Jesus and the Reality of Hell: Jared Wilson details Jesus’ teaching on hell. Despite many who are reluctant to preach on hell, “…Jesus was not skittish about preaching hell. He knew the stakes couldn’t be higher. “Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you,” he tells the healed paralytic (John 5:14). Because he knows there are worse things than being paralyzed. He knows there are worse things than dying.”
When God Seems Deaf to Our Cries: Tim Challies does a wonderful job of placing us in Joseph’s sandals and having us consider what it would have felt like for years to feel as though God wasn’t listening. He says, “Surely he would have begged God to rescue him through means ordinary or miraculous. Surely he would have been disappointed when God seemed deaf to his cries, when he was sold to Midianite traders for a mere handful of silver, when he was hauled off to a life of captivity in Egypt.”
3 Biblical Truths That Challenge False Foundations of Identity: Y Bonesteele’s commentary on a recent Lifeway Research study caught my eye because of the forthcoming book my wife and I are working on regarding identity. Bonesteele says, “When asked the open-ended question, “When you think about who you are, what are the first three things that come to mind?” Americans say being a parent (25%), being intelligent (12%), their job (11%), being compassionate (11%), being a husband (10%), being kind (10%), being trustworthy (10%), being a wife (8%), being a friend (8%), being hardworking (8%), being honest (8%), being a Christian (8%), and being religious/spiritual (2%).”
Assume the Best of Others: Greg Morse’s reflections here are so important. He says, “Cynicism and suspicion, I know firsthand, crawl into our minds and make us traitors to ourselves, dangers to our families, and toxins to our churches. Our suspicions can make us strike at those dearest to us. They contain a self-fulfilling prophecy: the more we suspect, the more reasons we find to suspect; the more we distrust, the more reasons we find to distrust. Every creak of the floor becomes a burglar.”
The Power of Encouragement: I dare you not to smile watching this adorable clip. How much do we underestimate the power of encouragement?