I realized that the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly to pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done. Elisabeth Elliot, Passion…
Chapter Three: Graphing Christian Progress Even though no graph can fully represent our progress in the Christian life, charting the course of our Christian life can still be very helpful. Which of the graphs in this chapter would best fit your life? Chapter Four: Factual Knowledge Though knowledge alone by no means guarantees spiritual growth,…
The heart is a desire factory. The human heart produces desires as fire produces heat. As surely as sparks fly upward, the heart pumps out desire after desire for a happier future. The condition of the heart is appraised by the kinds of desires that hold sway. Or, to put it another way, the state…
If we believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the only begotten Son of God and that He came into this world and went to the cross of Calvary and died for our sins and rose again in order to justify us and to give us life anew and prepare us for heaven-if you really believe…
Herod Agrippa I was the grandson of Herod “the Great” through one of the sons that Herod had executed during his lifetime. Herodias was his full sister. He grew up in Rome and, was known as the “black sheep” of the Herodian family for his dissolute lifestyle and habit of running up unpaid debts. After…
The greatest danger with busyness is that there may be greater dangers you never have time to consider. Busyness does not mean you are a faithful or fruitful Christian. It only means you are busy, just like everyone else. And like everyone else, your joy, your heart, and your soul are in danger. We need…
Chapter One: An Infinite Journey Mapped Out Davis uses the imagery of two “infinite journeys,” the inward journey of conformity to Christ and the outward journey of witness to the world. Though we are constantly tempted to prioritize one over the other, in reality, we cannot make progress in either without making progress in both.…
Are You a Confirmation Bias Christian? “We are never not worshiping. But there is one big idol all our little manufactured idols themselves serve, and that idol is us. There’s really no new idolatry in our brave new world; we just find new ways with which to orient our worlds around ourselves.” Aging Gracefully “Every…
Faith does not cease being active as it undertakes the process of rigorous thinking. One need not disavow the gifts of intellect in giving thought to their Giver.
Thomas C. Oden [1931–2016], Classic Christianity,(HarperCollins, 2009), pg 180
“Herod Philip” is the name that historians use to refer to a son of Herod “the Great” named Philip who must be distinguished from Philip the Tetrarch. He lived in Rome with his wife Herodias (who was a granddaughter of Herod, and thus the niece of her husband) and their daughter Salome. When Herod Antipas…
