Forgivenessby Mike Fabarez God’s forgiveness is complete. Because God is too pure to approve or tolerate what is evil (Hab.1:13; Ps.5:4-5; et al.), to say that we are God’s beloved children because we are accepted by God in Christ, is to make a gigantic claim that assumes that our sin problem has been totally resolved. It can only mean “total” forgiveness. To see yourself in the promise of Romans ...  Read More

Wait Patientlyby Mike Fabarez Sometimes the way we read the Bible becomes a disservice to our Christian life. When a tension is presented in the plot of a biblical narrative we naturally “can’t wait” to see how it will be resolved; so we rush on to see how God works it all out. And after we’ve become familiar with all the Bible stories, our rereads of the various human crises are often skimmed wit...  Read More

Life’s Detoursby Mike Fabarez We all experience life’s detours—those unexpected twists and turns which disappoint and frustrate us because they’ve disrupted our well-laid plans. When the next one comes our way, let’s be careful how we respond. If the disappointment turns into anger and bitterness, then we know we’ve clearly lost sight of one of the central tenets of biblical Christianity—namely, t...  Read More

2 Timothy 2:1515Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,3 a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. Whose praise are you living for?By nature, we desire the approval of others. But, as believers, the approval we should long for above all else is the approval of God Himself. It is worth pausing to consider the awesome truth that, today, what we do c...  Read More

Amos 5:16-23Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, "There is wailing in all the plazas, And in all the streets they say, 'Alas! Ala!'’  They also call the farmer to mourning And professional mourners to lamentation.  And in all the vineyards there is wailing, Because I will pass through the midst of you," says the Lord.Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord, For what purpo...  Read More

Genesis 39:20-2120 And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.After Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him, Joseph hit rock bottom… again. Once more he found himself condemned—not to a p...  Read More

TRINITYThe Bible presents us with a mathematical dilemma when we study the nature of God. From the beginning we are told that there is only one God. That revelation became the doctrinal rally point of ancient Israel – “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). And yet, also from the beginning, there has been a kind of uncontainable “plurality” to that one God. Not only ...  Read More

RESPECT THE ELDERLYThere is a little verse tucked away in the book of Leviticus that reveals an oft-neglected value among those making a claim to godliness. We often miss these seemingly obscure biblical insights because we read much of the Old Testament as wholly obsolete for our new covenant Christian lives. While it is true that Christ has fulfilled the ceremonial rules of the Mosaic Law, so mu...  Read More

COVETINGDo you covet? Most would say, “not really” or “not too often.” But I wonder how in tune we are with the presence of this subtle sin? Even when we recognize its presence in our hearts, how quick are we to minimize its gravity? It seems we will more readily admit to any of the other moral transgressions than we will to a covetous heart. We have the ability to dismiss the sinfulness of coveti...  Read More

A Prayer for Memorial Day: Remembering Those Who Have Fought for Our FreedomBy Debbie McDaniel“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”  John 15:13Freedom is a gift, it’s a treasure.  And though we all may agree on that truth, it’s often easy to take for granted the greatest gifts that God has given us in our lives. But those most precious gifts are never free...  Read More

Ephessians 5:2020 Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.People submit to one another for many reasons—on the basis of politics or social structures, or even on the basis of pragmatism. Sometimes it’s much easier (and certainly nicer!) just to submit to people than it is to take the ri...  Read More

THE TONGUEThe Bible says that if you can control what you say, everything else is a snap (cf. Jms.3:2). When it comes to our fallen humanity, nothing is more depraved than our mouths. The Bible says that our tongue is “a fire” and “a world of evil among the parts of the body” (Jms.3:6a). God says it can “set the whole course of your life on fire” and he even goes so far as to say that our tongues ...  Read More