The Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. The most important question everyone...
Jesus
The Son of David
There he was, the son of David — suspended between heaven and earth. Silver had been offered for...
Unhitching: A Ditch on Either Side
Recent History Andy Stanley famously (well, Christian-famously) mentioned that we need to...
Book Review — Passionate About The Passion Week (Part 4: Final Thoughts)
If you have not read Parts 1 -3 concerning The Good, The Odd, and The Concerning, please do so first. In this section, I want to reiterate that this book is worth getting for its historical value. Varner is also an experienced exegete, and I praise God that he has...
Book Review — Passionate About The Passion Week (Part 3: The Concerning)
If you have not read Parts 1 and 2 concerning The Good and The Odd, please do so first. Anyone who knows me knows that nothing makes me sit up and listen more discerningly than when dealing with the atonement. It is in my experience that most (if not all) heresies, at...
Book Review — Passionate About The Passion Week (Part 2: The Odd)
If you have not read Part 1 of this review concerning The Good, please do so first. While there is much to be praised about this work historically, there are some oddities in some sections. This isn't necessarily negative per se, although it may seem that way. For the...
Jesus in the Garden
Jesus went to a garden once. In Gethsemane, He prayed to the Father as He anticipated His crucifixion. But long before that garden, there was another garden where the Son of God was. The triune God made this garden for His beloved creation, mankind. This garden's name...
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...
2019 Advent Devotionals – Christmas Eve
Whether or not the liturgical calendar is even on your radar, we hope these devotions give you an opportunity to think about the incarnation, the reason Jesus came, and afford you the opportunity to dialogue with your family and others about the glory and greatness of...
2019 Advent Devotionals – Week 4
Whether or not the liturgical calendar is even on your radar, we hope these devotions give you an opportunity to think about the incarnation, the reason Jesus came, and afford you the opportunity to dialogue with your family and others about the glory and greatness of...
2019 Advent Devotionals — Week 3
Whether or not the liturgical calendar is even on your radar, we hope these devotions give you an opportunity to think about the incarnation, the reason Jesus came, and afford you the opportunity to dialogue with your family and others about the glory and greatness of...
2019 Advent Devotionals — Week 2
Whether or not the liturgical calendar is even on your radar, we hope these devotions give you an opportunity to think about the incarnation, the reason Jesus came, and afford you the opportunity to dialogue with your family and others about the glory and greatness of...
2019 Advent Devotionals — Week 1
Whether or not the liturgical calendar is even on your radar, we hope these devotions give you an opportunity to think about the incarnation, the reason Jesus came, and afford you the opportunity to dialogue with your family and others about the glory and greatness of...
Stubborn as a Mule
I played Donkey Basketball one time. After that experience, I can say I have firsthand understanding of what the phrase "stubborn as a mule" means (Yes, I know. A donkey and a mule are two different animals, but you get the illustration). The whole reason "donkey...
God’s Sovereignty Over Evil
A typical atheist mantra seems to be something along the lines, "God doesn't exist and I hate Him." One of the reasons cited for this hatred is because we live in a world with pain, suffering, and evil. A few years ago British comedian Stephen Fry was asked what he...
All The More They Were Eager
It is the law of God, held before a sinner, that exposes and even entices the indwelling sin. Remember Romans 7? Consider verse 8: “But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.” There is something about God’s correction which actually livens up the sin that at times lays dormant in our flesh.
The picture that Zephaniah provides to us is a picture of sinners who purposed in their hearts to make all their deeds corrupt. It wasn’t enough that they had fallen short of God’s commands, broken His covenant, and lived in rebellion. Upon hearing of their own deserved judgment, their response is eagerness to make all their deeds corrupt.
Answered Prayers – Ministry Report for Sept 21, 2019
On September 21, 2019, I was joined by a faithful group of evangelists and an old friend. Andrew Jones, Jason Roberts, Miri Roberts, and Wesley Coughlin are regulars at Ohio State football games. Cory Wasmus, an old friend was able to come as well! It was a great day...
