created in God’s image and commissioned to reflect that image throughout the earth. In - [God Does Not Need You](https://www.withgoddaily.com/god-does-not-need-you/) - As we’ve already seen, the prohibition against idolatry in the Bible is rooted in recognizing the essential difference between creature and Creator. Anytime we put a created thing in the place rightfully occupied by the Creator, we fall into the trap of idolatry. A rejection of this error is what separated ancient Israel, in theory, - [The Burden of Idols](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-burden-of-idols/) - As the inhabitants of Babylon were fleeing an attack on their city, the prophet Isaiah recorded the scene. The Babylonians carried their idols on the backs of their livestock. Through Isaiah, the Lord used the moment to mock the foolishness of idols and those who worship them, “Are their gods not able to defend themselves? - [Inverted Images](https://www.withgoddaily.com/inverted-images/) - The appeal of every form of human religion is the same: it offers the illusion of control. We believe that engaging in certain rituals, reciting certain prayers, or following certain moral codes will protect us from the dangerous forces that surround us. We believe God will be favorable to us for our devotion and obedience, - [Confusing Creature and Creator](https://www.withgoddaily.com/confusing-creature-and-creator/) - If the first of the Ten Commandments is about keeping God first, the second commandment is about keeping God separate. The Lord said, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath . . .” This command is - [Dashboard Deities](https://www.withgoddaily.com/dashboard-deities/) - I’ve been to India many times. It is a land full of idols; you can’t get into a taxi without seeing an idol of Ganesh—the Hindu deity with an elephant's head—positioned on the dashboard for luck. It is believed that Ganesh brings good fortune, and he removes obstacles—which are abundant in the streets of Mumbai. - [Psalm 137: The Terrible Fate of Every Babylon](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-137-the-terrible-fate-of-every-babylon/) - Yesterday, we examined the covenant faithfulness of God. Over and over, Psalm 136 declares that "YHWH's hesed endures forever." Hesed is the Hebrew word meaning "loyal-love" and refers to God's unwavering commitment to his people. But in Psalm 137 we are jolted by a very different message. The writer describes weeping, sorrow, and anger along - [Psalm 136: Attempting to Define God's Loyal-Love](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-136-attempting-to-define-gods-loyal-love/) - Psalm 136 repeats the same phrase 26 times. That's not a subtle clue that the writer thinks it's important. The problem, however, is that it's a notoriously difficult phrase to translate into English. The New International Versions says, "His love endures forever." The Hebrew word translated "love" here is hesed, and most biblical scholars agree - [Psalm 135: Our Panic & Outrage Reveals Our Idols](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-135-our-panic-outrage-reveals-our-idols/) - The Old Testament makes clear that YHWH did not choose Israel to be his covenant people because they were numerous or powerful. They were a tiny, subjugated nation surrounded by great empires (see Deuteronomy 7:7-9). But it was precisely Israel's frailty that revealed YHWH's true glory. As the Lord later said to Paul, "My power - [Psalm 134: The Gate Between the Heavens and Earth](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-134-the-gate-between-the-heavens-and-earth/) - Many of the Psalms of Ascent, including Psalm 134, speak about the temple of YHWH, so let's talk about it. First, the temple can be referenced in different ways. Psalm 134 calls it the "house of YHWH," and "the sanctuary." Sometimes the temple is synonymous with its location atop Mount Zion, or with the city - [Psalm 133: The Blessings (and Burdens) of Community](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-133-the-blessings-and-burden-of-community/) - There's an African proverb about traveling that says, "If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together." And, based on my experience, I would add: "If you want to go mad, go with children." There's nothing more wonderful, or potentially terrible, than a family road trip. The annoying - [Psalm 132: We Do Not Carry God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-132-we-do-not-carry-god/) - I did not realize it at the time, but as a teenager and young adult, I was deeply formed by paganism. It didn't call itself that, of course. It called itself evangelical Christianity, and one of its distinguishing and admirable characteristics is easily twisted into a profoundly unchristian understanding of God. Evangelicalism is committed to - [Psalm 131: Faith on the Other Side of Complexity](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-131-faith-on-the-other-side-of-complexity/) - In the gospels, Jesus rebuked his disciples for their pride and ambition. They had been arguing about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, so Jesus called a child over and said to them, "Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3). - [Psalm 130: Grace is Not a New Testament Invention](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-130/) - Despite the remarkable unity of the Bible, some Christians persist in their view that the Old Testament and New Testament present dramatically different visions of God. And even those who say God is unchanging will insist that how God relates to his people is fundamentally different in the Old Testament and the New. Psalm 130 - [Psalm 129: And Now For Something Completely Different](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-129-and-now-for-something-completely-different/) - The old British comedy show, Monty Python's Flying Circus, would transition from one absurd skit to the next with the announcer saying, "And now for something completely different." That would also be an appropriate transition between some Psalms. Earlier, we saw how Psalm 125 declared the safety and permanence of Jerusalem. The very next Psalm, - [Psalm 128: Claiming Promises vs. Seeking Wisdom](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-128-claiming-promises-vs-seeking-wisdom/) - Most forms of religion are transactional. In the ancient world, the common belief was that the gods created humans to be their labor force. The gods needed food in the form of grain or animal sacrifices, so they made people to supply them. The gods required houses to dwell in, so they created people to - [Psalm 127: The Paradox of God's Work & Ours](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-127-the-paradox-of-gods-work-ours/) - Together with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, the Psalms are often referred to as the Bible's "wisdom literature." All of these books were written to teach us discernment—to differentiate between the way of wisdom and the way of foolishness, and to recognize the path toward life and the path leading to death. One facet of this discernment - [Psalm 126: Did God Break His Promise?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-126-did-god-break-his-promise/) - As I mentioned in the previous devotion, Psalms 125 and 126 appear to be in tension. Psalm 125 says that Mount Zion (which is another name for Jerusalem) "cannot be shaken" and "endures forever." The Psalm is a statement of confidence in Israel's covenant with YHWH. Because the Lord is on its side, Jerusalem has - [Psalm 125: The Problem with Distinguishing Prayers from Promises](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-125/) - Many Christians, and especially those from traditions that highly value the Bible, have been taught to read Scripture one-dimensionally. "The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it" is a very common sentiment in these communities. While meant to honor the Bible, this cliche actually does the opposite by cavalierly erasing the Bible's - [Psalm 124: The Problem with "Worship for Wins"](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-124-the-problem-with-worship-for-wins/) - In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul compares the maturing of our faith to the maturing of our bodies. "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me" (1 Corinthians 13:11). - [Psalm 123: Vengeance Belongs in God's Hands, Not Ours](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-123-vengeance-belongs-in-gods-hands-not-ours/) - Around 598 B.C.E., the Babylonians invaded the kingdom of Judah. They conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and carried many of God's people away into exile. Without question, it was the most devastating event in the history of ancient Israel and it provoked a crisis of faith for many Jews. The temple was destroyed, the line - [Psalm 122: Praying for the Peace of Jerusalem](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-122-praying-for-the-peace-of-jerusalem/) - A few months ago, I walked west with my son down the Mount of Olives and entered the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem through the Lions' Gate. On a normal day, we would have encountered a labyrinth of narrow, crowded streets bustling with merchants, cafes, tourists, and pilgrims. But this was not - [Psalm 121: It's a Dangerous Business Going Out Your Door](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-121-its-a-dangerous-business-going-out-your-door/) - I travel a lot. In fact, I'm writing this having just returned from a trip to Nashville yesterday, and I'm leaving for Denver in three days. Modern travel involves any number of challenges, frustrations, and indignities. For example, I've probably experienced more delayed or canceled flights in the last six months than ever before. And - [Psalm 120: Unloading Our Baggage](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-120-unloading-our-baggage/) - When I enter my house, the garage door is immediately across the hall from the laundry room. This is especially convenient when returning from a trip because I will simply roll my suitcase directly into the the line of dirty laundry bins. This has now become the pattern for everyone in the family—college students arriving - [Psalm 119: A Lamp for My Feet, a Light on my Path](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-119-a-lamp-for-my-feet-a-light-on-my-path/) - A few days ago, we looked at the Bible's briefest psalm and shortest chapter. Today we encounter the longest. Psalm 119 contains 176 verses, making it longer than many New Testament books. Like a few other psalms, this one is also an acrostic. The 22 stanzas follow the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and each - [Psalm 118: An Anthem of Deliverance](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-118-an-anthem-of-deliverance/) - This psalm is another composed to celebrate God's deliverance of his people. Although the particular circumstances that inspired Psalm 118 are not identified, it's safe to assume it was written after a military victory against one of Israel's enemies. The vagueness is likely deliberate as the psalm became a chorus sung by God's people to - [Psalm 117: The Gravitational Pull of Enthusiasm](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-117-the-gravitational-pull-of-enthusiasm/) - My son loves movies. He always has, but now that he's a young adult his tastes have matured from Pixar and Marvel toward Scorsese and Tarantino. To his credit, he appreciates a diversity of film genres including comedies, action-adventures, dramas, and even musicals. And he's as likely to text me about a film from the - [Psalm 116: Filling One Another With Courage](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-116-filling-one-another-with-courage/) - I’m increasingly hearing Christians question the value of their churches’ Sunday gatherings, and churches embracing online streaming services has only accelerated the discontent. I wonder if earlier generations were equally frustrated with the church, but carried a greater sense of duty to persevere. Or perhaps there was simply greater social pressure to attend church which - [Psalm 115: We Become What We Behold](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-115-we-become-what-we-behold/) - Idolatry is a frequent topic in the Bible, and it is repeatedly condemned as a terrible sin for two reasons. First, and most obviously, we are commanded to worship God and no one else. The definition of idolatry is to worship a created thing rather than the Creator. Therefore, to engage in idolatry is to - [Psalm 114: The Almighty Snowplow](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-114-the-almighty-snowplow/) - In recent years, the term "helicopter parent" has become ubiquitous. It refers to an overprotective parent overly engaged in their child's life. More recently, a new term has been coined—the "snowplow parent." No longer content to hover over their kids, the snowplow parent seeks to remove every obstacle from the child's path toward success. Volumes - [Psalm 113: The Proper Use of Power](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-113-the-proper-use-of-power/) - To read the Bible well, it helps to think like its original audience. People in the ancient Near East saw the cosmos as filled with spiritual powers assembled in a hierarchy not unlike the bureaucracies common in human societies and governments. For example, few Americans have direct access to the President of the United States. - [Psalm 112: Reward & Responsibility](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-112-reward-responsibility/) - When I was a pastor, I discovered that no topic made people more uncomfortable in the church than money. Perhaps that was because I served a congregation in a highly educated, fairly affluent suburb. Sure, other subjects made people squirm—sexuality, race, politics—but money was in a category all by itself. For example, not long after - [Psalm 111: The ABCs of Faith](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-111-the-abcs-of-faith/) - One of the first things we teach very young children is the alphabet. The ABCs mark their earliest toys, fills their songs, and is the topic of their first books. The reason for this is obvious. The alphabet is a foundational building block for all future education. If a child doesn't learn her ABCs she - [Psalm 110: When the Bible Quotes the Bible](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-110-when-the-bible-quotes-the-bible/) - The Bible is a very large book. That's not technically accurate. The Bible is a collection of 66 books, and many of those books reference other books. It is almost like the biblical authors are in communication with each other across the centuries by reading, interpreting, applying, and sometimes reappropriating earlier biblical books. For this - [Psalm 109: The Difference Between Honesty and Accuracy](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-109-the-difference-between-honesty-and-accuracy/) - One of the most well-known and challenging teachings of Jesus is his call to love and pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48). Some identify this command as the distinguishing feature of Jesus' message, and what separates his teaching from the Old Testament law. This is based on the assumption that the Old Testament is about - [Psalm 108: History Rhymes & So Does Faith](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-108-history-rhymes-so-does-faith/) - Psalm 108 is a head-scratcher. It's attributed to David, but it is actually a combination of verses from two previous psalms of David. The first half of Psalm 108 is directly copied from Psalm 57, and the latter half is a repeat of Psalm 60. There is no original content here. So what's going on? - [Psalm 107: The Indiscriminate Kindness of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-107-the-indiscriminate-kindness-of-god/) - In the gospels, we find numerous accounts of Jesus rebuking people—the religious leaders, unbelieving towns, his own disciples, and even a tree. He was very aware of the motives of those who followed and questioned him. And yet, there is not one story in the gospels of Jesus turning away someone in need. In fact, - [Psalm 105: It's Not About You](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-105-its-not-about-you/) - The Bible can be a very challenging story to grasp. Spanning thousands of years and written by dozens of authors, it's easy to lose track of the larger narrative and only see the smaller, seemingly disconnected stories. Thankfully, there are places where the Bible helps us step back and see the forest rather than just - [Psalm 106: A Song of Sober Self-Assessment](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-106-a-song-of-sober-self-assessment/) - Yesterday, we explored "Disney Princess theology"—the tendency to center ourselves in the biblical story. Psalm 105, however, corrects this error by retelling the Old Testament narrative with YHWH as the story's main character and the unmistakable hero. Psalm 106 continues to recalibrate how we read the Bible by taking a sledgehammer to our consumeristic Disney - [Psalm 104: Creator & Sustainer](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-104-creator-sustainer/) - Despite the growing number of religious "nones"—those with no attachment to a particular faith—and the very loud voices of the "new atheists," data shows that most people still believe in a Creator. I suspect that's because it takes more faith