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Perhaps This Was Job's Biggest Test of All

2026-03-19T07:16:00.000-05:00

Does Job's intercession foreshadow Jesus?

JOB ENDURED NUMEROUS trials, but his last test may have been the most difficult.

After his encounter with God, Job admitted he had "uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know" (42:3). And, in response, he said:

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.

Job 42:5-6

Such is the natural response when confronted by a pure, holy God. Think of Isaiah who said, "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (6:5). Or recall Simon Peter's response to Jesus after the miracle of the large catch of fish. He fell before the Lord and said, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8).

When confronted with God's holiness, one cannot help but "despise" himself, for we are all sinful people with unclean lips and unclean hearts. Even the best, most faithful of us pale in comparison to a holy, perfect God. As Isaiah wrote, "All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment" (64:6). And as the Psalmist wrote, "There is none who does good, not even one" (14:3).

But if fear and self-loathing are the natural responses to an encounter with God, what Job had to do next was anything but instinctual.

After our protagonist repented "in dust and ashes," God turned to Job's companions. The LORD expressed anger at Eliphaz and his friends for slandering God. He commanded they bring seven bulls and seven rams as a sacrifice to atone for their sin. But here's the twist: Job would be their intercessor.

God told them to bring their burnt offerings to Job who would pray for them. Can you imagine it? These are the very people who added insult to anguish for Job. They effectively told him he was to blame for his own calamity. For example, Zophar said, "God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves" (Job 11:6).

Now God was telling–not asking–Job to pray for them? This might have been his biggest test of all.

This is pure speculation on my part because the Scripture gives no indication Job struggled at all with God's command. But I know I would have trouble doing anything for these guys who metaphorically rubbed salt in my wounds.

Keep in mind this occurred before God restored Job to health and wealth. At this point Job has received his audience with God. He has repented. But he's still a disgusting destitute wretched mess of a man. Yet in this state, Job received the offerings of his companions, and in obedience interceded on their behalf.

Millenia later, Jesus would preach a sermon on a hillside in which he said radical things like "Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you" (Matt. 5:44) and, "if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matt. 6:14-15).

These sayings were radical then and they remain revolutionary to this day. Why? Because it's not in our nature nor in our culture to forgive. Enemies are to be vanquished. They must be punished. Yet as far back in human history as Job, we see a picture of forgiveness. It is brief and without fanfare, but I'm convinced Job could not have officiated the sacrifices and prayed for his frenemies unless his heart was right with God and unless he meant what he prayed.

Job's act, small as it may seem, foreshadowed Jesus Christ, because Jesus didn't just preach words about forgiveness–he lived them. After his arrest, unlawful trial, arbitrary sentencing, scourging, mocking, and, ultimately, crucifixion, Jesus, in agony, uttered some of the most powerful words ever spoken: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

Can you imagine being humiliated and tortured though innocent and yet have the fortitude to ask God to forgive the humiliators and torturers? But Jesus didn't just forgive the first century Jewish leaders who demanded his crucifixion. He didn't only forgive the Romans who executed Pilate's order to crucify him. No, through the act of self-sacrifice Jesus interceded for the entire world, for all sins ever committed.

Every sin, from the bite of fruit in Eden to the white lie you told yesterday is a sin against God, and all sin has consequences. God told Adam and Eve that should they eat the forbidden fruit they would die. Paul wrote that "the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). In other words, when we sin, we earn death. We deserve it because we turn our backs on God. But God did not want this to be the end of the story so he sent Jesus, God in human flesh, to pay the price for our sins.

While Job officiated the sacrifices for his mockers and interceded for them in prayer, Jesus sacrificed himself for the very people who sinned against him because of his great love for us. All we must do is place our faith in him and he will forgive our transgressions.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like my free guide, 12 Things Effective Christians Do (Even When Life Isn't Going as Planned).

The guide will help you develop a strong, healthy relationship with God so you can experience peace in the midst of the storms of life.

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What I Read in 2025: 3 Books You Might Enjoy

2026-02-11T06:31:00.009-06:00

Three of my favorite books from 2025, plus I'm giving one of them away!

Update, 2/25/26: Congrats to Dave from Oklahoma on winning this year's giveaway!

patsanannn

THE TURN OF the calendar is one of my favorite times of the year. I know changing a number from one year to the next is, in many ways, an artificial marker. It is similar to a woman lamenting turning 40 or the global hysteria when the calendar switched over to the year 2000. These are just numbers, after all!

