“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls” (Hebrews 12:3). Hung on the cross Let’s go back in time and imagine that we have followed the Savior along the Via Dolorosa on his way to Calvary. When we arrive at the hill, we are startled by the two thieves writhing in agony, already nailed to their crosses. The central cross, the place of greatest infamy, is where the soldiers will raise up Jesus to die. We see the two thieves and shudder. Several days before, James and John, […]

Last month we saw how God arranged the sequence of night and day to teach the gospel. At creation he established a sequence of evening followed by morning, of darkness followed by light. This pattern reminds us of our gospel hope that death itself will one day give way to new life. Every day God is faithful. Every day he calls us out of the heavy darkness of night into the marvelous light of dawn. We learn to recognize that when we walk through the shadows of darkness, God is drawing closer and closer to the dawn of redemption. But […]

The word “religion” is derived from Latin and means “to tie or to bind together.”  In popular usage religion means the web of beliefs that inform how a worshiper understands God. Religion “ties together” how we think about God and how we behave as a consequence. Last month we asked the question, “What is God?”  We asked the most fundamental questions about God.  We asked these questions in a search to identify the most basic theology.  We concluded that the best conjunction of reason and revelation finds expression in the word to Moses on Sinai, “I Am that I Am” […]