Peter KrolThough the Sermon on the Mount gets most of the attention, the Gospel of Luke records another major teaching event regarding the kingdom of God (Luke 6:20–49), known as the Sermon on the Plain. Concerning that sermon, this article will take up the...
One of the greatest threats to our study of the Bible is our familiarity with God’s Word. When we believe we already know something, we tend to stop laboring to understand it. Familiarity thereby breeds presumption. And when presumption reaches full...
So you want to apply the Bible to your life, do you? That’s wonderful news, since the Lord Jesus (Matt 7:21–27) and his apostles (Jas 1:22–25) want you and me not only to hear the word but also to do it. But what should that “doing” look like?
There is one question I receive more than any other when Christians discover I’m involved in a collegiate discipleship ministry: What materials or resources do you use? I appreciate the eagerness behind the question, as folks generally aim to...
Why do some Christians talk so much about Bible study? If we are truly led by the Spirit (Rom 8:13–17), some may ask, what need is there for something as dry and cognitive as study? Could we be in danger of quenching the Spirit and trusting our own...
The parables of Jesus are far less direct than doctrinal statements. Yet, they’re far more disruptive than simple illustrations. Parables held primacy in Jesus’s public ministry (Mark 4:2, 33–34), and they still inflame the imagination like...
“I need to hear a voice from heaven.” That’s what Robert, an atheist, told me after we met together to read the Bible for most of an academic year. We had studied John, Romans, and selections of the Old Testament to examine both the claims of Christ...
Faith is one of those fancy Christian words we can find ourselves using a lot without truly understanding what it means. To many in American culture, “faith” is the opposite of reason and is best represented by a blindfold or reckless leap. For many...
While Abram was an idolator in Ur of the Chaldeans (Josh 24:2–3), God appeared to him and made three staggering promises (Gen 12:1–3). I will make you into a great nation. I will make your name great. I will make you the source of blessing for the...
When humanity conspired against God in the plain of Shinar (Gen11:4), they sought for themselves a name, a nation (i.e., a city), and to be a blessing to the whole world (i.e., a tower with its top in the heavens). God stooped down and wrecked their...
Whenever my laptop or smartphone gets stuck, I always hear the same preliminary advice: try to reboot. For some reason, shutting the technology down and starting it back up again tends to shake things loose and get them back where they’re supposed...
Why are we here, and what is our purpose? What on earth went wrong, and why are things so messed up? How can we go about making this wrecked world a better place? These are some of the most important questions a person can ask. If we’re willing to...
Sadly, the daily news plods forward with report after report of some Christian leader’s downfall. Some such cases arise from sexual impropriety. Others center on the abuse of power. Yet others involve financial mismanagement, unresolved conflict, or...
According to its opening verses, the book of Proverbs was written to help you 1) know what wisdom is, 2) recognize wisdom when you see it, 3) do wise things, 4) keep growing, and 5) remain anchored in God’s Word. The wisdom of Proverbs is neither a...
When is your son or daughter old enough to date? Should you pay off your mortgage or increase your investments? Should you ask your church for financial help or take on that second part-time job? What is the best way to bring up that painful yet...
As college sophomores, my three closest friends and I believed we were God’s gift to the small congregation we had decided to join. Sure, in addition to the many elderly congregants, there were a few young families in the membership. But we were...
Did you know God encourages righteous protest? If he didn’t want to encourage it, he wouldn’t have given his people the vocabulary of protest in their songs and prayers. In the following study of Psalm 80, we will take a close look at one of the...
Luke wrote his Gospel so his reader could have certainty regarding the things he had been taught about Christianity (Luke 1:4). He opens with narratives to explain Jesus’s credentials (1:1–4:13) and fundamentals (4:14–9:50). The lengthy travel...