to believe a world as beautiful and intricately complex as ours is the product of - [Psalm 103: The Comprehensive Compassion of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-103-the-comprehensive-compassion-of-god/) - I have attended or spoken at countless Christian conferences. I used to save my lanyard from each event and hang it on a floor lamp in my office. I collected so many that the lamp became unbalanced and finally fell over. Of course, every conference believes its purpose or topic is of paramount concern, and - [Psalm 102: Worship is About Presence, Not Praise](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-102-worship-is-about-presence-not-praise/) - When I was a seminary student in the late 90s, I was required to read a book about strategic church growth. The author was a guru in the megachurch movement and utilized research to convince pastors to abandon older traditions and liturgies and adopt market-tested strategies instead. For example, he advised removing overtly religious symbols - [Psalm 101: What God Looks For in a Leader](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-101-what-god-looks-for-in-a-leader/) - What should we look for when choosing a leader? It shouldn't surprise us that in a consumer culture, we've been formed to think about leadership transactionally. If I give this leader my support, what will I get in return? Within the church, leaders are often selected based on their talent as a communicator. If a - [Psalm 100: Explaining the Worship Gap](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-100-explaining-the-worship-gap/) - I love Psalm 100 for its simplicity. There is a place for nuanced theology and doctrine, and I appreciate a mind that can explore the deep mysteries of faith. But sometimes we need to be brought back to the basics. Psalm 100 calls upon all people to praise and worship God for two reasons—he made - [A Sacred Imagination](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-sacred-imagination/) - Jackson is my next-door neighbor. He’s seven. The other day he was running around with a large stick and making loud noises. “What are you doing with that stick?” I asked him. “This is not a stick,” Jackson declared while holding it upright with a formal posture. “I know it looks like a stick,” he - [Where the Wounded Are Welcomed](https://www.withgoddaily.com/where-the-wounded-are-welcomed/) - While reclining at the table in Matthew’s house, enjoying his dinner with the scum of the earth, Jesus noticed the Pharisees had arrived. These religious leaders, masters of image management, and experts in social demographics peered through Matthew’s gate at the festivities in the courtyard. Imagine what they saw. A lavish house, a large table - [A Battlefield Hospital](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-battlefield-hospital/) - Philo of Alexandria once said, “Be kind, because everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.” We are all fighting a terrible battle to be loved; a battle to prove we are significant and acceptable. Some of us fight by moving from one relationship to the next seeking to heal a wound that will not - [Sacraments & Scandals](https://www.withgoddaily.com/sacraments-scandals/) - In some churches, the table is the climax of the community’s corporate worship. In these sacramental traditions, the bread and cup are where the people encounter the grace and presence of Christ. Everything else in the gathering—music, prayer, scripture, and sermon—while meaningful and offering glimpses of glory, are markers along the path as the community - [Living Eucharistically](https://www.withgoddaily.com/living-echaristically/) - Various Christian traditions use different names for the table sacrament of the church. Some call it “Communion,” others speak about the “Lord’s Supper,” but one of the oldest and most fascinating names is the “Eucharist” from the Greek word meaning thanksgiving. When I first learned this etymology I was confused. Up to that time, my - [Who Is Welcomed to the Table?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/who-is-welcomed-to-the-table/) - Who should be welcomed to the Lord’s table? There has been a spectrum of views throughout church history, but they fall into two main categories: the “open table” view says all are welcomed, while the “closed table” position believes access is limited to a defined group—usually church members or confessing believers. The way different churches - [The Provocative, Irritating Table](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-provocative-irritating-table/) - In 1865, not long after the Civil War, the members of St. Paul’s church in Richmond, Virginia, gathered for worship. Among them were many leaders of the defeated Confederacy. When the time came for communion, a tall, well-dressed black man walked forward to the table. “This was a great surprise and shock,” a witness reported - [Eating in an Unworthy Manner](https://www.withgoddaily.com/eating-in-an-unworthy-manner/) - Many kids raised in Christian communities are taught to fear the Lord’s Table. “Examine yourself!” the minister would warn quoting the Apostle Paul. “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:27). That’s why - [Remember the Future](https://www.withgoddaily.com/remember-the-future/) - Yesterday, we saw how the table does more than commemorate the past. Based on the Hebrew understanding of remembrance, when we come to the table we are inviting the power of God’s salvation in the past to find completion in the present. But the table is more than a time machine to the past; it - [The Table is a Time Machine](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-table-is-a-time-machine/) - Jesus commanded his followers to break bread and share the cup “in remembrance” of him. Using commonly available items like bread and wine to remember Jesus made sense in the ancient world, but today we have far better tools available. We have video screens, streaming sermons, and mass publishing. We have Christian t-shirts, bracelets, and - [The Person You Like Least](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-person-you-like-least/) - About 30 years ago, a team of researchers began studying church growth. They observed that the fastest-growing churches often lacked diversity. Instead, these churches were filled with people who shared the same race, economic status, culture, and values. The explanation for this is simple—we are most comfortable in groups filled with people just like us. - [The Lord’s Table vs. The Coffee Bar](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-lords-table-vs-the-coffee-bar/) - Although the table was central to Jesus' mission, and the table has been the only consistent element through 2,000 years of Christian worship, in many contemporary churches it has largely disappeared. Today, some churches have marginalized the Lord’s Table to a monthly practice tagged on to the end of a worship service. In others, especially - [All the World is a Lunchroom](https://www.withgoddaily.com/all-the-world-is-a-lunchroom/) - My best friend in high school, Jay, had a theory to explain the social stratification of our school. He believed the most important moment of our adolescence happened when we entered the lunchroom on the first day of junior high school. Kids from four different elementary schools were mixed together for the first time, and - [A Symbol is Never Just a Symbol](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-symbol-is-never-just-a-symbol/) - I do not understand Christians who dismiss the Lord’s table as “just a symbol.” A symbol by definition points to or represents something more than what it is. For example, if an American flag were not a symbol it would merely be a red, white, and blue cloth, but because it is a symbol it - [The Table Unites & Divides](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-table-unites-divides/) - The church has existed for over 2000 years, and throughout the millennia Christians have gathered on Sundays to worship God. Across all those generations, however, very few things have remained consistent—a lot has changed. For example, the church has not always had a dedicated building in which to gather. The earliest Christians met in homes. - [From Using to Wanting](https://www.withgoddaily.com/from-using-to-wanting/) - What need or desire first led you to God? In Scripture, we find people coming to Jesus for any number of reasons, with the most frequent being a desire for physical healing. It is worth noting that there is not a single instance recorded in the gospels of Jesus turning away anyone asking for healing. - [How the Story Ends is Up to You](https://www.withgoddaily.com/how-the-story-ends-is-up-to-you/) - In elementary school, I enjoyed reading “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. If you recall, the books were written so the reader could decide how the plot unfolds. Should the hero cross the bridge over Crocodile Canyon? If “Yes” go to page 72. If “No” go to page 143. Not only did it create a more - [Imitating the Father](https://www.withgoddaily.com/imitating-the-father/) - Reading the Parable of the Lost Sons, most of us will identify with one son or the other. Our story may look more like the younger, rebellious son who left home in the selfish pursuit of his desires only to hit rock bottom before coming to his senses. Our story may also resemble the older - [God Welcomes Asylum-Seekers](https://www.withgoddaily.com/god-welcomes-asylum-seekers/) - In 2016, refugees were flooding into Europe hoping to escape the unrest in the Middle East. The crisis put enormous strain on countries, and some imposed strict new immigration policies to stem the tide of refugees. Numerous reports emerged that year about the remarkable number of Muslim refugees converting to Christianity in Europe. One story, - [Embrace ≠ Endorsement](https://www.withgoddaily.com/embrace-≠-endorsement/) - There is a well-known hymn from the evangelical tradition of the church called, “Just As I Am.” The song emphasizes God’s willingness to welcome sinners without precondition, and it seems like a perfect fit with Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Sons. The father in the story welcomes his younger, rebellious son home with joyful enthusiasm. - [The Heart Has Its Reasons](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-heart-has-its-reasons/) - Jesus told his story about the lost sons to an audience of Pharisees—people who knew a lot about God. These very religious men had memorized the entire Hebrew Bible. (People did that sort of thing before television and Instagram.) Their religious training raised a critical question: If they knew so much about God, how were - [Ordering Our Desires](https://www.withgoddaily.com/ordering-our-desires-2/) - Our tendency to pursue God’s gifts rather than God himself can be summarized with a familiar biblical word—idolatry. It’s a subject that often appears in this devotional—in fact, we’ve done a whole series on it—because it’s a very common theme, particularly in the Old Testament. Jesus’ story of the lost sons builds on this biblical - [Focus on the Father](https://www.withgoddaily.com/focus-on-the-father/) - The climax of Jesus’ parable occurs when the father finally speaks to his older son. This is the first and only time in the story the father speaks to one of his children directly—and it’s what Jesus’ audience would have been waiting for. “When are we going to find out why this Jewish father acted - [The Shadow Side of Service](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-shadow-side-of-service-2/) - True to his character, when the father discovered that his eldest son was not home he went out to find him. There the father begged the older son to come to the party, but the young man was furious. “Look, all these years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you - [God Does Not Play Chicken](https://www.withgoddaily.com/god-does-not-play-chicken/) - The game of chicken is one of nerve, courage, and idiocy. Two racers speed toward each other on a collision course. The first person to turn away, and thereby save both from calamity, loses and is labeled a “chicken.” Some of us played this game as children on our bicycles, and most of us outgrew - [Mad at Mercy](https://www.withgoddaily.com/mad-at-mercy-2/) - The older son called one of the servants and asked about the music and dancing. “Your brother has come home,” the servant said, “and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.” When he heard this the older son became “angry and refused to go in.” By - [The Sin of Pagans & Pastors](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-sin-of-pagans-pastors/) - The editors of most English translations of the Bible have titled Jesus’ story in Luke 15, “The Lost Son” or “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.” These titles focus our attention on the younger son’s journey, but Jesus’ emphasized at the beginning that the story was about a man with two sons. The real message - [The Origin of Worship](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-origin-of-worship/) - The father's joy over his son’s return was uncontainable. He ran to embrace him the moment his son appeared on the horizon. The father didn’t let the son finish apologizing before he ordered the servants to clothe him with the emblems of his true identity and before others could fully grasp what had happened the - [Saved From vs. Saved For](https://www.withgoddaily.com/saved-from-vs-saved-for-2/) - When the younger son finally returned and was embraced by his father, it meant he’d successfully escaped poverty, starvation, and death in a distant country. This perspective, however, only looks back at what the son was saved from, it does not look ahead to what he was saved for. There is a detail in Jesus’ - [A Long Way Off](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-long-way-off-2/) - The most shocking part of Jesus’ parable, at least for his original audience, was undoubtedly the father’s reaction when he saw his son. “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” Given the magnitude of the son’s disrespect and disregard - [Motives & Movement](https://www.withgoddaily.com/moving-toward-god/) - Jesus says the younger son eventually “came to himself,” or some translations say he “came to his senses.” He realized that life in his father’s house, even for servants, was better than his current life as a maître d' to pigs. So, he decided to go home. In the most literal sense, this was repentance - [Morality & Locality](https://www.withgoddaily.com/morality-locality/) - When Christians in wealthy, developed countries read the Parable of the Prodigal Son we usually emphasize the irresponsibility of the younger son. He found himself in deplorable conditions because he “squandered his property in reckless living.” We say he should have been wiser with his money and more disciplined with his desires. When Christians in - [Sin Hunts in the Dark](https://www.withgoddaily.com/sin-hunts-in-the-dark/) - Flush with cash from his liquidated inheritance, Jesus says the younger son left his father’s home for “a far country.” This distance may have been an unintentionally merciful decision by the son. By moving to a distant land, his family would be spared daily news of his immoral behaviors, and their reputation, already shamed by - [Father, Give Me...](https://www.withgoddaily.com/father-give-me-2/) - Jesus begins the story of the man with two sons by showing the selfishness of the younger son. “Father, give me the share of the property that is coming to me,” he said. Jesus’ audience would have understood the offensiveness of the request immediately. To ask for his inheritance and leave home was the same - [Building Walls in God’s Name](https://www.withgoddaily.com/building-walls-in-gods-name/) - “There was a man who had two sons....” This is how Jesus begins my favorite parable in the Bible. The story of the Prodigal Son is full of emotion, truth, and challenge. Before we explore this remarkable story, we first need to understand why Jesus told it. We read in Luke 15 that, “The tax - [Love Is Determined By Your Identity, Not Theirs](https://www.withgoddaily.com/love-is-determined-by-your-identity-not-theirs/) - Question-asking is central to the Jewish religious tradition. That was true in Jesus’ time, and it remains true today. A journalist once asked Elie Wiesel, the Jewish writer, “I have noticed that you Jews often answer questions by asking another question. Why do you do that?” To which Wiesel answered, “Why not?” Jesus’ entire engagement - [The Capacity to Care](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-capacity-to-care/) - There are numerous details in Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan that we miss due to our cultural distance that would have been caught by his original audience. Among the most emphasized details of the story is the wealth of the Samaritan traveler. He was likely a merchant whose business took him far from Samaria. - [The Unexpected Hero](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-unexpected-hero/) - Jesus’ parables were usually marked by a surprise; a twist that forced his audience to rethink a basic assumption they held about God, the world, or themselves. In his story about a man beaten and robbed on the road, the first character to pass by is the most respected in Jewish culture—a priest. The second - [A Failure of Compassion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-failure-of-compassion/) - Sometimes Jesus’ story about the Good Samaritan is taught in a manner that frames compassion over and against devotion to the Old Testament Law. This view holds that the priest and the Levite who passed by the man in the ditch were prevented from helping him, even if their hearts were filled with empathy because - [Whom Must We Love?