V = Visions of Victory That Disturb and Terrify

May 27, 2020.Reading time 16 minutes.

Years ago I made the mistake of reading a few of H. P. Lovecraft’s short stories. My recollection might be blurred, but I remember a similar thread in each. The protagonist investigates macabre events, ominous signs, cultic symbols, and unexplained happenings. But there is never a good resolution. Some things are better left covered. In […]

2. The importance of knowing God’s word when your child is well…

February 27, 2020.Reading time 19 minutes.

“I don’t know how you coped so well.” “I don’t know how you do it.” “You seem to be doing so well.” I can’t tell you the number of times I heard these statements during the year my son was sick, and the year after his death. Statements meant as an encouragement, statements that came […]

1. What it is like to miss church regularly

February 18, 2020.Reading time 13 minutes.

I’ve had the privilege of growing up in a Christian household, where going to church weekly, and often more than once weekly, was just the way we lived. It was a pattern that I neither questioned, nor particularly thought about. Most children don’t think about why school is Monday through to Friday, even if they […]

U = Unto Us a Father is Born. The Fatherhood of Jesus in Isaiah?

September 30, 2019.Reading time 18 minutes.

Can a man be at the same time a father and a son? Of course. If he couldn’t, the human race would quickly disappear. But, what about Jesus? Isn’t it blasphemous to call him father since he never married and sired children? And furthermore, doesn’t this confuse the members of the God-head, since he reveals […]

T = Trees in the House of God: where they belong

September 3, 2019.Reading time 14 minutes.

Ancient church leaders posed deep questions about the relationship between philosophy and Christianity when they said, “what has Jerusalem to do with Athens?” I’m asking something more figurative. What does the Jerusalem Temple have to do with Gardens ‘R’ Us? Or perhaps more precisely, what does the Lord’s temple have to do with gardens, and what does that have to with us?

Do you see yourself as a tree planted in the temple of the Lord?

T = Trees in the House of God: facing hard times

May 8, 2019.Reading time 12 minutes.

It’s not only bombs that destroy a church. White-anting also happens from within. When there is no acknowledgement of the King of Kings, the people determine what is right in their own eyes. The Bible may be paraded in the pulpit and even studied diligently, but judges sit in the polycarbonate chairs, stand behind the […]

Q = Quick wrath, quick atonement; stored-up wrath, planned atonement.

March 4, 2019.Reading time 31 minutes.

Let’s step into dangerous territory and speak directly about the anger of God. Our own worldly hearts testify with the liberalism entrenched in Western churches: speaking on this topic is both dangerous and unpalatable. Preachers, including this author, dance around hell when speaking to a friendly congregation, let alone the outside world. A colleague answering […]