GraceWaves Articles

“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you.'” John 20:19 Only a few days and weeks before, these disciples were sure they had all the answers. “We will never leave you!” “Though everyone else forsake you I never will!” “Yes we are able to drink from the same cup as you, Jesus!” They argued among one another about who was greatest and who would get privileged seats on the

“I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints the length, width, height, and depth of God’s love; and to know that Christ’s love for you surpasses all knowledge and fills you with the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17b-19 God loves you. You know that don’t you? But you have heard it so often that it risks sounding trite or maudlin. What is indisputably true is that most Christians live as if they are unaware of God’s love. Your challenge this week is to remember the fact that God

“I will remember their sins and their misdeeds no more.” Hebrews 10:17 All preachers are grateful for their children, if for no other reason than that they are little walking bundles of sermon illustrations. Of course, as children get older they tend to resent even the subtlest hint that they are related to the preacher. I tried to respect the privacy of my own two, except when it was late on Saturday night and I was desperate. I did broach the subject with Lauren when she was about 4. We were on the way home from church, and I had

[Spoke on addiction and faith this morning at a wonderful church, Delhi Presbyterian, am home for the evening, and fly out early tomorrow morning to visit Wingate Wilderness Therapy where I'll be living in the southern Utah desert for the week. Prayers appreciated. In fact, because of my schedule I'm rerunning a GW on prayer this week. That's right, it's not original. It's a repeat. If you got a complaint, just remember that your subscription is free. Grace…] “After He had dismissed them, He went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone.”

“They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with the wings of eagles.” Isaiah 40:21 Remember the exhilaration of driving alone for the first time? In Kentucky, where I was raised, you had to be 16 before you got your permit and then had to wait at least 30 days before the driver’s test. As I recall, I went the day of my birthday for my permit and the 31st day for my exam, a youthful zeal my mother did not share My first stop was Mom’s work place. She was suitably proud and

“What are you doing here Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:9 Driving to church today I thought about the thousands of people I passed in their homes or cars. What were they like spiritually? I decided, accurately I think, that very few of them are murderers, serial adulterers, chronically undependable, lying, cheating scoundrels. Most people are probably muddling their way through life with occasional episodes of low level road hostility (not full-blown road rage), fudging on taxes, and padding résumés. Now I’m not letting any of the more respectable sinners off the hook. We can avoid all of the big, ugly, public

“Let us make man in Our image.” Genesis 1:26 The three most important questions in life are “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” And “Where am I going?” Notice which one is first. Do you know who you are? The question of identity is the most important. We have to know who we are before we can know our purpose or destiny. To answer this most fundamental question we simply need to go to the beginning. The very first chapter of the Bible contains a statement of immense power and potential. God made a decision to make us in

Help! “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.” James 1:27 Help. When you read that word what comes to mind? Do you see it as a request or an imperative? Is it “Help me!”? Or “Help someone.”? Both are essential. “Help me” is a frank admission that we can’t make make it through life in our own strength. We all need help, and asking for help actually comes quite naturally to us very early in life. My three-year-old granddaughter regularly asks for help, whether it’s carrying a

“Thou shalt not have any other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3 Warning: this will not be my most popular GraceWaves. Eight of the Ten Commandments begin with “Thou shalt not.” (I like the sturdy King James language here). The two that are formed in a “positive” manner are keep the Sabbath holy and honor your parents. The so-called negative casting of the commandments is off-putting to many people, as is the Old Testament in general. So much so to some, that they follow the lead of the second century scholar Marcion who flatly rejected the Old Testament and said that

“Neither do I condemn you.” John 8:11 Shame. That must have been the main feeling of the woman caught in adultery when she was dragged before Jesus. She had been caught in the very act by men who probably set her up as a test for this new rabbi with His notions of grace and easy ways with sinners. “Let’s see how he handles someone who is clearly guilty!” The woman was actually guilty. Of course, equally so was the man, the ostensibly married man. It does take two to tango, or to commit adultery. We never hear anything about

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in all our affliction so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 The main purpose of GraceWaves is to encourage folks by inviting them more deeply into God’s grace. My eye, therefore, naturally gravitates to passages that depict God’s grace being dispensed to struggling saints, and the Bible is full of such examples. The key word in the passage above is encouragement, and is from the Greek word

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.” 1 Peter 2:21 Peter wrote the verse above some thirty years after walking through Israel with Jesus. He obviously had come to a point in his life when he realized that only by giving do we really receive. The way of service is the way out from under the crushing weight of self-centeredness. At this late point in his life, Peter understood. But it was not always this way. Look back a few years in his

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “what is this that you have done?” Genesis 3:13 It’s been quite a while since I’ve read the Bible from first to last. I’ve been a pretty good Bible reader and studier for years, contractually or vocationally obligated I suppose. But reading in order to “get something to preach or teach” is far different from reading the Bible simply out of a desire to experience God through the written Word. Years ago I heard or read the advice from a fellow minister that all of us in the profession needed to read

“Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus” 2 Timothy 2:1 Philip Yancey often refers to his having been raised in a strict religious environment. In and of itself that is neutral. The problem was that grace was not a feature of his church or his early Christian thinking. He understands today why some troubled people say “Why would I want to go to church? They only make me feel worse.” I want to point out here, that there are some legitimate reasons people need to feel some guilt and pain, but the contrast between the way many

“God is love.” 1 John 4:16 On my desk is a tuning fork I’ve had for 25 years or so. This particular tuning fork gives me the note A. It doesn’t matter how often I strike it, it will always give me the note A. You can’t hear it from a distance. You have to be close. You must listen carefully. I could pack it carefully away and open it up in 20 or 30 years, strike it and it would give me the note A. Over and over. Always and forever. This tuning fork gives me the note A.