I was having a conversation with my Old Testament colleague Bill Arnold, and I asked him, “Is God ever called ‘life’ in the Old Testament?” His answer was telling: “Nothing comes to mind. But that may be because of frequency of usage, since the noun ‘life’ (ḥayyâ) is relatively rare, whereas the adjective ‘living’ (ḥay)
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Flattening the Curve: When Anxiety Goes Viral
We’re all holding our breath these days, waiting for the next shoe to drop in our national emergency. Officials from the White House down to local city halls and public works warn of a pending disaster of gargantuan proportions lurking just around the corner. Entire cities have gone on lockdown as the deadly, viral contagion
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Community in Plague Time
The wisdom of Solomon is time-tested, but these days it’s timely practical wisdom: “There is a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing” (Eccl 3:5). This advice is necessary to avoid spreading the COVID-19 virus. We aren’t designed to live in isolation. It goes against our grain. For Christians, it flies in
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A Prayer In Time of Suffering
Gracious Lord! Nothing can reconcile us to you better than to humbly and patiently learn obedience in the school of suffering. We learn by knowing that Jesus, though you are the Son of God, in the eternity of your nature you were pleased in your human nature to learn obedience by the things which you
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The Rule of Three
One of the most powerful productivity methods I have encountered is the rule of three. The rule of three says that each day you should focus on the three most important things you could do that day. These are three things that, if you do them, your day will be a success. It forces you
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The Ninth Word and Social Media
The Ninth Word is a fitting word for our mediated age. We’re spun by a whirlpool of rumor, innuendo, false accusation, slander, libel. People are tried and condemned by online lynch mobs. We like or share Tweets and Facebook posts even though we can’t possibly confirm their accuracy. Luther said that the Ninth Word requires
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Learning from the Faithful Meditations of Abraham Kuyper
Leaders shape a vision that inspires a following. An inspired following effects change—hopefully, change that is positive and blesses others. But how does a major leader for good sustain their vision? Clarify it? Expand it? Deepen it? How do they avoid becoming larger than the vision? Preoccupied with self more than with the cause? Compromising
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Can a Samaritan Be Good?
“Good Samaritan Helps Family Stranded on Side of Road” “Good Samaritan Funds Children’s Hospital”“Woman Saved from Burning House by Good Samaritan” How many times have you seen headlines like this? Stories about people who are selfless and sacrificial are wonderful and uplifting. They take us out of our doldrums and cynicism and remind us that
Read moreKnowing What to Do Next
“Now I know” “And knowing is half the battle.” Some of you may recognize these phrases. When I was a kid I would watch a popular cartoon that included this aphorism, along with a moral lesson, at the end of each episode. Cartoon soldiers would teach important lessons that may seem obvious to adults but
Read moreWhy Is Counting the Ten Commandments so Difficult?
We know there are Ten Words. Yahweh wrote them with his finger on two tablets of stone (Exod 31:18; 34:1). But the church has never agreed on how to count to ten. The Bible doesn’t give a decisive answer. There are twelve negative imperatives in Exodus 20:1–17, and one of the ten (“Honor thy father
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