Lately, I have been confused with Romans 7-8 until I realized that Paul was talking about his two natures, his sinful flesh and his spirit filled mind. He describes them always at constant battle because he says that when he longs to do good, evil lies close at hand (Romans 7:21). So he praises God [...]

Romans 8:1 tells us that there is no condemnation for those in Christ. Paul says this right after he gets through telling us he struggles with longing to be obedient and yet his flesh is always there trying to prevent him. The order struck me as strange, but I think the reason this is so [...]

I had planned on this summer being a summer of great theological learning.  I was hoping to read a lot of great books and study my Bible and really get spiritually charged for this next year of seminary.  Needless to say, I think I’m about as unspiritual as I’ve ever been.  I don’t pray, read [...]

To answer yesterday’s post about faith, we need to make some comparisons. Most of us know the great debate between the faith of Paul and that of James. I firmly believe that there is no contradiction between their messages, but I want to examine the way they work themselves out practically.
Paul’s Faith
Paul wrote [...]

I got to thinking about what it means to be dependent on God for our life.  I am not dependent on God for anything unless I actually step out in faithful obedience.  I could say, “I’m going to depend upon God to get me out of this slump and open my mouth to start talking [...]

Since writing my previous post, I found my old journal, one I started back around 2004.  My life back then was very similar to what it is now.  I had just graduated college and was waiting for my family’s business to get started, so there was about 9 months of doing nothing, sitting at my [...]

Ok, I’m going to let you in on a little secret - seminary students struggle with their faith.  You may think, how can that be, you’re learning about God?  Well, there’s two major reasons.  One, we neglect true intimate time, with our heart engaged, in worship and Bible study.  Second, we get so puffed up [...]

So I was translating Romans 5:1-11 (I only got to v.5 because I got the great idea to start this blog) and just saw some incredible things jump off the page that I had to write it down.  You see, lately the Lord has been showing me a lot about condemnation (and how much of [...]