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/whom-must-we-love/) - An expert in Jewish religious law came to Jesus with a simple but important question: “What must I do to live with God forever?” In response, Jesus asked him, “What do the Scriptures say?” The man gave a wonderful answer that Jesus affirmed: Love the Lord with all of your heart...and love your neighbor as - [The Surprising Citizens of God’s Kingdom](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-surprising-citizens-of-gods-kingdom/) - In Jesus’ parable, after the invited guests made ridiculous and insulting excuses for not coming to the host’s banquet, he became angry. He then told his servant to instead fill his banquet with “the poor and crippled and blind and lame.” In ancient Israel, these people lived on the margins of society because they were - [Saying “Yes” to God But “No” to His Kingdom](https://www.withgoddaily.com/saying-yes-to-god-but-no-to-his-kingdom/) - Yesterday we looked at how banquets were conducted in ancient Israel. A host would issue two invitations. The first ensured there were no conflicting events planned in the community, and asked guests to commit or respectfully decline the invitation. The second invitation was sent once the banquet was prepared. This second invitation is what Jesus - [God the Party Planner](https://www.withgoddaily.com/4061-2/) - While Jesus was dining at the home of a Pharisee, another guest said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” A banquet or feast was a common image in ancient Israel to describe eternal life and the age to come. In the language of popular evangelicalism, the guest - [An Offer of Infinite, Not Immediate, Satisfaction](https://www.withgoddaily.com/an-offer-of-infinite-not-immediate-satisfaction-2/) - Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant who found a pearl of exceedingly high value, so he sold everything he had and purchased the pearl. If nothing else, this very short parable ought to convince us that Jesus and his kingdom are not opposed to self-interest. The merchant was clearly motivated by - [Why We Reject God’s Kingdom](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-we-reject-gods-kingdom-2/) - Jesus’ parables comparing the kingdom of heaven to a man who finds a treasure in a field and to a merchant who discovers a pearl of great value are meant to be understood through an economic framework. Any rational person would gladly give up something of little value to acquire something of great value. Likewise, - [Misery is Not Evidence of Holiness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/misery-is-not-evidence-of-holiness-2/) - Religious people use the word sacrifice a lot. I looked up its definition and among its uses are two seemingly contradictory understandings: 1. the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher. 2. a loss incurred in selling something below its value. Both definitions are - [The Platinum Rule](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-platinum-rule-2/) - Our pluralist culture likes to affirm that all faiths are more or less the same, and often points to the Golden Rule as a universal ethic taught by all religions. But this is only partially true. The Golden Rule taught by Jesus is a call to actively seek what is good for others. “So whatever - [An Interdependent Spiritual Ecosystem](https://www.withgoddaily.com/an-interdependent-spiritual-ecosystem/) - In 1958, the Chinese government began a nationwide campaign to rid China of sparrows. The birds, the government claimed, were responsible for eating seeds and grain essential for the growing Chinese population. Millions of citizens were mobilized to trap and kill the birds, destroy their nests, and crush their eggs. The campaign was brutally effective. - [Setting Minimums on God’s Expectations](https://www.withgoddaily.com/setting-minimums-on-gods-expectations/) - At the start of the Covid-19 quarantine, it was difficult to keep our household functioning smoothly. Without the usual school and work schedules, order quickly broke down. Teenagers were sleeping past noon, unfolded laundry piled up, and regular chores were neglected. Even the dog seemed confused by the situation. Finally, some order was reestablished when - [The Magnitude of our Debt](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-magnitude-of-our-debt/) - In response to Peter’s question about forgiveness, Jesus told another parable. The story is about a king settling his accounts with his servants. The scenario would have been familiar to Jesus’ first-century audience. Kings collected taxes from their subjects by hiring financial ministers or governors to manage the process on his behalf, who in turn - [Discern the Weeds, Don’t Condemn Them](https://www.withgoddaily.com/discern-the-weeds-dont-condemn-them/) - We’ve already seen that Jesus’ parable of the Wheat and the Weeds explains how the good seed of God’s kingdom is intermingled with the bad seed sown by the enemy and that utopian ideas about the world are misguided because the righteous and the wicked will occupy the earth together—at least for now. Some have - [Can We Solve the World’s Biggest Problem?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/can-we-solve-the-worlds-biggest-problem-2/) - An episode of the Freakonomics Radio podcast I heard focused on a team of brilliant researchers competing for a $100 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation. The prize will be given to the group with the best idea for curing one social problem anywhere in the world. Angela Duckworth and Katy Milkman are competing for - [Acknowledging the Problem of Evil](https://www.withgoddaily.com/acknowledging-the-problem-of-evil/) - One of the most persistent challenges to faith is what philosophers call the Problem of Evil. The problem is easy to understand, but much hard to answer. It says: If God is all-powerful and all-good, why is there so much evil in the world? This sets up three possible answers: 1) God is good but - [The Kingdom is Not the Church](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-kingdom-is-not-the-church/) - Among causal readers of the Bible, there has been a long tradition of confusing the kingdom of God with the church. This was especially common during the era of Christendom in Europe where the church and state powers were enmeshed, and it persists today where people assume the organizational structures of the church and the - [Is America Good or Evil?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/is-america-good-or-evil/) - Over the holiday weekend, I’ve been reflecting on what it means to be patriotic, and whether our love of country should have limits. The questions arose because I rewatched Hamilton, the award-winning musical about Alexander Hamilton and America’s other founders. Although the show has been praised for its artistic brilliance and for casting people of - [What Comes First, Belief or Obedience?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-comes-first-belief-or-obedience-3/) - In the judgment of the sheep and goats, Jesus appears to be saying our admittance into his kingdom is based upon our works of righteousness. He welcomes the sheep because they cared for the hungry, the thirsty, strangers, the naked, the sick, and prisoners. On the flip side, he casts away the goats because of - [Where Do We Find Jesus?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/where-do-we-find-jesus-2/) - Many people rejected Jesus as the Messiah because he did look like a divine King. He was a refugee from Egypt who became a blue-collar worker from a backwater town. To top it off, he associated with a rough crowd of religious rejects and sinners—not exactly the resume the religious elite expected for the Savior - [Avoiding Sin Isn’t the Goal](https://www.withgoddaily.com/avoiding-sin-isnt-the-goal-2/) - We should not read Jesus’ words in Matthew 25 as a full view of the final judgment. In fact, we would be foolish to view any of his parables as complete theological treatments. They exist, in most cases, to make a single, surprising point about the topic at hand rather than a comprehensive argument. Therefore, - [The Danger of a Dis-Integrated Life](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-danger-of-a-dis-integrated-life-3/) - In Jesus’ description of the final judgment in Matthew 25, we often overlook a startling detail. Jesus said the King will judge all people by how they treated him when he was hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, and in prison. Both the righteous and the wicked, however, respond the same way: “Lord, when did - [Who Are Jesus’ “Brothers”?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/who-are-jesus-brothers-3/) - Few topics make modern people more uncomfortable than judgment. There is a false narrative that judgment is something people did in the past, but today we’ve grown more tolerant and accepting—other than religious people who would prefer to remain in the past. This is, of course, nonsense. Every society judges. What is today’s “cancel culture” - [Jesus Is Not On Your Side](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-is-not-on-your-side/) - Jesus was prompted to tell another parable when a man in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” At that time it was not uncommon for rabbis to settle disputes within families or villages, but Jesus responded emphatically. “Man, who made me judge or arbitrator over you?” - [Spinning Our Vices into Virtues](https://www.withgoddaily.com/spinning-our-vices-into-virtues/) - When a man asked Jesus to side with him in a family dispute over inheritance, he flatly refused. Instead, he told the man and the crowd a parable about a rich landowner with an abundant harvest. “What shall I do?” the rich man thought to himself. “ I have no place to store my crops.” - [The Fruit of Fools](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-fruit-of-fools/) - In Jesus’ parable, a rich man was thrilled to discover his land had produced a bountiful harvest. He quickly decided to build larger barns to store his crops. The man told himself: “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Enjoy yourself; eat, drink, and be merry.” Jesus used a clever wordplay in - [The Future is Not In Your Hands](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-future-is-not-in-your-hands/) - Many of us go through our days with a general sense of control. We awake with expectations of what awaits us each day and a plan for how we will meet it. Days that do not proceed as we expect are the ones we worry about. Those are the days we feel out of control, - [Hearing = Obeying](https://www.withgoddaily.com/hearing-obeying/) - One night my wife and I were leaving the house for the evening, and we had explained to all three kids what our expectations were while away. One child—details withheld to protect the guilty—already had plans for the night. We repeatedly reminded the child to take their key and lock the front door after leaving - [Stolen, Starved, and Choked](https://www.withgoddaily.com/stolen-starved-and-choked/) - We’ve already looked at how in Jesus’ parable the same seed is cast upon different soils, which means the same potential of life in the kingdom is given to all kinds of people. The wildly different outcomes in the story are not a result of different seeds, but instead the types of soil that receive - [A Failure of Potential](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-failure-of-potential/) - I’m a fan of the Star Wars movies. I should be more specific—I’m a fan of the original Star Wars movies. When I learned in the late 1990s that George Lucas, the creator of the “galaxy far, far away,” was making a new trilogy of Star Wars movies I was thrilled. Unfortunately, the new films - [The Problem with Practicality](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-problem-with-practicality/) - When did we decide that everything in the Bible had to be practical? Why do we insist on reducing every story, text, and parable to three points and an application? Much of what God has revealed in Scripture, not to mention the rest of his creation, is supremely unpractical, and that says something important about - [The Same Seed is Given to All](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-same-seed-is-given-to-all/) - Jesus’ parable about the sower is intended to focus upon the very different types of ground the seed falls upon. Later in Matthew 13, he explains in great detail what various soils represent. This emphasis upon the different soils, however, may cause us to overlook what is unchanging throughout the story. We miss the fact - [The Subtlety of Seeds](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-subtlety-of-seeds/) - Our noisy world has abandoned the grace of subtlety. Some estimate we are assaulted by 5000 ads every day. They come at us from every direction as we move through the world. Each one shouting at us or demanding our attention. We are incessantly bombarded by so many messages that it has become increasingly unlikely - [Farms and Factories](https://www.withgoddaily.com/farms-and-factories/) - Jesus’ parables often used agricultural themes for an obvious reason—he lived in a pre-industrial society. A mechanized vision of the world would not emerge until after the Enlightenment still over 1600 years away. Nonetheless, once immersed in his stories about seeds, and harvests, and sowers it becomes apparent that his use of such metaphors was - [The Peril of People Pleasers](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-peril-of-people-pleasers-2/) - Jesus ends his Sermon on the Mount with one of the best-known parables in Scripture. He contrasts a wise man who built his house upon the rock with a foolish man who built his on the sand. It is a simple image easily understood even by children. Perhaps that is why it is so frequently - [Unseen Patterns of Obedience](https://www.withgoddaily.com/unseen-patterns-of-obedience-2/) - I have an inexplicable affinity for British television shows. If you haven’t tried them, I recommend Sherlock, The Great British Baking Show, and Downton Abbey. Downton followed the visible and invisible lives of an aristocratic English manor in the early twentieth century. The upstairs inhabitants lived in a serene environment of luxury, stiff collars, and - [Trials Reveal the Truth](https://www.withgoddaily.com/trials-reveal-the-truth/) - Silence by Shusaku Endo is one of my favorite novels. (If you prefer movies rather than books, Silence was adapted into a film by Martin Scorsese.) It’s the story of Japanese Christians enduring terrible persecution in the seventeenth century, and a Portuguese priest who secretly enters Japan to minister to them. The priest, Rodrigues, judged - [Do You Think Jesus Was Serious?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/do-you-think-jesus-was-serious-2/) - Years ago I taught a class about the Sermon on the Mount. On the first day, we read the entire sermon (Matthew 5-7), which contains many of Jesus’ most familiar teachings including his counter-intuitive calls to not worry, not retaliate, and to love your enemies. I asked the class, “Do you think Jesus was serious? - [Grace Is Not Opposed to Effort](https://www.withgoddaily.com/grace-is-not-opposed-to-effort-2/) - Some Christians carry an understanding of grace that contradicts Jesus’ parables of the tower builder and warring king. They assume that total reliance upon God’s grace leaves no room for human effort and that any exertion on our part amounts to dead legalism or a sinful attempt to establish our own righteousness through our works - [The Limits of Theologial Systems](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-limits-of-theologial-systems/) - Certain theological traditions chafe at Jesus’ parables about the tower builder and warring king because they appear to indicate some degree of human volition or effort is required in the Christian life. Rather than our fate being entirely in God’s hands, these parables only make sense if we have a real choice. And that choice - [There is No Escape Clause](https://www.withgoddaily.com/there-is-no-escape-clause-2/) - No one can deny that mobile phones have profoundly changed the way we live, and many people now consider the devices essential to their lives. A Pew Research study found many teens put their phones in the same category as air and water, and would rather have a finger amputated than give up their smartphone. - [The Disciple Tortoise & the Convert Hare](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-disciple-tortoise-the-convert-hare/) - In high school, I occasionally attended a city-wide youth rally at a large church in downtown Chicago. Thousands of students gathered to hear a popular Christian band usually followed by a passionate evangelist. The choice to follow Christ, we were told at every rally, was the most important decision we’d ever make—more important than what - [Bigger Isn’t Alway Better](https://www.withgoddaily.com/bigger-isnt-alway-better/) - Years ago, while serving as an editor at Christianity Today, I would receive dozens of books each week from Christian publishers looking for publicity. Many of the ones written for pastors were little more than business management books with a spiritual veneer. To be fair, some of these books were both thoughtful and immensely helpful - [There is No Law Against Compassion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/there-is-no-law-against-compassion/) - Jesus had a reputation for healing on the Sabbath, which the religious leaders saw as a violation of the Torah forbidding work on the seventh day and definitive proof that Jesus could not be a true prophet, let alone the Messiah. God’s chosen Savior, after all, would not break God’s own laws. Jesus’ reputation may - [Why Does God Answer Prayer?