I had a seminary assignment recently that I thought might be a benefit to our readers. I’m posting it in its entirety below. The Question You learn that a dear older lady in your church is dying of colon cancer, so you promptly begin visiting her in the hospital. She is delighted to see you, […]
death
A Open Letter to Afflicted Saints
To my dear afflicted Saint, I write this with tears that have been recently mixed with emotional pain and grief. I know what it feels like to have people text, email, and call you, and still receive no comfort. I mean, it’s nice to know that people are thinking and praying for you. But the […]
Now It’s Personal
Most of the time I write, podcast, or otherwise post online, my posts are impersonal. I have a healthy fear of focusing too much on myself and so I choose to preach and teach theology without inserting my own life too much. Today, on the anniversary of a horrific memory of mine, I’m breaking that […]
Jesus Wept. But Not For Lazarus
Jesus wept (John 11:35). Perhaps one of the most memorable verses in the bible next to John 3:16. Not because of content, but word count (and certainly not because of context). When teachers ask students to learn a memory verse, they humorously remove this one as an option. But in another context, typically at funerals, […]
That Ain’t Your Mama’s Hyssop
David is guilty of the death of Uriah (2 Samuel 11:15). Although he hadn’t physically touched Uriah’s dead body, there is a sense of uncleanness because of his involvement in Uriah’s death. So when David cries out to the Lord to be purged with hyssop, he is calling on God to cleanse him from his sin. David could have offered more sacrifices than nearly anyone who has ever lived. He was a rich man! But he knew that God delights in “a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart,” rather than animal sacrifices (Psalm 51:16-17), and certainly hyssop is similarly a prefigurement of something…or Someone.
You Who: Why You Matter and How to Deal with It — Rachel Jankovic (book review)
Note (May 20th, 2020): My previous endorsement of You Who is under reconsideration after my having done much more study into Federal Vision theology. I have left the below review just as it was before for the time being. —GPO In You Who: Why You Matter and How to Deal with It, author Rachel Jankovic writes against the […]
An Appeal to those Contemplating Suicide: There is a Redeemer
Despair. Failure. Depression. Loss. Guilt. Apathy. Pain. Anything you could possibly think of that makes you think this life isn’t worth living. At the very least, that makes you feel like it’s better off without you. I get it. I’ve been there. The trials we experience at times are tough. Super tough. We often feel […]
Preaching to a Funeral Audience, part 2
If you haven’t read part 1, read that first. Christ Died for Sinners Think of any story where someone risks his or her own life for a friend or even a stranger. A man in a New York subway station falls onto the train tracks. Suddenly, some stranger jumps down and lifts the man up […]
Preaching to a Funeral Audience, part 1
The ostensible goal was to gather a million believers on the National Mall in Washington D.C. The effort surely fell short, but there was at least a decent crowd. So the claim goes, it turned out to be “the largest Christian event in the history of the United States.” And the gospel presentations therein fell rather […]
A Primer of Hospice Ministry
What is Hospice? Hospice care is a form of palliative (rather than curative) care, wherein the focus is on making the terminally ill patient as comfortable as possible rather than curing the terminal illness. Within the United States, patients become eligible for the Medicare hospice benefit when a doctor and the hospice medical director agree […]