Ash Wednesday

7 Items

God on Trial: Restraint

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Much of what God calls us to do isn’t easy, but difficult. Yet, these are things which God himself does. When God calls us to be holy, he isn’t just tossing up some hollow ideal, he’s calling us to be as he is. He tells us to be like Jesus who does all things in […]

The Crucial Hours: Ash Wednesday

As Satan Sifts, Jesus Confronts, Forgives, and Strengthens Lent is not the most wonderful time of year. There’s no Christmas trees and lights and carols. We even put the Church’s most jubilant songs, the Alleluia’s and Gloria’s away for the season. Instead, there’s purple and black, there’s minor keys and haunting lyrics, and there’s time […]

Hands of Repentance

Luke 18:9–14 (NIV) The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and […]

The Promised Warrior

The Son of God Goes Forth to War The Promised Warrior The young man across the table was in tears. He was a big guy, athletic, muscular, smart, and broken. As capable as he was, his sin seemed bigger, temptations seemed stronger, Satan seemed sharper, and Jesus seemed like such a nice guy, that he […]

Repent: Turn to Jesus; Don’t Turn Away

Tell me, what does the word “repent” mean to you? I think that for many people the word has a very negative connotation. They imagine some church official saying, “Ve have vays of making you repent!”  But actually, the biblical definition of repentance is not a negative one.  The Greek word for repent is metanoia. […]

This Man Went Home Justified

If I were to say to you, “Oh, now I think you’re just trying to justify what you did,” would you take that as a compliment?  Would that be a good thing, that you’re trying to justify yourself?  No, probably not.  In our language today, in our culture, the word justify has the connotation of […]