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-does-god-answer-prayer/) - The assumption in Jesus’ culture was that God’s response to prayers depended upon a person’s righteousness. If you are honorable and upright this wins God’s favor and he will grant your requests. Most people still think this way about prayer, but Jesus’ story about a neighbor asking for bread in the middle of the night - [The Issue of Prayer is Not Prayer](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-issue-of-prayer-is-not-prayer/) - Jesus didn’t pray like most people, and he certainly didn’t pray like other religious leaders. In the first century, Jewish prayers were liturgical, usually recitations from Scripture, and spoken in formal Hebrew. Jesus, however, prayed in Aramaic—the informal, common dialect—and he spoke to God with intimate, even casual language. He called him “Abba,” translated as - [A Peppercorn Under the Tongue](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-peppercorn-under-the-tongue/) - “The church should be a safe place to hear a dangerous message.” Maybe you’ve heard that cliche before. It’s very popular among pastors. The intent is certainly admirable, but there isn’t much evidence that it’s true. In fact, spaces that are so safe that they become downright comfortable, which describes many modern churches, are actually - [Jesus Was Not a Straight Talker](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-was-not-a-straight-talker/) - In the climax of the classic courtroom movie, A Few Good Men, the prosecutor demands to know the truth and Jack Nicholson’s character, Colonel Jessep, famously shouts back, “You can’t handle the truth!” Maybe he was right. Maybe most of us have a difficult time accepting the truth when it’s presented to us directly. Emily - [Rights & Responsibilities](https://www.withgoddaily.com/rights-responsibilities-2/) - My children aren't like other children. They're special. At least, that's what the marketers tell me. When they were little, it was pre-school recruiters and coaches pointing out my kid's specialness, and how a spot at their school or on their team would ensure their unique abilities are not squandered. More recently, our mailbox has - [God's Impartial Justice](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gods-impartial-justice/) - By invoking the story of Naaman while speaking at the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus provoked the anger of his neighbors. They knew the story was about God cleansing and blessing a faithful foreigner, and rejecting and cursing a sinful Israelite. The implication was clear. Jesus was warning them not to assume their identity as Jews - [Bursting the Nationalist Bubble](https://www.withgoddaily.com/bursting-the-nationalist-bubble/) - We began this series with the scene of Jesus entering his hometown synagogue and reading from the scroll of Isaiah (Luke 4:16-28). He used the Old Testament passage to announce his messianic identity and the nature of his mission to bring justice—the restoration of God’s order. The people of Nazareth were understandably surprised and excited, - [Trading Places](https://www.withgoddaily.com/trading-places/) - The first body-swap movie was Disney's Freaky Friday in 1976 starring a teenage Jody Foster who trade bodies with her mother. The success of Freaky Friday resulted in a steady flow of body-swap films ever since. The gimmick may have started as a family comedy, but it has expanded into sci-fi, action, horror, animation, and - [Second-Guessing God's Mercy](https://www.withgoddaily.com/second-guessing-gods-mercy/) - If Naaman's story ended in verse 19, we might assume it was included in the Bible to illustrate the superiority of Israel's God. After all, he healed Naaman's leprosy when no foreign gods could. Or we might think the story was intended to foreshadow the day when people far beyond Israel's borders would give the - [Misreading the Greatest Commandments](https://www.withgoddaily.com/misreading-the-greatest-commandments/) - We've been exploring the tension created by Naaman's vow to worship only the God of Israel, and the fact that he lived in a pagan society and served an idol-worshipping king. Naaman asked Elisha, God's prophet, for permission to enter the temple of Rimmon and assist his king as he bowed to Syria's god. Essentially, - [The Fundamental Flaw With Fundamentalism](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-fundamental-flaw-with-fundamentalism/) - A few months ago, a very popular pastor and radio preacher came under public attack, lost numerous speaking invitations, and had his radio program canceled. What was his sin? He counseled a grandmother to attend her trans grandchild's wedding. The pastor himself is extremely conservative on matters of marriage and sexuality, and his theological position - [From Cancel Culture to Mercy Culture](https://www.withgoddaily.com/from-cancel-culture-to-mercy-culture/) - In 2022, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt wrote a fascinating article titled, "Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid." In the extensively researched piece, Haidt unpacks the role social media has played in the erosion of institutional and social trust. In one section, he explains the emergence of "cancel culture" and - [Neither Separation Nor Domination](https://www.withgoddaily.com/neither-separation-nor-domination/) - A significant number of our cultural and social challenges arise from a simple fact—diversity. The United States is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse societies the world has ever seen, and despite the warped history believed by some Americans, the country's pluralism is what its founders intended. George Washington said, "The bosom of - [Naaman's Dilemma and Ours](https://www.withgoddaily.com/naamans-dilemma-and-ours/) - The Lord had given the Israelites extensive instructions about the proper way to honor, worship, and obey him. In fact, the entire structure of Israelite culture and law was shaped by their covenant with YHWH, and foreigners from pagan lands were invited to join them in this way of life. But after giving his allegiance - [A Claim Not a Name](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-claim-not-a-name/) - When Naaman vowed to make sacrifices to no other god but YHWH, and demonstrated this commitment by requesting to take dirt from Israel back to Syria to make a proper altar, he was signaling a dramatic change in loyalty. His allegiance would no longer belong to the gods of Syria but to the one God - [What it Means to Believe](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-it-means-to-believe/) - In a recent survey, 74 percent of Americans said they believe in God, 79 percent said they believe in miracles, 69 percent believe in angels, 38 percent believe the 2020 election was stolen, 13 percent believe in Bigfoot, and 4 percent believe Elvis is still alive. In each of these statistics, to believe means to - [No More Sacred Hot Spots](https://www.withgoddaily.com/no-more-sacred-hot-spots/) - Naaman asked to carry dirt from Israel back to his home in Syria because, like most ancient people, he believed that gods could only be properly worshipped in their own land. Therefore, to fulfill his vow to only worship the God of Israel, Naaman assumed he needed to take a small bit of Israel with - [Holy Ground](https://www.withgoddaily.com/holy-ground/) - The Bible contains many unexpected conversion stories. There's Saul's famous encounter with the risen Jesus while on the road to Damascus to persecute Christians. The first pagan convert was an unlikely Roman soldier named Cornelius who received the Holy Spirit along with his entire household. And many find hope in the story about the thief - [A Great Man Humbled](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-great-man-humbled/) - At the beginning of the chapter, Naaman is introduced as "a great man." He was at the pinnacle of social and political power in Syria, honored even by the king. Naaman displayed his status throughout the first half of the story. He traveled with a caravan of servants—the ancient world's version of a celebrity entourage—and - [Pure Gratitude](https://www.withgoddaily.com/pure-gratitude/) - Earlier, we saw why Naaman's desire to give gold, silver, and expensive clothing to Elisha was not really a gift. Motivated by his pagan assumptions, Naaman was offering these things as a payment to Israel's God in exchange for his miraculous healing. By rejecting his money, Elisha was revealing that Israel's God was different; he - [God Does Not Need You](https://www.withgoddaily.com/god-does-not-need-you-2/) - Naaman's discovery that Israel's God was immune to human control and utterly independent of any human-supplied need, was transformative. He had encountered a God unlike any of the pagan deities in Syria, and completely distinct from the gods of every other nation. But Naaman's story is far from the first time God's uniqueness and non-contingency - [Finding Jesus in Repentance](https://www.withgoddaily.com/finding-jesus-in-repentance/) - **Note: For Holy Week, we are taking a short break from the "Lessons from Naaman" series to reflect on the events leading up to Jesus' death. We will return to the Naaman series on April 1. After being delivered from slavery in Egypt, while the Israelites were traveling in the wilderness, they were attacked by - [Finding Jesus in Desperation](https://www.withgoddaily.com/finding-jesus-in-desperation/) - **Note: For Holy Week, we are taking a short break from the "Lessons from Naaman" series to reflect on the events leading up to Jesus' death. We will return to the Naaman series on April 1. Jesus said that if we desire to be his disciples we must take up our cross and follow him. - [Transformed by God's Goodness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/transformed-by-gods-goodness/) - One by one, all of Naaman's pagan assumptions about Israel's God were dismantled. By refusing to even meet Naaman, Elisha was showing that Israel's God did not depend upon human mediators or experts. By not giving Naaman any elaborate healing ritual to perform, Elisha was revealing that Israel's God could not be controlled by magic - [Transactional vs. Devotional](https://www.withgoddaily.com/transactional-vs-devotional/) - After being miraculously healed of his leprosy, Naaman offers Elisha a lavish gift of gold, silver, and expensive clothing which the prophet utterly rejects despite Naaman's urging. When we read these verses with our modern, Western eyes, we assume Naaman was offering a generous gift out of gratitude, and that Elisha was refusing it out - [Gratuity ≠ Gratitude](https://www.withgoddaily.com/gratuity-≠-gratitude/) - Tipping has long been customary at full-service restaurants and bars, for taxis, and in hotels. Coffee or ice cream shops often had a tip jar where a customer might drop their change, but most fast food and counter-service restaurants never asked for a gratuity. When Starbucks added a tip screen to their credit card transactions - [Finding Jesus in Rejection](https://www.withgoddaily.com/finding-jesus-in-rejection/) - **Note: For Holy Week, we are taking a short break from the "Lessons from Naaman" series to reflect on the events leading up to Jesus' death. We will return to the Naaman series on April 1. There are far easier ways to execute a person than crucifixion. The Romans preferred this method for its theatrics, - [Remain Where You Are With God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/remain-where-you-are-with-god/) - Naaman assumed that to encounter Israel's God, experience his power, and be healed of his leprosy, required at least three things. First, he needed to change his location by traveling from Syria to Israel. Second, he needed to find a prophet of God—an expert who could carefully mediate between himself and God. Finally, third, he - [Practicing the Presence of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/practicing-the-presence-of-god/) - Like Naaman, many of us carry the assumption that God's presence and power must be encountered through external, extraordinary experiences. Despite being rooted in pagan rather than Christian notions of religion, the evangelical industrial complex is unmotivated to dissuade us of this belief. After all, selling religious consumers on bigger, better experiences is both ego-satisfying - [Finding Jesus in Mockery](https://www.withgoddaily.com/finding-jesus-in-mockery/) - **Note: For Holy Week, we are taking a short break from the "Lessons from Naaman" series to reflect on the events leading up to Jesus' death. We will return to the Naaman series on April 1. When Jesus was born, angels sang his praises and kings fell on their knees with royal gifts. He was - [Finding Jesus in Meekness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/89488-2/) - **Note: For Holy Week, we are taking a short break from the "Lessons from Naaman" series to reflect on the events leading up to Jesus' death. We will return to the Naaman series on April 1. The great power and authority that Jesus had revealed day after day was not on display after his arrest - [From "How?" to "Who?"](https://www.withgoddaily.com/from-how-to-who/) - Our modern consumer culture is obsessed with the question "How?" How do I find success? How do I lose weight? How do I raise healthy kids? How do I overcome my anxiety? How do I live my best life now? Many of our best-selling products and books are predicated on answering the question "How?" And - [The Problem with Experiences](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-problem-with-experiences/) - After arriving at Elisha's house, Naaman was furious for two reasons. First, the prophet had shamed Naaman by not personally greeting him. Instead, Elisha sent one of his servants to greet the "great man" from Syria and give him the instructions for healing his leprosy. And that was the second reason for Naaman's anger. Elisha's - [The Problem with Experts](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-problem-with-experts/) - Naaman had traveled far to find the Israelite prophet. When he finally arrived at Elisha's door, the prophet did not even bother to greet him. In a violation of etiquette, Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman instead. Remember, Naaman was a high-ranking government official from Syria, the commander of the Syrian army, and he arrived - [Everything is Going to be Ok. Everything.](https://www.withgoddaily.com/everything-is-going-to-be-ok-everything/) - Near the end of his life, Henri Nouwen, a Dutch priest, professor, and author, became fascinated by a German trapeze troupe called the Flying Rodleighs. In their flying and spinning, he saw more than an exhilarating show—he saw an illustration of our life with God. Nouwen recognized that the flyer—the person soaring through the air—was - [Fear is the Mind-Killer](https://www.withgoddaily.com/fear-is-the-mind-killer/) - Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi novel, Dune, includes this famous mantra: "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer." Since the book's release in 1965, numerous scientific studies have confirmed the negative effect fear has on the brain's higher functions. It turns out Herbert was correct. Fear is the mind-killer. When we experience intense fear or - [A Contracting Posture of the Soul](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-contracting-posture-of-the-soul/) - Nothing changes a person more quickly or more dramatically than fear. We saw in Naaman's story how the king of Israel misinterpreted the letter from the king of Syria because he was afraid. Rather than faithfully fulfilling Israel's calling to reveal God to the nations, the king refused to help Naaman find healing, tore his - [When Fear Trumps Calling](https://www.withgoddaily.com/when-fear-trumps-calling/) - Why did God call Israel? What purpose did he give to his covenant people? In Genesis, the Lord told Abraham that all nations would be blessed through his descendants (Genesis 22:18). In Exodus, the Lord said Israel would be a "royal priesthood" (Exodus 19:6). In other words, the nation would serve as a representative and - [Self-Fulfilling Expectations](https://www.withgoddaily.com/self-fulfilling-expectations/) - After learning there was a prophet in Israel who could heal his leprosy, Naaman asked the king of Syria for permission to seek him out. The king did more than grant this request. He also wrote a letter to the king of Israel requesting his assistance for Naaman. The significance of the king's letter is - [A Plan to Protect Empathy](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-plan-to-protect-empathy/) - In 1958, Gallup asked Americans, “If you had a daughter of marriageable age, would you prefer she marry a Democrat or Republican, all other things being equal?” A significant majority of Americans (72 percent) said they didn't care. The same survey—slightly modified to include both sons and daughters—was repeated in 2016. The number of Americans - [Empathy is a Choice](https://www.withgoddaily.com/empathy-is-a-choice/) - According to Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff, authors of The Coddling of the American Mind, one of the "great untruths" widely embraced by our society is that you should "always trust your feelings." The obvious problem with this axiom is that our feelings, while powerful, are not always an accurate reflection of reality, and trusting - [Identity & Empathy](https://www.withgoddaily.com/identity-empathy/) - Naaman, the great military commander of Syria, and the enslaved Israelite girl who served Naaman's wife, had almost nothing in common. And yet, the girl expresses concern and compassion for Naaman because he suffers from a skin disease. She tells him of a prophet in Israel who can cure him. What allowed her to find - [The Single-Story Problem](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-single-story-problem/) - The story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5 begins by introducing two people at opposite ends of the social hierarchy. First, we meet Naaman who is described as a "great man." He commanded the armies of Aram—Israel's neighbor and frequent enemy which is also called Syria. Naaman was valiant, victorious, and celebrated even by his - [The Name that Nearly Got Jesus Killed](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-name-that-nearly-god-jesus-killed/) - I live two miles from my childhood home. My kids played in the same parks and on the same playgrounds I did—although with less metal and sharp corners. Just yesterday I went to the same supermarket where I used to bag groceries and collect shopping carts when I was 15. And I often bump into - [A Greater Artist Than All Others](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-greater-artist-than-all-others/) - Vincent van Gogh’s struggles with mental illness are well known, and the accepted account of his death in 1890 is that he committed suicide during a particularly difficult lapse in his mental health after leaving the hospital in St. Remy. Numerous discrepancies in the narrative have led more recent biographers to question this account, postulating - [Glory and Agony](https://www.withgoddaily.com/glory-and-agony/) - During van Gogh’s stay at the hospital in St. Remy, he created many explicitly religious and biblical paintings. It’s interesting, however, that he never painted two of the most common and glorious themes in Christian art—the crucifixion and the resurrection. The glory of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is obvious, but it’s important to remember - [A New Family](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-new-family/) - Fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, his followers were gathered together in the upper room of a house in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit came upon them. Tradition recognizes that day, called Pentecost, as the birthday of the Church because that was when Jesus’ previously frightened disciples were empowered to boldly proclaim the gospel to the - [Infinite Hope](https://www.withgoddaily.com/infinite-hope/) - Van Gogh’s Pietà is dominated by two colors—blue and yellow. As I’ve mentioned many times throughout this series, Vincent’s favorite color was yellow which he used to represent divine love and the presence of God. Here, in The Pietà, the golden light radiates from the sun in the background and bathes Jesus’ body, acknowledging that - [Imitating Jesus](https://www.withgoddaily.com/imitating-jesus/) - In the fourteenth-century, a new religious theme emerged in European art that became known as the Pietà, which in Italian means “pity.” It shows Jesus’ lifeless body having been removed from the cross being embraced by his mother, Mary. The most famous Pietà is Michelangelo’s sculpture which resides in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, but - [Sorrowful Yet Always Rejoicing](https://www.withgoddaily.com/sorrowful-yet-always-rejoicing/) - Van Gogh’s painting of olive trees was intended to represent Jesus’ suffering in Gethsemane. He gave the trees a vaguely human form in order to “make people think” more than if he had depicted Jesus explicitly. Another noticeable difference from traditional depictions of Gethsemane is the brightness of Vincent’s painting. He did not paint the - [The Place of Crushing](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-place-of-crushing/) - After sharing the Passover meal with his disciples and washing their feet, Jesus went to an olive grove called Gethsemane to pray. The name means “place of crushing” likely because it was home to an olive press used to make oil, but it took on a new meaning as Jesus prayed and felt the full - [The Supreme Artist](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-supreme-artist/) - Van Gogh’s painting, Still Life with Open Bible, emphasizes the servanthood of Jesus. First, the Bible is open to Isaiah 53, a prophetic passage about the Messiah who is identified as the Lord’s servant. In this role, he is rejected, suffers, and dies for the sins of others. The painting also features a small French - [Loss & Laughter](https://www.withgoddaily.com/loss-laughter/) - Van Gogh’s painting of a large Bible open to Isaiah 53, the prophetic chapter about the Messiah’s suffering, and a small French novel by Emile Zola, The Joy of Living, appears to be a contrast between tradition and modernity. In fact, Vincent saw Zola’s novel about the sacrificial love of a mistreated servant girl as - [The Suffering Servants of Today](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-suffering-servants-of-today/) - Shortly after van Gogh’s father died in March 1885, Vincent painted a still life featuring his father’s open Bible. Behind the massive book stand an extinguished candle, an obvious reference to his father’s death. In the foreground is a small French novel. It seems to cower before the grandeur of the holy book. Many art - [Valuable ≠ Practical](https://www.withgoddaily.com/valuable-≠-practical/) - When did we decide that everything in the Bible must have a practical application? Yes, I am aware that Paul says, “All scripture is God-breathed and useful...” (2 Timothy 3:16), but that’s actually a poor translation. He more accurately calls all scripture “valuable,” but the way ancient Jews, like Paul, defined value is very different - [Getting Disentangled](https://www.withgoddaily.com/getting-disentangled/) - Most of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings belong to a category known as Expressionism. Earlier painters, known as Realists, were celebrated for their ability to trick the eye, but with the advent of photography in the late nineteenth century, the need for painters to present reality was fading. Van Gogh had little respect for photography and - [Abandon the Outcomes](https://www.withgoddaily.com/abandon-the-outcomes/) - In Jesus’ parable about the sower and the soils, he describes seed falling on different ground resulting in different outcomes. He identifies the seed as the word of the kingdom that people receive, but only some of the seed matures to produce grain. This parable appears to have been in van Gogh’s imagination when he - [Farms or Factories?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/farms-or-factories/) - Jesus’ use of seeds and farmers in his parables shaped van Gogh’s own understanding of ministry. Of particular interest to Vincent was the passage from Mark’s gospel in which Jesus compares God’s kingdom to the mystery that exists between the farmer’s work and the earth’s produce. “The kingdom of God is as if a man - [Proper Proportions](https://www.withgoddaily.com/proper-proportions/) - During his short career as an artist, van Gogh painted at least 30 canvasses of sowers—a peasant walking in a field and scattering seed from a satchel. The sower perfectly captured three of Vincent’s passions—his regard for nature, his respect for peasants, and his love of the Bible. Farming, seeds, and plants are among the - [A Sacred Meal](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-sacred-meal/) - The Potato Eaters shows a peasant family gathered around a table. The darkness of the painting and the earthiness of the characters was intentional. Van Gogh wanted the people to look like the dirty, dusty potatoes they were eating. Their hands have exaggerated knuckles almost simian in proportion. It’s obvious that the same hands that - [Surrendering Honor](https://www.withgoddaily.com/surrendering-honor/) - Van Gogh came from a long line of Dutch pastors and theologians. At 26, Vincent also sensed a calling into ministry and served as an evangelist among the poor coal miners of Belgium. But unlike the other pastors who carried themselves with the dignity expected of their vocation at the time, Vincent was convinced that - [The Kingdom Law](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-kingdom-law/) - The unifying element of The Potato Eaters, the visual focus, is the lamp hanging above the table. The very dark room is warmed by its single flame; the yellow glow illuminating the faces of the peasants around the table. Van Gogh’s favorite color was yellow. He used it to symbolize divine love—the presence of Christ. - [No One is Invisible](https://www.withgoddaily.com/no-one-is-invisible/) - We have a bent toward nostalgia in the modern church. Because of the many challenges of our day, we often assume that the past was easier, more ideal, and less burdened with ungodly temptations. This is, of course, nonsense. A careful reading of the New Testament reveals that even the first generation of Christian communities - [How Poverty Becomes Sin](https://www.withgoddaily.com/how-poverty-becomes-sin/) - In 2020, an Instagram account called PreacherNSneakers went viral. It featured images of celebrity pastors wearing gym shoes costing hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars. Some condemned the pastors for ungodly materialism. Others justified the luxury laces as culturally relevant or simply evidence of God’s blessing. One thing is clear—both inside and outside the church - [Religion vs. Compassion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/religion-vs-compassion/) - Sometimes Jesus’ story about the Good Samaritan is taught in a manner that frames compassion over and against devotion to the Old Testament Law. This view holds that the priest and the Levite who passed by the man in the ditch were prevented from helping him, even if their hearts were filled with empathy, because - [The Scandalous Hero](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-scandalous-hero/) - Jesus’ parables were usually marked by a surprise; a twist that forced his audience to rethink a basic assumption they held about God, the world, or themselves. In his story about a man beaten and robbed on the road, the first character to pass by is the most respected in Jewish culture—a priest. The second - [Why Wealth Matters](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-wealth-matters/) - There are numerous details in Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan that we miss due to our cultural distance from the context of the parable, but they would have been caught by his original audience. Among the most emphasized details is the wealth of the Samaritan traveler. The importance of the Samaritan’s wealth is implied - [Who Are You? vs. Who Am I?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/who-are-you-vs-who-am-i/) - Jesus was prompted to tell the story of the Good Samaritan in response to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” The expert in the Law wanted to know whom he must love in obedience to the Old Testament commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Popular teachings at the time interpreted this verse to - [Category Shattering Love](https://www.withgoddaily.com/category-shattering-love/) - Some years ago, I met a college student named April. She was part of a Christian campus ministry group in the years following 9/11 when Islamophopia was at it’s peak in the U.S. A mosque near April's neighborhood was damaged by an arson attack. The leader of the mosque appealed to the community for help - [The Sheer Joy of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-sheer-joy-of-god/) - A number of van Gogh’s sunflower paintings were made to decorate a guest room for his friend and fellow painter, Paul Gauguin. In 1888, Vincent moved into a small yellow house in southern France and invited Gauguin to join him there. After initially accepting the invitation, Gauguin delayed his arrival. Vincent created the sunflower paintings - [The Beauty of the Lord](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-beauty-of-the-lord/) - Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings offer insights into the artist’s beliefs, experiences, and perceptions of God and the world, but sometimes his paintings were just an outpouring of joy. That appears to the be case with some of his paintings of flowers. They serve as a reminder that value is not always found in usefulness. Beauty - [Art, Beauty, & Grace](https://www.withgoddaily.com/art-beauty-grace/) - What is art? Like beauty, art is often in the eye of the beholder, but I think Andy Crouch offers a definition everyone might accept. He says, “Art is one way of naming everything we as cultural beings do that cannot be explained in terms of its usefulness.” This may be a reason those called - [Wasting Away & Full of Glory](https://www.withgoddaily.com/wasting-away-full-of-glory/) - We have already seen how van Gogh associated the color yellow with divine love, and how he used the sun in many of his paintings to represent the presence of God. The frequency and power of these symbols in Vincent’s paintings may explain why the series of 11 sunflower paintings are among his most famous. - [Anguish & Gratitude](https://www.withgoddaily.com/anguish-gratitude/) - Van Gogh’s vase of sunflowers is not the cheery still life of flowers one might expect. Instead, the blooms are in varying degrees of decay—some missing pedals, others wilting, and some just disks of seeds. It seems odd that Vincent would take his favorite symbol for God’s presence and divine love—the sun and yellow light—and - [The Sacred Ordinary](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-sacred-ordinary/) - Despite his growing disillusionment with the church, Vincent maintained his belief in God and our ability to commune with him. He believed God could be found not merely within the hallowed halls of churches and cathedrals, but also sitting at home next to a fire like the old man in his sketch he described as - [Internal Communion & External Worship](https://www.withgoddaily.com/internal-communion-external-worship/) - Eight years after his charcoal sketch of the old man deep in prayer, Van Gogh recreated the image with oil paints. Exactly why is a mystery, but his circumstances at the time may be a clue. In 1890, Vincent was a patient at the asylum in Saint-Remy. Perhaps in his battle with mental illness, he - [A Continual Conversation with God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-continual-conversation-with-god/) - We’ve been so formed by our experience-driven consumer culture, including within the church, that we forget that Jesus and his Apostle did not proclaim a plan for building bigger and better worship events. Instead, their focus was upon a mysterious communion with God made possible through Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension, and how this - [Only One Thing is Required](https://www.withgoddaily.com/only-one-thing-is-required/) - Van Gogh often compared the simple faith of peasants with the extravagant piety of the clergy. In the homes and hovels of workers, he saw an authenticity often missing in the structures of formal religion he'd known as a young man. This admiration of the basics of faith is seen in his drawing of a - [The Power of Simple Prayer](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-power-of-simple-prayer/) - Many don’t know that as a young man Vincent van Gogh served as a missionary among coal miners in Belgium. The experience left him with a deep admiration for the working poor. They did not comprehend deep theology, and most did not practice acceptable forms of piety, but they possessed God with a raw authenticity - [Jesus’ Power & Presence Revealed](https://www.withgoddaily.com/jesus-power-presence-revealed/) - The raising of Lazarus is one of the most dramatic moments of Jesus’ public ministry. Although he had resurrected the dead before, it had always been a quiet, private event. For example, after raising Jairus’ daughter in a room with only a few others present, Jesus gave strict instructions not to tell anyone what he - [From Principles to a Person](https://www.withgoddaily.com/from-principles-to-a-person/) - What makes you a follower of Jesus? Some will say it's a matter of doctrine. Affirming certain theological ideas that conform to historic, orthodox Christianity is what true followers of Jesus do. But where does that leave children, the mentally challenged, or those lacking the education or intellect to grasp doctrine? Are they forever excluded - [Raised by Jesus, Freed in Community](https://www.withgoddaily.com/raised-by-jesus-freed-in-community/) - Within the story of Lazarus’ resurrection, we can see a reflection of the Christian life and our ongoing need for community. Jesus arrived at the tomb and raised the dead man to life—a true miracle only the power of God could accomplish. Likewise, we have been raised to a new life in Christ. As the - [Entering the Story](https://www.withgoddaily.com/entering-the-story/) - In 