“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) As a child, I was terrified of death. I lost my mother when I was seven years old. So death was not just a figment of my imagination. I saw its sting and I understood how it could tear a family apart. I still fear death, largely because I continue to view it through the eyes of that seven-year old that lost his mother. Yet, for the mature Christian, death is a part of […]

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:10) When my now thirty-year-old daughter said her bedtime prayers as a child, she said the same thing every night. In fact, she repeated them so fast I could hardly keep up. I don’t think she realized what she was saying sometimes. However, my family probably wonders the same thing about me when I say table grace. I rarely change a word of it. […]

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:10) When my now thirty-year-old daughter said her bedtime prayers as a child, she said the same thing every night. In fact, she repeated them so fast I could hardly keep up. I don’t think she realized what she was saying sometimes. However, my family probably wonders the same thing about me when I say table grace. I rarely change a word of it. […]

“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14) It sure is great living under grace. But just because we live under grace, that doesn’t mean I can sin and move on with life as if nothing happened. It means that God will accept me in spite of sin in my life. Now that’s forgiveness with a capital “F”! We all know that grace is the unmerited favor of God. But John Piper, a Baptist pastor in Minnesota, […]