Christianity faces a tough question regarding the conflict between the Bible’s claim toward God’s sovereignty and our suffering. This question can be asked in a variety of ways—from skeptics’ challenges (“How can you say there is a God?”) to saints’ laments (“Why God,...
A brand-new gift comes with a sense of goodness and potential, and we do a lot to preserve that goodness and to keep that potential alive. New car owners want to keep the inside smell as fresh as possible, new phone owners protect their screens with cases and covers,...
Franz Kafka (1883–1924) once wrote a parable titled “An Imperial Message.” In it, an Emperor’s messenger faces surreal trials as he delivers an important message. This messenger is an “indefatigable man,” bearing the symbol of the Emperor and thus having “the way made...
When I was eleven months old, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The doctors, at one point, told my parents my chance of recovery, of survival, was five percent. Things progressed quickly, and I was soon headed for a bone marrow transplant, preceded by...
Philippians 3:17, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” Imitation. This word brings to my mind both a high-minded literary device—the doppelgänger—and an annoying habit I formed as the youngest...
Philippians 2:14–15, "Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." Up to this point, Paul uses his...
My wife, Rebecca, and I had been living in an apartment we did not like, and we were ready to get out of there. The day we moved moving into that apartment, one of the neighboring apartments was making much commotion. A man and a woman were having a heated discussion...
Today’s day-and-age brings many opportunities, platforms, and mediums in which to write. In an online culture that defines quality by quantity—by the sheer number of clicks—I often feel tempted to sell myself out as a writer to have success. Maybe other Christian...