1890, Vincent van Gogh painted The Raising of Lazarus based on the Gospel story found in John 11. Rather than a literal interpretation of the scene, however, he took liberties with his imagination. For example, Lazarus carries Vincent’s own face complete with his red whiskers and gaunt cheeks. Van Gogh often inserted himself into - [Maximum Degree of Difficulty](https://www.withgoddaily.com/maximum-degree-of-difficulty/) - One of the more curious details about the story of Lazarus is Jesus’ decision to delay his journey to Judea after word arrived about his friend’s serious illness. Both Mary and Martha, Lazarus’ sisters, lamented, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” In the story, it’s clear that Jesus knew - [The Danger of Consumerism](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-danger-of-consumerism/) - There have been many variations and parodies of van Gogh’s Starry Night. (In fact, I recommend searching “Starry Night parody” online for an entertaining way to waste thirty minutes.) One of my favorites is from pop culture critic and artist, Ron English. His painting, Starry Night Urban Sprawl, replaces the original French village with the - [A God-Bathed World](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-god-bathed-world-2/) - Although we’ve been focused on the cold, dark church in Starry Night, it is at most peripheral to the swirling stars and moon. The waves of yellow and indigo are what draws so many to this painting, and they speak of van Gogh’s belief in an ever-present God. He employed yellow often in his paintings - [All Ground Is Holy](https://www.withgoddaily.com/all-ground-is-holy/) - The cold, dark church in van Gogh’s Starry Night was a reflection of his own struggle with institutional religion—a struggle shared by many of us today. However, religious structures and traditions shouldn’t be discarded altogether. They still have an important and useful role. It is helpful to set aside certain places, days, and activities to - [Icy Cold Institutions](https://www.withgoddaily.com/icy-cold-institutions/) - Van Gogh’s Starry Night depicts a quiet village beneath a churning sky of stars. The scene was composed from the artist’s imagination and therefore reveals more about van Gogh’s soul than the countryside surrounding Saint-Remy, France. The deep indigo of the night sky was used to represent the infinite presence of God, and the stars - [Wrestling With God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/wrestling-with-god/) - The religious landscape of our culture is changing. The media frequently reports that the fastest-growing religious group is the “Nones”—those with no religious affiliation. Even among those who do identify as Christian, there is widespread angst about the faith’s cultural marginalization, its politicization, and abuse within Christian institutions. It seems more people than ever are - [Mary: The Lord's Servant](https://www.withgoddaily.com/mary-the-lords-servant/) - Because of culture, history, and perhaps personal anxiety, some Christian traditions are obsessed with sex. In these communities, defining and enforcing sexual boundaries becomes the most important component of holiness, and virtually any transgression is excusable apart from a sexual one. Because of this fixation on fornication, Christians in these communities are predisposed to notice - [Uriah's Wife: The Frailty of Kings](https://www.withgoddaily.com/uriahs-wife-the-frailty-of-kings/) - Every family has embarrassments they try to hide or stories they prefer remain untold, and when they are exposed it's usually a scandal. That's what's happening thanks to at-home genetic testing kits designed to discover your ancestry and uncover hereditary health risks. With millions of people and their DNA now registered with these companies, the - [Ruth: An Image of God's Loyal Love](https://www.withgoddaily.com/ruth-an-image-of-gods-loyal-love/) - Although modern Christians often think the gospels are simply a historical account of Jesus' life akin to a police report in which the authors state "just the facts," that's not how the gospels actually work. There is clear evidence, for example, that Matthew stylized and curated his record of Jesus' genealogy. In other words, Matthew - [Rahab: Kicking Insiders Out & Letting Outsiders In](https://www.withgoddaily.com/rahab-kicking-insiders-out-letting-outsiders-in/) - One of the dominant themes of the gospels is the reversal of expectations. For example, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls "blessed" those his culture considered cursed. He argued with and ultimately condemned devout religious leaders, but he welcomed and embraced sinners, traitors, and the sexually immoral. And many of Jesus' parables were - [Tamar: Exposing the System's Failure](https://www.withgoddaily.com/tamar-exposing-the-systems-failure/) - A study released in November 2021 found the number of protest movements has tripled around the world since 2006. These include some of the largest demonstrations in history like the 2020 farmers' protests in India, the 2019 demonstrations against President Bolsonaro in Brazil, and the Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S. that began in - [What Does it Mean to Pray in Jesus' Name?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/what-does-it-mean-to-pray-in-jesus-name-2/) - We've covered a number of tricky issues and misunderstood verses about prayer, but no verse may be more misunderstood or more abused than John 14:14—"If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." On the surface, this appears to be a blank check from the Lord of the cosmos to ask for - [Simultaneity](https://www.withgoddaily.com/simultaneity/) - Thomas Kelly wrote about a simple but profound understanding of prayer in his classic book, A Testament of Devotion. He describes it as “simultaneity”—the ability to be engaged at two things at the same time: There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we - [More Than Words](https://www.withgoddaily.com/more-than-words/) - Jesus’ did not experience his Father’s presence merely in his times of solitude or while speaking to him, but also during his hours healing, teaching, and serving others. He spoke of his utter dependence upon his Father: “the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For - [Why is Christian Prayer Different?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-is-christian-prayer-different/) - Christians are not the only people who have a sense of transcendence in prayer. What some call “mystical” experiences are common across many religious traditions and even in non-religious practices. Some will say they feel peace and a rejuvenating power in meditation, or yoga, or listening to music. So why should one conclude that Christian - [Filled With God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/filled-with-god/) - Our culture is increasingly abandoning anything that resembles orthodox Christianity in favor of a generic or sentimental kind of “spirituality.” This has caused many, including those within the church, to embrace a distorted vision of prayer. They seem to think that prayer is little more than a form of self-therapy but with a spiritual facade. - [Downward Prayer](https://www.withgoddaily.com/downward-prayer/) - Prayer is how mere mortals present themselves and their needs to the eternal Creator. That is why we usually think of prayers “rising up” to the higher realm where God abides. Prayers move upward from earth to heaven. But Scripture reveals another dimension to prayer. Ole Hallesby said, “Prayer is the conduit through which the - [Acting With Authority](https://www.withgoddaily.com/acting-with-authority/) - Years ago I was told about a consultant hired to help a congregation struggling to raise funds to update and repair their property. After he was introduced at the church members’ meeting, the consultant was invited to pray for the giving campaign. “I won’t pray,” he announced to the church, “because we don’t have to. - [Abusing Authoritative Prayer](https://www.withgoddaily.com/abusing-authoritative-prayer/) - Many Christian communities and traditions avoid any discussion of authoritative prayer, and when Christians do encounter this under-taught topic they are understandably suspicious. No doubt this is because authoritative prayer has a long history of abuse and manipulation. Huckster preachers on television have employed a perverse form of authoritative prayer to sell desperate people simple - [The Problem With Respectability](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-problem-with-respectability/) - After Jesus spoke to the crowds in Galilee, we are told the people were astonished because “he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.” Jesus carried this authority beyond his teaching ministry. He also banished spirits, healed the sick, lame, blind, and deaf, and he confronted religious leaders with - [Cheap Discipleship](https://www.withgoddaily.com/cheap-discipleship/) - If the whole point of Jesus’ life was to deliver us from evil through his substitutionary death and resurrection, why didn’t he just appear on Good Friday and fulfill his mission? Why bother with 30+ years of poverty, sacrifice, and human frailty before going to the cross? This question stands upon numerous flawed assumptions, the - [From Head to Heart](https://www.withgoddaily.com/from-head-to-heart/) - During my junior year of college, I had a crisis of faith—or maybe it should be called a crisis of facts. For years I had been studying the history, theology, and doctrines of Christianity. I was excelling past many of my peers in Bible knowledge, and this was all while simultaneously studying Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, - [The Space for Growth](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-space-for-growth/) - Some time ago, I was reading about those who minister with and serve the mentally handicapped. Describing his work with them, one pastor said, “Suppose I have a wounded bird in my hands. What would happen if I closed my hands completely?” He waited for his audience to say the bird would be crushed and - [The Middle Voice](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-middle-voice/) - I recently heard an interview with a Christian man who has been active in politics for decades but has now come to a place of deep concern. As a younger man, he was very active in calling Christians to political engagement. He thought Christians would use their faith to shape their politics, but he now - [Everything Starts with Silence](https://www.withgoddaily.com/everything-starts-with-silence/) - An old Peanuts cartoon shows Charlie Brown and Sally outside at night gazing at the stars. “Let’s go inside and watch television,” Charlie Brown says. “I’m beginning to feel insignificant.” Like Charlie Brown, we try to avoid silence and solitude because it makes us uncomfortable. It forces us to admit our true condition, our insignificance, and our - [Being Alone is the Antidote to Loneliness](https://www.withgoddaily.com/being-alone-is-the-antidote-to-loneliness/) - It isn’t only Christians who have advocated for the regular practice of silence and solitude. Even scientists are now catching up with what religion has known for centuries. I was fascinated to hear Sherry Turkle speak on the subject at a conference I attended some time ago. Turkle is a professor of the Social Studies - [Prayers of Remembrance](https://www.withgoddaily.com/prayers-of-remembrance/) - One of the most repeated commandments of the Bible is to remember. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were told to remember God’s deliverance from slavery through the celebration of the Passover. They were commanded to remember his Law by meditating on it day and night. And after they had crossed the Jordan River into - [Giving Thanks In vs. Giving Thanks For](https://www.withgoddaily.com/giving-thanks-in-vs-giving-thanks-for/) - Most of us first learned to pray by giving thanks. It may have been a family routine before meals or a bedtime ritual in our footie pajamas, but offering thanks to God is usually seen as the elementary level of Christian prayer from which we eventually move on. Nothing could be farther from the truth. - [Consolation & Desolation](https://www.withgoddaily.com/consolation-descolation/) - One “filter” to examine your day through involves looking for moments of what Ignatius Loyola called “consolation”—times of moving toward God. He called the opposite “desolation”—times of moving away from God. The goal is to identify what activities or moments drew you closer to God or sparked an awareness of his presence. And what activities - [Understanding Backwards](https://www.withgoddaily.com/understanding-backwards/) - As Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, he came to Peter who resisted the act of humble service. Jesus said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” I wonder if Jesus was only referring to the foot washing, or perhaps the entirety of Peter’s time with Jesus. - [Search Me, O God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/search-me-o-god/) - We have been exploring the important role prayers of confession have in our communion with God, but confession is predicated on another aspect of prayer that is worth our attention. Tradition calls it the Prayer of Examen. It’s an odd word that most will associate with examination, which brings to mind unpleasant memories from school - [The Goal of Confession](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-goal-of-confession/) - I didn’t know Walter, but he arrived at my church office without an appointment because he wanted “to meet with a pastor.” He opened up surprisingly quickly with two confessions. First, he wasn’t “really into religion.” Second, Walter had had an inappropriate relationship with one of his employees. This caused a lot of problems for - [Done & Undone](https://www.withgoddaily.com/done-undone/) - The Book of Common Prayer includes a prayer of confession that I have found incredibly helpful over the years. It begins: "Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone." When reflected upon, this single sentence - [Confession is Communal](https://www.withgoddaily.com/confession-is-communal/) - Daniel is one of the more fascinating figures in the Bible. Virtually every other leading character in the Old Testament—Abraham, Moses, Noah, David—all failed in some dramatic way. Each one, no matter how deep their faith, is depicted as committing a sin at some point. But not Daniel. That’s not to say he never sinned, - [Why We Confess](https://www.withgoddaily.com/why-we-confess/) - Some Christians, especially those from an evangelical tradition, have a difficult time with confession. They often emphasize the atoning death of Jesus on the cross and the sufficiency of his blood to cover their sins, and therefore fear the practice of confession might diminish the cross in some way. I’ve often heard Christians dismiss confession - [Uncomfortable Authenticity With God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/uncomfortable-authenticity-with-god/) - “The younger generation has had it with fakery.” That’s how Mary DeMuth responded when asked about the recent slate of church leadership scandals in the news. Unlike previous generations that also experienced abusive or duplicitous clergy but chose to remain connected to the church, more young people are abandoning the institutional church altogether. DeMuth’s observation - [Prayer is Very Affordable](https://www.withgoddaily.com/prayer-is-very-affordable/) - A few years ago I was invited to speak at a large ministry conference. Actually, it was more like a trade show where suppliers of theatrical equipment (stage lighting, sound systems, fog machines, etc.) showcased their wares. I was asked to speak to the audience of a few thousand pastors about “The Future of Ministry.” - [Attentive to the Inner Cesspool](https://www.withgoddaily.com/attentive-to-the-inner-cesspool/) - Scripture is full of people confessing their sins—both individually and corporately. It is modeled in both the Old and New Testaments, and the Apostles write multiple times that we are to confess our sins. Confession is supposed to be a regular, habitual pattern in our life with God. Why then is it so rarely practiced? - [At Eternity's Gate](https://www.withgoddaily.com/at-eternitys-gate/) - Many don’t know that when a young man Vincent van Gogh served as a missionary among coal miners in Belgium. The experience left him with a deep admiration for the working poor. They did not comprehend deep theology, and most did not practice acceptable forms of piety, but they possessed God with a raw authenticity - [We Pray by Grace](https://www.withgoddaily.com/we-pray-by-grace/) - Imagine God dwelling within an impenetrable fortress with walls too high to climb, too thick to penetrate, and too deep to tunnel beneath. Its security is so absolute that not even a signal or message may cross its bulwarks. Nonetheless, people persist in the belief that they can break through to God and have devised - [Prayer Changes Us, Not Just Our Circumstances](https://www.withgoddaily.com/prayer-changes-us-not-just-our-circumstances/) - Paul and Silas had been arrested, beaten, and thrown in prison with their feet chained. Throughout the night, not knowing what fate awaited them in the morning, the missionaries “were praying and singing hymns to God.” Then a miracle occurred. An earthquake shook the prison, the doors flew open, and their chains fell off. But - [Prayer and Singing](https://www.withgoddaily.com/prayer-and-singing/) - In Acts 16, we read that Paul and Silas were stripped and beaten with rods many times for proclaiming Jesus in the city of Philippi. Finally, they were thrown in jail and their feet put in stocks. I can only imagine the misery of their circumstances—naked, beaten, chained, and imprisoned. That’s what makes their response - [Prayer is Not Opposed to Action](https://www.withgoddaily.com/prayer-is-not-opposed-to-action/) - There is an old joke about a religious man trapped in his house during a flood who prayed for God to deliver him. A neighbor came to his door offering to drive him away in his truck. “No thank you,” the man said, “I trust God will save me.” Sometime later the water had reached - [When to Stop Praying](https://www.withgoddaily.com/when-to-stop-praying/) - While Peter was in prison awaiting execution, the church was gathered in Jerusalem and “praying earnestly” for him. The strange story, recorded in Acts 12, says that an angel appeared and released Peter in the middle of the night. But when he arrived at the home where the church was secretly praying, no one believed - [Praying With the Faith of a Child](https://www.withgoddaily.com/praying-with-the-faith-of-a-child/) - King Herod had already executed James for preaching about Jesus and his resurrection. Stephen had been stoned to death by an angry mob. In Acts 12, we find the Apostle Peter also imprisoned for his refusal to stop preaching about Jesus and likely facing death. In response, the church was “earnestly praying” for Peter’s release. - [Every Bush Burns](https://www.withgoddaily.com/every-bush-burns/) - In the Old Testament, some places were set apart as sacred ground. The most obvious of these locations was the temple in Jerusalem. It was seen as the point where heaven and earth touched one another. Before the temple, there was Mount Sinai where God himself descended in billowing smoke and fire to establish a - [Where You Stand Depends on Where You Sit](https://www.withgoddaily.com/where-you-stand-depends-on-where-you-sit/) - As we reach the end of this series, we have one final lesson to learn from Abraham Lincoln—although this one does not come from his words or his life, but from his death. Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theater is the most famous, and the most consequential, murder in American history. Although the Union had won - [Finding Comfort in God's Will—Even When We Cannot Know It](https://www.withgoddaily.com/finding-comfort-in-gods-will-even-when-we-cannot-know-it/) - In February 1862, Lincoln's eleven-year-old son, Willie, died from typhoid fever. He was the second child they'd lost and both Mary and Abraham Lincoln were understandably devastated. The ongoing war, and the Union's many losses, only compounded the President's despair. It's difficult to imagine the mental anguish and unbearable weight he carried in the dark - [Separate and Unequal](https://www.withgoddaily.com/separate-and-unequal/) - “What kind of name is Skye?” asked a woman in a polite and inquisitive tone. It was my first day teaching a Sunday school class at the church as a seminary intern. For that reason, I was nervous—and because everyone in the classroom was easily twice my age. I explained that Skye was a nickname - [Malice Toward None, Charity for All](https://www.withgoddaily.com/malice-toward-none-charity-for-all/) - In their book The Coddling of the American Mind, authors Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt identify what they call "3 Great Untruths" that young people are being told and believe, and when left unchallenged result in great harm to them and society. The 3 Great Untruths are: 1. What doesn't kill you makes you weaker. - [The Church has No VIPs](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-church-has-no-vips/) - The stories about Frederick Douglass's visits to the White House, and the equal respect he was shown by President Lincoln, resonate with us because they capture a core American value. Our country was founded on a belief in meritocracy—the view that a person's status should be determined by their hard work and achievement rather than - [Economy Precedes Theology](https://www.withgoddaily.com/economy-precedes-theology/) - When Paul carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to Ephesus, which we read about in Acts 19, he ran into some trouble. Ephesus was the center for the worship of the goddess Artemis —also known as Diana in Roman mythology—and the silversmiths had a lucrative business selling idols of the goddess in the city. At - [The Difficult Transformation of Old Habits](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-difficult-transformation-of-old-habits/) - We are formed by the habits we practice. An action that is repeated over time creates strong neural pathways like wheel ruts in a road. That's why breaking old habits and establishing new ones is so difficult. It's also why Christians have often, and unknowingly, incorporated ungodly cultural customs into the church and the practice - [Showing People Who You Are](https://www.withgoddaily.com/showing-people-who-you-are/) - In my former role at Christianity Today, and in my current role with The Holy Post, I've had the opportunity to interview and be in the presence of many well-known Christian leaders. Most of those encounters were positive, a handful were transformative, and some were very troubling. For example, when a person with power insists - [Sin Management or New Life?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/sin-management-or-new-life/) - Why are you a Christian? For some being a Christian is an inherited, family identity. Others are Christians because of laziness. Any other religious identity—like Jewish, Muslim, or even atheist—would require some inquiry and intention, and for those in our culture who don't particularly care about spiritual matters, Christianity is the effortless default option. Still - [Willing to Go Down With Our Principles](https://www.withgoddaily.com/willing-to-go-down-with-our-principles/) - Many Americans assume the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery. That was not the case. As Command-in-Chief of the military, the President may issue executive orders to aid in the conduct of a war. This includes orders to confiscate enemy property that could be used in the war. Because, legally, enslaved people were "property," and the Confederate - [Attempts to Muzzle the Conscience](https://www.withgoddaily.com/attempts-to-muzzle-our-conscience/) - The Bible speaks of sin as an enslaving power that binds us like chains or cords. The writer of Hebrews describes sin as entangling—like stubborn vines that trip a runner's feet. The point is that sin is difficult to escape; once it captures us it is not easily removed. It weaves itself around our lives - [Avoiding Carriers of Cognitive Dissonance](https://www.withgoddaily.com/avoiding-carriers-of-cognitive-dissonance/) - The term "cognitive dissonance" was coined by a psychologist from Stanford University named Leon Festinger in the 1950s. He was studying cults with the goal of understanding why cult members maintained their beliefs even when they encountered contrary evidence. For example, he interviewed members of a cult that believed the world would end in a - [Assuming the Almighty is Your Ally](https://www.withgoddaily.com/assuming-the-almighty-is-your-ally/) - Many years ago, while in seminary, I served as a student chaplain at a nearby hospital. When I had no patients to visit, I would spend time with the residents at the nursing home adjacent to the hospital. One resident was especially memorable. Everyone called her Doc Fisher. At a time when few women worked - [The Spirit of Totalitarianism](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-spirit-of-totalitarianism/) - The earliest Christians did not have cultural or political power, and yet the gospel spread and the church thrived. As our society becomes increasingly secular and post-Christian, we have much we can learn from their example, as well as from our sisters and brothers in parts of the world today where the church is a - [The Danger of a Guilty Conscience](https://www.withgoddaily.com/the-danger-of-a-guilty-conscience/) - Why did God's people kill so many of his prophets? Why did they silence those speaking the very words of God to them? The story of John the Baptist illustrates the answer. Filled with God's Spirit from birth, John identified and called out injustice wherever he found it. He told Roman soldiers to stop abusing - [Repairing Social Trust](https://www.withgoddaily.com/repairing-social-trust/) - Researchers define social trust as "a belief in the honesty, integrity and reliability of others." Simply put, it's how much faith we have in our neighbors and fellow citizens. A civil war, therefore, represents the ultimate breakdown in social trust. By 1861, after decades of idolatry, in-group indoctrination, wild conspiracy theories, and the rationalization of - [Persuasion > Condemnation](https://www.withgoddaily.com/persuasion-condemnation/) - This week we've been exploring why so many in the South were unable to recognize the evil of slavery before, during, and even after the Civil War. There are many things that make us blind to our own sin including the warping effects of idolatry and the malformation of group identity. And yesterday we looked - [How Groups Make Us Blind](https://www.withgoddaily.com/how-groups-make-us-blind/) - This week, we've been looking at why the South was unable and unwilling to recognize the evil of slavery, and what this tells us about the nature of evil and our own weakness. First, we saw how idolatry made the South easily offended by any criticism of slavery and irrationally defensive. Then, we looked at - [No One Wants to be the "Lesser Evil"](https://www.withgoddaily.com/no-one-wants-to-be-the-lesser-evil/) - In the modern world, we often talk about something "going viral." In the ancient world, long before viruses were discovered, they used a different metaphor to describe a similar phenomenon. More than once, Jesus warned his disciples to "be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." The metaphor is meant to illustrate - [False Gods are Easily Offended](https://www.withgoddaily.com/false-gods-are-easily-offended/) - While teaching about the Christian life, Dallas Willard was asked by someone in the audience, "How will I know when I am mature in my faith?" I expected Dallas to say something about the fruit of the Spirit, loving one's enemies, or some other familiar but seemingly impossible standard that could be easily dismissed. But - [A Man of Sorrows](https://www.withgoddaily.com/a-man-of-sorrows/) - In the 1980s, Ronald Regan said "It's morning again in America." His vice president and successor, George H. W. Bush, wanted us to be a "kinder, gentler nation." In the 90s, Bill Clinton "felt our pain," and George W. Bush ran for office as the "compassionate conservative." It's rare to hear such empathy and optimism - [United by Grief](https://www.withgoddaily.com/united-by-grief/) - During the Civil War, President Lincoln received a controversial guest at the White House—his sister-in-law. Emilie Todd Helm may have been family, but she was also the wife of a Confederate general. This raised suspicions about Mary Todd Lincoln's commitment to the Union, as did the President's decision to allow his sister-in-law to pass through - [Lincoln's Journey Toward God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/lincolns-journey-toward-god/) - As we launch into this new series based on Abraham Lincoln, there is an obvious question we should address—Was Lincoln a Christian? The question may be obvious, but the answer is not. It's very likely that more has been written about Lincoln than any other American, and one scholar estimates more than 16,000 books have - [Psalm 99: Our Ultimate Answer and Hope](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-99-our-ultimate-answer-and-hope/) - One of the reoccurring themes of the psalms is lament. In fact, there are more psalms of lament and complaint than there are of worship and praise. (Which sometimes makes me wonder why we never have church services of complaint against God.) When the line of kings was broken, and foreign powers conquered Israel, numerous - [Using History & Scripture to Illuminate Our Path](https://www.withgoddaily.com/using-history-scripture-to-illuminate-our-path/) - Last spring I joined a diverse group of Christian men for a bus tour of significant locations from the Civil Rights Movement. Our days together included a deep dive into American history, and uncomfortably honest conversations about race, politics, faith, and the church. After this formative experience, I decided to focus my summer reading on - [Psalm 97: Doing Evil vs. Rejoicing In It](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-97-doing-evil-vs-rejoicing-in-it/) - Much like the previous psalm, Psalm 97 praises the Lord as enthroned over all the earth and over all other gods. The writer mocks those who worship “worthless idols,” and boldly proclaims YHWH as sovereign over all peoples. But in verse 8, the psalm shifts its focus from describing God’s power to encouraging God’s people - [Psalm 98: Old Songs Are Not Enough](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-98-old-songs-are-not-enough/) - Christian philosopher Peter Kreeft has said, “Most theists are deists most of the time, in practice if not in theory. They practice the absence of God instead of the presence of God.” Deism, which gained great popularity during the Enlightenment, affirms that a creator exists who established and ordered the cosmos, but God is now - [Psalm 96: The Mission Predates the Church](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-96-the-worthless-idols-of-our-age/) - It is common to assume that the mission of God is a New Testament innovation. Many Christians cite the end of Matthew's gospel where Jesus commands his followers to “make disciples of all nations” as the text that launched the church's mission. This passage is popularly known as "the Great Commission," and while there is - [Psalm 95: Worship is a Choice](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-95-worship-and-warning/) - The first half of Psalm 95 is a call to worship. The Lord is praised as the Creator who is far above all other gods. The writer invites others to sing, bow down, kneel, and “make a joyful noise” before their God. It is a scene of both devotion and celebration, but in the middle - [Psalm 94: When God’s People Oppress the Poor and Immigrants](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-94-when-gods-people-oppress-the-poor-and-immigrants/) - Back in Psalm 83, we encountered tribalism. It's the temptation to think God is on your group’s side and against all others. This can lead to the false view that merely belonging to the right group is all that’s necessary to receive God’s favor. Throughout history, God's people have fallen into this heretical trap. They've - [Psalm 93: The Sea is So Great & My Boat is So Small](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-93-the-sea-is-so-great-my-boat-is-so-small/) - Admiral Hyman Rickover was the commander of of the U.S. nuclear submarine fleet at the height of the Cold War. Admiral Rickover gave each new submarine captain a small plaque inscribed with the Breton fisherman’s prayer: “O, God, Thy sea is so great and my boat is so small.” In early 1963, a few months - [Psalm 92: The Sabbath Rest That is to Come](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-92-the-sabbath-rest-that-is-to-come/) - It is odd that Psalm 92 is identified as “a song for the Sabbath” when the Sabbath is never mentioned in the psalm itself. What did the ancient Israelites see in this song that led them to employ it on their day of rest? The Mishnah—the oldest work of rabbinical literature—says Psalm 92 is, “a - [Psalm 91: A Tale of Two Psalms](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-91-a-tale-of-two-psalms/) - I like to read Psalms 90 and 91 together. The first psalm expresses the fragility of life, and the writer cries out to God for his wisdom and favor as his only hope. Psalm 91 could be seen as God’s encouraging response to the worries expressed in Psalm 90. First, in verses 1–13, the writer - [Psalm 90: What Work Matters?