Suicide Thoughts
Thus, we need to be careful when we are talking about folks who committed suicide. Too often I think we skirt around the issue of calling it sin, or even murder. Most people who commit suicide do it as the result of some sort of depression and I think we almost excuse it a little in our minds. It seems rather callous to call a guy who was so depressed he took his own life a murderer. But truth is worthless if it is hidden (Matthew 5:15).
The Active Obedience of Christ (book excerpt)
I've given up on a particular timeline for finishing my evangelistic book. The manuscript word count is now at 29,183. My plan is to release more excerpts as time passes so that I'm able to combine my effort on the book and here at Things Above Us. Here's a chapter...
The New Covenant: Unmixed, Unbreakable, & Unconditional (Part 2)
An Unbreakable/Unconditional Covenant Building on point #4 in the previous article about who are the unmixed members of the NC, if it were possible that NC members could break Christ's covenant through apostasy, or keep it through perseverance, then this causes some...
The New Covenant: Unmixed, Unbreakable, & Unconditional (Part 1)
Reread the title again. Let those words burn into your memory like a branding iron. The New Covenant (NC) that our LORD Jesus Christ inaugurated with his own blood (Hebrews 9:14-15) is unmixed, unbreakable, and unconditional. For some, this may seem obvious. But for...
Speaking at Upward? No Testimony, Please…
What would you do if you were asked to give the "message" at halftime of an Upward Sports match? This situation really comes up, and Christians with sound theology need to be ready at all times to present God's Word to the world. A Twitter friend asked this question...
Why King Jesus is Better than King Josiah
Not all of the kings of Judah were good kings. In fact, most of the kings of Judah were not good kings. In picking out people to name your son after there's not a plethora of worthy names to be found in the books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles. But there is...
A Letter to a Soul Seeking Jesus: #2
This series is a group of six letters written by Robert Murray M'Cheyenne contained in The Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray M'Cheyene by Andrew Bonar. I first heard about these letters on the Behold Your God podcast. I have adapted these letters (as in updating...
A Letter to a Soul Seeking Jesus: #1
This series is a group of six letters written by Robert Murray M'Cheyenne contained in The Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray M'Cheyene by Andrew Bonar. I first heard about these letters on the Behold Your God podcast. I have adapted these letters (as in updating...
Religion or Relationship?
Is Christianity about religion or a relationship? I understand what folks mean when they try to say Christianity is about a relationship, not religion, to a point. We need to understand, though, two things: first, that Christianity is a religion. Even in the early...
A Christmas Gift for You
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. - Matthew 1:21 'Tis the Season It's the most wonderful time of the year. But not just because the kids will be jingle belling. I love this time of year because...
Envy: Beastmode Gone Wrong
Beast mode refers to a state of performing something, especially difficult activities, with extreme power, skill, or determination (dictionary.com). For sports enthusiasts, this is most commonly understood when Marshawn Lynch famously has torn through opposing...
I Have Decided to Follow Jesus
If you don’t choose Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you won’t go to heaven. That’s right. I said it. A sinner must choose Christ by faith in order to become a Christian. I don’t know if you’ve been in some of the circles I have before, but there are pockets of people...
How to Change Your Spouse
I participated in a Q&A recently where a woman anonymously submitted this question: The Word instructs wives to submit to their husband's and RESPECT them. How can I respect a man who is not respectable in my eyes? Bigger Picture Advice First, my big picture...
God-Breathed: A Response to Rachel Held Evans’s View of Scripture – Part 4
This is part 4 of a series of posts (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) on Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans (RHE from here on). In this post, it is my desire to work through RHE’s understanding of the gospel (chapter...
The Line of the Promised One
If you had never heard of the book of Ruth before and then read it for yourself one day, you’d be forced to say it ends rather surprisingly. I’m not talking about the marriage of Ruth and Boaz, although that’s surprising enough in itself. I’m talking about how the...