but in your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect 1 Pet 3:15 ESV The text is clear that believers are to be ready with a “defence” (apologia) for the hope that is within them. They are called to be “apologists”, that is, one who can … [Read more...]
The Joyful Sound
“… He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” Col 1:18 ESV “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Cor 15:20 ESV “When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he … [Read more...]
“What is man?”
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” Psalms 8:3-4 Christ’s birth is the consummate divine statement concerning man. When the omnipotent eternal God, the creator of the universe, condescended to the human estate by … [Read more...]
Travailing in Birth: Christ in You
My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you Galatians 4:19 Christ being formed within us is the sine qua non of Christianity. It is the true apostolic burden and the essential ingredient of the spiritual life. Without it we are reduced to either merely a religious or rationalistic code—to "a form of godliness" (2 Tim 3:5). … [Read more...]
