The Cross and Pen

Have you ever wondered what you purpose in life is? Perhaps you're like me and often quip about what you want to be when you grow up. Often, I admire those people who seemingly know their purpose and work at it every day. As a Christian, it can sometimes be a challenge to know what it is God has called you to do. One of the reasons it can be so challenging, I think, is because there is the purpose God has called us to and then there is the purpose we seek to fulfill. Most of the times these are not the same. So, we spend the bulk of lives trying to go our way and do our own thing. At a certain point, we get frustrated and ask God, "What do you want me to do with my life?" Expectantly, we wait for an answer. And we wait. And we wait. Now, it's that God is not  answering our prayer. No, that is typically not the case. What I have come to discover is that God has provided unique gifts and talents to us. When I say us, I mean people - believers and non-believers alike. Ju...

Have you heard the phrase "the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist?" While it's tongue in cheek, there is a bit of truth to it. Now, that is not to say the phrase has validity or legitimacy. The truth of the phrase is in its implication. Today many don't believe in God let alone the Devil. Those who believe in his existence imagine a figure with horns on his head, a tail, and carrying a pitchfork. His presence and influence is often minimized by believers. One reason for this perhaps is sermons typically tend to be about more applicable, biblical topics. Another is the Bible does not provide extensive information about the Devil. Furthermore, the Devil, an integral character to the biblical narrative, is not central to the main plot, which is focused on Jesus, redemption, and salvation. Therefore, we tend to put the Devil in a box and forget about him.  Sun Tzu said, "All warfare is based on deception." Think abo...

Perhaps the most unique books in the Bible are the Gospels because they contain the account of Christ. In particular, they not only detail his life but also the many miracles he performed. I addressed the need for miracles in a previous post (The Necessity of Miracles), so I won't go into a lengthy discussion about that here. Rather, I intend to focus on the nature of the miracles and their overall intention. Simply stated, I believe all miracles point to creation. There are two parts to this concept: 1. creation itself; and 2. the Creator. An examination of the creation account indicates God created the heavens and the Earth out of nothing - ex nihilo as it's known. This means God did not use any pre-existing material. Even the emptiness of space did not exist until he created it. The nothingness, as it were, had to be created. Additionally, God spoke creation into existence. He did not require an elaborate plan. There was no set of blueprints and a project timeline. With just...

If you've ever thumbed through the Gospels, you have no doubt read the accounts of Jesus' miracles. Have you ever wondered why Jesus performed so many miracles? Sure, the obvious answer is he was validating his identity. Let's face it, the disciples and people of that day did not have the luxury of historical data like we do today to draw upon in order to confirm Jesus was who claimed to be. No one in the crowd could pull out their smartphone and Google Jesus. Certainly there was some prophetic knowledge regarding Jesus, which had been passed from generation to generation. Written on scrolls perhaps, there was information concerning Jesus, the Messiah. But unlike today, where we have instant access to information,  in Jesus' time such information was sparse. Now, I can see the pundits in the back of the room waving their arms in protest. Yes, yes, I understand this is an over simplification, and that the communication of information did occur because the people were wai...