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-90-what-work-matters/) - Eternal things matter more than temporary things. This is an idea both believers and non-believers agree upon. It’s why we don’t put braces on baby teeth but will spend thousands caring for our adult ivories. The longer a thing endures, the more care and attention it deserves. Simply put, time determines value. This is the - [Psalm 89: No Beautiful Answers](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-89-no-beautiful-answers/) - When I first started preaching, I was eager for feedback from church members. At the time I told myself that I needed their feedback so I could develop as a teacher, but I probably needed it more to ease my insecurities. One church member was complimentary and affirming, but she offered one bit of advice - [Psalm 88: Trusting God vs. Feeling God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-88-trusting-god-vs-feeling-god/) - “O Lord, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me?” Such feelings are rarely expressed openly in the culture of happy-clappy Christianity. We lack a category for those who remain committed to God but who do not feel and display the constant positivity that is perceived as normative - [Psalm 87: Fellow Citizens of Zion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-87-fellow-citizens-of-zion/) - When my mother was 24 years old, she traveled to India alone where she fell in love with my father. I had my first passport before I was two. Before graduating high school I had already visited over 30 countries, and this family trait I inherited from my parents has now been passed to my - [Psalm 86: The God with Long Nostrils](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-86-the-god-of-long-nostrils/) - Like many other psalms, Psalm 86 is a plea to God for deliverance. David cries out to the Lord for help, but rather than lingering upon his dire circumstances to argue his case, David also appeals to God’s character. In verse 15, he quotes a description of God first found in Exodus 34 when the - [Psalm 85: Mercy Wins Every Time](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-85-mercy-wins-every-time/) - God’s people had engaged in evil and betrayed their covenant with the Lord. They had turned away from him and acted wickedly toward one another. In response to this rebellion, God allowed judgment to come upon Israel. In Psalm 85, the writer is praying for the Lord to remove their guilt. “Will you be angry - [Psalm 84: Where Do We Meet God?](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-84-where-do-we-meet-god/) - In ancient Israel the Lord’s presence was encountered at the temple in Jerusalem. It was common for God’s people to travel great distances to worship him there, and on their journey to the temple they would sing hymns of pilgrimage. Psalm 84 was one of them. It proclaims that one day in the courts of - [Psalm 83: The Temptation of Tribalism](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-83-the-temptation-of-tribalism/) - Does God take sides in personal conflicts, sporting matches, and geopolitical disputes? We all feel better with a strong ally, so there is always a temptation to enlist the Almighty—the strongest ally of all—to our side of a conflict. If you only read certain parts of the Old Testament, you might conclude that God is - [Psalm 82: A Lesson in How to Read the Bible](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-82-a-lesson-in-how-to-read-the-bible/) - You may need to sit down before you read the next sentence. Ready? The Old Testament does not teach monotheism. I realize that likely contradicts everything you have been taught about the Bible, but as Yoda said, "You must unlearn what you have learned." Monotheism affirms the existence of only one God and this view - [Psalm 81: The Bible is a Window, Not a Manual](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-81-the-bible-is-a-window-not-a-manual/) - I recently read an interview with a former producer for a popular Christian television program. Explaining how he grew the show’s audience, the producer said, “We taught the Bible as a self-help manual. And it was very easy to move people [by doing that], because who doesn’t want to have a sanctified self-help deal going - [Psalm 80: Facts, Feelings, & Faith](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-80-wake-up-god/) - Leonard Cohen once said, "I don't trust my inner feelings; inner feelings come and go." He recognized that our feelings, while powerful, are not always an accurate reflection of reality, and therefore should not be trusted. But as any therapist or counselor will tell you, completely ignoring our inner feelings is not wise either. While - [Psalm 76: Destroying War](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-76-destroying-war/) - During the Civil War, a journalist asked President Lincoln whether he believed God was on the side of the North. Lincoln replied, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my great concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” In any conflict, it isn't only comforting to - [Psalm 77: Ants in the Pants of Faith](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-77-ants-in-the-pants-of-faith/) - When I am feeling an unusual amount of stress I dread going to bed at night. In the quiet stillness before falling asleep, my mind races. The fears that had been masked by the activities of the day rush back into my mental foreground. Making matters worse, since I was a young man, unacknowledged stress - [Psalm 78: God Doesn’t Give Up](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-78-god-doesnt-give-up/) - Many people are intimidated by the Old Testament. It’s long, convoluted history can be difficult to follow, and its diverse genres and layers of cultural peculiarities can make it challenging to understand. Still, it is not an exaggeration to say that we cannot understand Jesus without a basic knowledge of the story he came to - [Psalm 79: When the Unthinkable Happens](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-79-when-the-unthinkable-happens/) - I've been rereading a book by historian Mark Noll called, The Civil War as a Theological Crisis. As in most conflicts, each side in the American Civil War was convinced that God favored their cause, but the Confederacy held this assumption with unwavering certainty. In fact, the South had constructed elaborate—and utterly erroneous—biblical and theological - [Psalm 75: The Catcher](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-75-the-catcher/) - The writer of Psalm 75 describes a time when the earth will be shaken—a metaphorical earthquake will turn things upside down. The wicked will boast and the righteous will be afraid. It will appear to be a time of terrible risk for the faithful, and one that provokes great fear among God’s people. But the - [Psalm 74: God Sees, Remembers, & Knows](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-74-god-sees-remembers-knows/) - We live in one of two possible universes. The first is an accidental universe. It is an ever-expanding cosmos driven to inflation by the immutable force of gravity with no meaning. We happen to occupy an insignificant speck near an unremarkable star on the edge of a galaxy that is randomly drifting among billions of - [Psalm 73: Another Point of View](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-73-another-point-of-view/) - The comedian George Carlin once said, “Some people see the glass half full. Others see it half empty. I see a glass that’s twice as big as it needs to be.” There is always more than one way to see something, and our understanding can change dramatically when we make the effort to look from - [Psalm 72: How to Pray for a Leader](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-72-praying-for-leaders/) - Like so many psalms, Psalm 72 can also be read on multiple levels. On the surface, this psalm appears to be a prayer of King Solomon—though some scholars believe it was a prayer of King David for Solomon, his son—as he prepared to assume his father’s throne. On another level, however, the psalm’s exceedingly high - [Psalm 71: Borrowing Faith](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-71-borrowing-faith/) - In recent years, there has been renewed attention on the spiritual formation of young people. The reason is simple—surveys show that an alarming number of young adults abandon their faith and the church after graduating from high school. Kara Powell from the Fuller Youth Institute researched this trend in great depth and found an important commonality - [Psalm 70: God is Never Late](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-70-god-is-never-late/) - David’s prayer in Psalm 70 begins and ends with the same desperate plea, “Hurry up, God!” In fact, David cries to God four times in this brief psalm to make haste. Whatever catastrophe he was facing, David clearly felt that the Lord’s urgent action was required, and that if he did not intervene quickly all - [Psalm 69: The Redemptive Side of Suffering](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-69-suffering-is-redemptive/) - In Psalm 69 David cries out to the Lord for deliverance, which seems a bit strange as it is David’s devotion to God that brought calamity upon him in the first place. Wicked men plotted to destroy him because of his faithfulness to God, and he is trusting that same faithfulness will provoke the Lord - [Psalm 68: Wrath and Love](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-68-justice-and-judgment/) - A recent survey reported the most popular Bible verses in 88 countries. The 35 verses of Psalm 68 were not among them. That’s not a surprise. Psalm 68 is loaded with messages of God’s judgment and wrath toward the wicked, not the kind of verses that find their way on to coffee mugs or social - [Psalm 67: The Shining Face of God](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-67-the-joy-of-gods-joy/) - The modern evangelical stream of the church places a high value on extemporaneous prayer. That means prayers we make up on the spot. Other church traditions, however, recognize the importance of using written prayers to guide us. A written prayer isn't meant to be inauthentic or a magic incantation. Rather, it's intended to lead us - [Psalm 66: Claiming God’s Character](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-66-claiming-gods-character/) - There is a mistake many people make when reading the Bible—they claim promises that do not belong to them. For example, In 2 Chronicles 7:14 the Lord said if his people will humble themselves, pray, and repent he would heal their land. This promise was given to ancient Israel at a specific moment in their - [Psalm 65: War and Gardening](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-65-what-gods-presence-leaves-behind/) - Winston Churchill said, "War is the normal occupation of man. War—and gardening." His statement seems paradoxical, and maybe that was the Prime Minister's intent. On the one hand, nothing is more destructive than war. The images that have emerged in recent years from conflict zones in Syria, Sudan, and Ukraine are haunting. They remind us - [Psalm 64: Where Evil Lives](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-64-where-evil-lives/) - Who is blameless and who is wicked? Our natural temptation is to place ourselves and those like us into the “righteous” category, and lump those who are different among the “wicked.” This results in evil not being determined by a person’s behavior, but by their identity—which group he or she is associated with. Such tribalism - [Psalm 63: Practice Makes Passion](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-63-practice-makes-passion/) - How do we learn to love God more? For that matter, how do we learn to love anything more? For the last few hundred years, most people have accepted the Enlightenment notion that “knowledge is power” and that we change by filling our minds with new ideas. We assume that information leads automatically to transformation. - [Psalm 62: Misplaced Confidence](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-62-misplaced-confidence/) - Michael Lewis’ book, The Undoing Project, was very illuminating to me. It's about misplaced confidence. It follows the two Nobel prize-winning psychologists who discovered why human intuition is so often wrong, and how we are easily fooled into thinking we are right even when the evidence clearly indicates otherwise. Simply put, it’s about why people - [Psalm 61: The Higher Rock](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-61-solid-ground-in-a-liquid-world/) - I generally like change. I’m not particularly sentimental, nor am I fearful of new ideas. However, even I can feel the speed of the technological and cultural change we are now experiencing as concerning. “I feel like a cork being tossed about on the sea.” That’s how one pastor describes it. The change is everywhere - [Psalm 60: Feelings and Facts](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-60-feelings-and-truth/) - In his book, The Coddling of the American Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that a new generation of young people are struggling in part because they've been taught what he calls "three great untruths." One of these untruths is: Always trust your feelings. An argument can be made that earlier generations where harmed by - [Psalm 59: Love Gets the Last Word](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-59-love-gets-the-last-word/) - Watching the news can be a faith-challenging activity. It often displays the depths of our species’ depravity. Whether its far away like the scenes of unarmed civilians being attacked by Russian missiles in Ukraine, or closer to home like another grandmother grieving a child caught in gang crossfire on the west side of Chicago—it is - [Psalm 58: Justice Requires Judgement](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-58-necessary-judgement/) - In our age of tolerance and political correctness, the idea of judgement—especially divine judgement—has fallen out of favor, and passages like Psalm 58 are why modern audiences find the Bible barbaric. David sings about the wrath of God with what seems like glee. “The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they dip - [Psalm 57: Loyal Love](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-57-loyal-love/) - Do you remember those old Toyota commercials from the 1980s? They ended with a freeze-frame of someone jumping in the air next to a car and the jingle: “I love what you do for me . . . TOYOTA!” In English, we throw the word love around very casually. It may apply to the profound, - [Psalm 56: Fear Warps Wisdom](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-56-overcoming-a-spirit-of-fear/) - I'm currently reading a biography of Abraham Lincoln. Of course, to understand the man, his leadership, and the Civil War he led the country through, one must understand the political and cultural divisions over slavery in the nineteenth century. It's a topic I've studied a lot, but this latest biography has illuminated a few new - [Psalm 55: Sweet Relationships Sometimes Go Sour](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-55-sweet-relationship-sometimes-go-sour/) - William Blake once said, “It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” Based on Psalm 55 it seems David would agree. It’s one of the most agonizing psalms because in it David describes the betrayal of a friend. If an enemy taunts me, he says, “I could endure it . . - [Psalm 53: Fools and Greater Fools](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-53-fools-and-greater-fools/) - Which is worse: a world with no God or a world with a God who does not care? Atheism was exceedingly rare in the ancient world, so when Psalm 53 says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God,’” it is unlikely this was meant to be a condemnation of atheism in the - [Psalm 54: Authentic Prayer](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-54-authentic-prayer/) - During the Civil War, a man asked President Lincoln if he thought God was on the side of the North. The president responded, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my great concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” Lincoln’s humble response seems incongruent with passages - [Psalm 52: Our Favorite Weapon](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-52-our-favorite-weapon/) - The world of the Old Testament was a very different place defined by tribal deities, brutal warfare, and strange social customs. As a result, we often need help understanding the cultural context of ancient Israel before we can properly read and apply much of the Old Testament. There are some passages, however, that seem surprisingly - [Psalm 51: Atonement vs. Reconciliation](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-51-atonement-vs-reconciliation/) - In religious communities, we tend to use words like atonement, reconciliation, and salvation interchangeably. They all sound theological and generally refer to positive outcomes, so we assume they're synonyms; just different ways of talking about the same thing. But they're not, and failing to understand the difference may severely warp one's understanding of faith. For - [Psalm 50: God Is Not Like You](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-50-god-is-not-like-you/) - When Scot McKnight taught New Testament as a professor in Chicago, every semester he gave his students a test with 24 questions asking what they thought Jesus was like. Later in the semester, he gave a second test with slightly different language asking the students about their own views and personality. After years of collecting - [Psalm 48: Barricades and Beacons](https://www.withgoddaily.com/psalm-48-barricades-and-beacons/) - It’s difficult for modern readers to understand the significance that Jerusalem and the temple had to God’s ancient people. It was the single point in the cosmos where the divine presence (heaven) and the human realm (earth) intersected. It was the location of YHWH's throne and, therefore, the focal point of Israel's identity, worship, and ## Pages - [Home](https://www.withgoddaily.com/) - Sign up now to become a monthly supporter and receive Skye's daily email devotions. Sign Up Who is Skye? An award-winning author and speaker and he serves as the co-host of the popular Holy Post Podcast, a weekly show that blends astute cultural and theological insights with comical conversation. The daily devotional for people who - [About](https://www.withgoddaily.com/about/) - About Skye Skye Jethani is an award-winning author and speaker and co-host of the popular Holy Post Podcast, a weekly show that blends astute cultural and theological insights with comical conversation. 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