5 Questions Every Believer Should Ask
If Romans is the greatest letter ever written, then chapter 8 is the greatest chapter in the greatest letter. It’s the Everest of Paul’s monumental epistle. In Romans 8, [...]
living under grace
Satan Desires to Sift You
Here’s a verse that frightens many people: Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. (Luke 22:31) Here are three conclusions people draw from these [...]
The new song of grace
This week our baby girl received her Australian citizenship certificate in the mail. She just became a little Aussie. This despite the fact that she has never been to [...]
Sowing, reaping and the golden rule
From the beginning of time there have been two worldviews, two trees, and two ways live. One is karma (you reap what you sow), and the other is grace (you reap what someone [...]
What is the Law Written on our Hearts?
Six-hundred years before Jesus came, the prophet Jeremiah spoke of a new covenant that God would make with his people: This is the covenant I will make with the people of [...]
Jesus and divorce
In the past year I’ve had a couple of friends go through divorce and each time it has torn our hearts. I won’t go into details, but what has struck me is how some in the [...]
How to Read the Commands of the New Testament?
How should we read the commands of the New Testament? A legalist will insist we read them as commands that must be obeyed. After all, didn’t Jesus say, “If you love [...]
What Happens When we Fall from Grace?
I am so glad the book of Galatians is in the Bible because we can learn a lot from other people’s mistakes. The Galatians lost their liberty in Christ by allowing [...]
The Root of Obedience
The other day I was walking with my two little girls to a playground. We were walking along a road that is sometimes used by goods vehicles. My girls were ahead of me and [...]
Is Grace a License to Sin?
Grace-preachers attract sinners and that is a good thing. If you consider yourself a sinner you have come to the right place! Sinners are welcome in the House of Grace. I [...]
Beware “Practical Holiness”
Life under the old covenant was so much simpler than the free and confusing world of grace. Back then if you wanted to stay on the straight and narrow, you just had to keep [...]
Why Was the Seventh Day Holy?
When God made the heavens and the earth, everything he did was good. And yet none of the six days of creation was considered holy. And God blessed the seventh day and made it [...]
Romans 7: The flesh test
Have you seen the pearl of wisdom hidden in Romans 7? Many miss it because they view the chapter as “not written for me” or as a mere prelude to chapter 8. This is a [...]
“Lifetime Guarantee” by Bill Gillham
Lifetime Guarantee is a book full of stories about ordinary life, like making eggs for breakfast, mowing the lawn, and sitting in your car outside the post office watching a [...]
John 15:6 – Abiding in the Vine
If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. (Jn 15:6) What does it [...]
John 14:15 – The commands of Jesus
If God loves us unconditionally, how do we account for those scriptures that link his love with our obedience: If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15) A [...]
How Well Did I Understand Grace Before I Understood Grace?
Have you ever seen those Magic Eye 3D pictures that look random but then reveal a hidden picture? Maybe there’s a group of you looking and someone says, “Wow – look at [...]
The flesh vs the spirit – two good books
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these things are opposed one to the other, that ye should not do those things which ye desire. ~ [...]
Beware the Dogs of Law
Have you ever noticed how Paul often warned Christians about the dangers of the law and those who preach it? In just about every letter there’s a warning: Watch out for [...]
Seven More Signs that you Might be Living Under Law
C.S. Lewis said that the safest road to hell is the one without signposts. You might say the same thing about the road that leads back to the law. It’s gradual and [...]
Completely Forgiven? When Confession is Bad for You
Jesus died to set men free. Galatians 5:13 tells us that we have a holy calling to be free – to live free, walk free, stay free. One way that we can lose our freedom is to [...]
Gifts + Message + Mission: Lessons from 2 Timothy
Near the end of his life Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy. It is full of practical wisdom for every Christian. In the first two chapters we find three timely [...]
Escape to Reality 