Posts Tagged ‘Jesus Christ’

The theme of hope has been in the news recently.  In an interview outgoing First Lady Michelle Obama, lamenting what in her view is the loss of hope, said, “Hope is necessary.  It’s a necessary concept.”  Incoming President Donald Trump responded, “I’m telling you, we have tremendous hope.  And we have a tremendous promise and tremendous potential.”

Although both political figures rightly emphasize the importance of hope, they are terribly misguided about its nature.  The Christmas story in the Gospels reveals the true nature of hope and its power. Read the rest of this entry »

The ancient Greeks tragedies saw all of man’s efforts overruled by cruel and blind fate.  Karl Marx said man was subject to economic determinism.  B.F. Skinner contended that human behavior was determined by genetics and environment.  For atheistic existentialists, like Sartre, the human condition is to be trapped in a meaningless universe from which there is no escape.   Both fairy tales and the Bible disagree. Read the rest of this entry »

            Although this is in all likelihood not news to you, we theologians are odd birds.  After all, how many people come away from a delightful day-after Valentine’s dinner with a beautiful wife thinking about the possibilities of a new type of culture—a culture of cooperation and not competition? Read the rest of this entry »

            When David Boudia was competing in the men’s ten-meter platform diving event at the 2012 London Olympics, this Carmel High School graduate managed to put aside, at least temporarily, his loyalties and root for someone from archrival Noblesville.  More importantly, after Boudia won the gold medal, I discovered that he is an example of the power of the peace of God. Read the rest of this entry »

            A major reason for the contemporary church’s weak prayer life and spirituality is that we are infected with modernist individualism, which misleads us into believing that the corporate is opposed to the personal.  This is unbiblical.  By its context, structure and content Psalm 107 reveals a pattern for giving thanks to God that incorporates the personal into the whole life of the people of God. Read the rest of this entry »