Come Down, Lord!

  "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." - Psalm 23 Remember that the Shepherd of whom this psalm speaks is Jesus. It was Jesus Himself who would later say, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). So when we say, “The Lord is my shepherd,” we are talking about Him - the Lord of glory, Immanuel, God with us. One whom the book of Colossians says is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn o...

Yesterday I had a brief exchange with someone over these words from a recent blog post : “Today, Christians are sometimes known for their animosity toward people who identify as LGBT, or toward those who strongly advocate for them.” I said I didn’t understand such animosity. As I understand it, animosity means hostility, resentment, or ill will. One dictionary defines it as " a strong feeling of dislike or hatred :  ill will  or resentment tending toward active hostility  :  an antagonistic attitude."   At first, I thought the questions I was asked had to do with my stance on homosexuality. In fact, I was asked: “Is there a reason you took down your blog posts responding to Kenneth Kranendonk’s false teaching?” I affirmed - as I did in the original post - that I hold to a biblical ethic, and that my convictions on homosexuality have not changed. Why would they?   But during the exchange I realized the real issue - at least from this man’s perspective - ...

When trials come one after the other, or when they are particularly severe, it is natural to ask questions. And if we believe in the sovereignty of God in these things, we should. Scripture does not discourage such questions; instead, it points us to God’s purposes. So why does God allow trials? 1. Sometimes it is for testing. We see this in the life of Abraham when God asked him to take his son and sacrifice him (Genesis 22:1–2). We see it again in the early history of Israel, after they had crossed the Jordan and entered the promised land. God said He left enemies among them to test and try them, to see what they would do (Judges 3:1–4). 2. Sometimes it is to draw His people out to prayer. We see this when Israel fought against Benjamin. They asked God whether they should go up, and He told them to go (Judges 20:18). They went — and were defeated (Judges 20:21). So they prayed and fasted, asked again, and once more God told them to go (Judges 20:26–28). This time they won (Judges ...