The Christian understanding of freedom is at complete loggerheads with what our culture tells us. And I’d say most of us as Christians have trouble understanding it ourselves. An extremely important concept for understanding the Christian life is th...
Living the Christian life is not a matter of willpower and self-effort. Because of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we have the potential for radical and organic growth and change. 2 Peter talks about moving from selfishness to unselfishness, from ensl...
The book of 1 Peter is probably more about suffering than anything else. It might be the only book in the New Testament completely devoted to the subject of suffering. And it shows us that going through trials, troubles, and sufferings is one of the...
When we become Christians we don’t just turn over a new leaf, we’re spiritually raised with Christ and his resurrection power comes into our lives. And so, what does such an empowered life look like? We’re called to be holy, but this is a difficult t...
Jesus’ resurrected power is in our lives now. Even though we are not yet bodily resurrected, Christians are, according to Ephesians 2, raised with Christ and knowing the power of his resurrection. What does that mean? What does it mean to live that k...
When we unite with Jesus Christ, his resurrection power comes into our lives. Even though we believe we’ll be resurrected in our bodies at the end of time, there is already a spiritual resurrection that happens to us now. What does that look like? ...
Jesus’ resurrection isn’t supposed to just change history—it’s supposed to change you and me. The New Testament everywhere says we should expect to encounter the risen Christ. And that’s how our lives are changed. Peter is a case study for us, becau...
Easter is too marvelous for words, but we’re going to try. Luke 24 is an account of the resurrection: from the morning when the empty tomb was discovered, to the middle of the day when Jesus appeared on the road to Emmaus, to the evening when Jesus...
For centuries now, on the Sunday before Easter, the church has observed the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem just days before he was crucified. It’s called Palm Sunday. What does Palm Sunday mean? It means Jesus is king, and it’s impor...
Christianity gives us resources to help us live in a world that’s hard to live in. And in Luke 5, we see a resource we wouldn’t immediately think of as one — that is, that when Jesus calls us, he sends us out into the world to serve. Serving other pe...