And while I recognize the superficiality of the new year, I am also reminded that God set forth the seasons and the planet's orbit around the sun. He set up the axial tilt and the 365-day cycle, even inaugurating holidays for his people to celebrate.

The new year inspires me because of its apparent limitless potential for growth, accomplishment, and progress. I can't wait to see what 2026 has in store for you and for me. May we find ourselves in the center of God's will.

While looking ahead is energizing for me, I also, as I do every year, take a look back at the previous year and share with you some of my favorite books of the year.

I came across a LinkedIn post last week with a list of eight books to help you get "unstuck." As a sucker for reading recommendations I took note. In reading comments on the post, I came across multiple responses with an argument I have heard quite often. The comments were varied, but they were all to the effect of "books don't change lives."

Having heard this many times, even by authors themselves, I've come to the realization that this must be true for some. This is not true for me. The Bible aside, which is unquestionably life-changing, I can enumerate a dozen or so books that have had a profound impact on my life both in a practical sense and in ways that enlightened my perspective.

I say all of this only to encourage you to keep reading.

And as I also do every year, I am giving away one of the following books plus a copy of my latest book, You're Utmost Is Not Enough: Trusting God When Life Doesn't Make Sense, in your preferred format.¹To enter is free, but you must opt-in even you are already a subscriber to my email list. To do so, enter your email below and click "Enter the Contest."

But enough preamble, let's get on to what I read in 2025.

Three Books You Might Enjoy

In many ways 2025 was a bust because I started and did not finish more books than I ever remember doing. My TBR list is always growing, so I simply don't have time to tolerate poor or irrelevant writing like I thought I did in previous times. But by the end of 2025 I finished reading eight books, pretty standard for me. Following are the three books I think you also will most enjoy.

438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea

Everything will work out... don't give up hope, remain calm.

I bought 438 Days for my dad a few years back as a Father's Day gift. After finishing the book, he gave it back, urging me to read it. He said he couldn't put the book down.

438 Days is the true story of a Salvadoran fisherman, José Salvador Alvarenga, and his helper who were swept out into the Pacific ocean by a violent squall in November of 2012 and the 438 days that followed as they drifted aimlessly halfway across the world in a 23-foot boat.

Using an icebox for shelter from the blistering sun, the two men endured endless days dreaming of water, shelter, and real food–they had been catching and eating raw seabirds as their primary source of sustenance. And, at one point, the fishermen resorted to licking the bottom of the boat to obtain even a drop of moisture to quench their parched, emaciated bodies.

Back home in Mexico, friends and family had long since given up hope of finding Alvarenga and his mate, Ezequiel Córdoba, and held memorial services for the presumed dead. Yet over a year after being swept out to sea, Alvarenga's boat approached Ebon, one of the Marshall Islands, 7,000 miles from where he put out to sea that fateful day.

Not only is the story itself captivating, but Jonathan Franklin's writing is engaging, interweaving general survival and ocean facts with Alvarenga's descent into despair

IF God, Why Evil? A New Way to Think about the Question

It is understandable that [God] would be more interested in our character than our comfort; more concerned about our holiness than our happiness.²

Norman Geisler co-authored one of my favorite nonfiction books, I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, so it's no wonder I enjoyed If God, Why Evil?

If you've been following my writing for the past few years, you know I have written quite often on the subject of pain and suffering, including a deep dive on several chapters of the book of Job. Geisler's book came as a nice affirmation of my conclusions in addition to providing new perspectives and answers I had never considered.

Geisler walks the reader through the philosophical problem of evil using the question and answer format. As such the book reads like a frequently asked questions page of a website, addressing common objections and misconceptions around the topics of God's nature, human freedom, and the characteristics of evil among others.

Indeed Geisler himself writes in the introduction, "The problems and responses are put in succinct logical form so that one can see plainly what is being said," yet "the book is comprehensive. . . [It] treats evil’s nature, origin, persistence, purpose, and avoidability. It discusses evil’s metaphysical, moral, and physical problems."³

One topic that stood out to me is the purpose of evil. After making the case that God did not create evil, but rather created the possibility of evil in creating morally free beings, he argues that God could only indirectly create free beings who cannot sin:

"As for the objection that God is free but cannot sin, and, therefore, there is no reason why we should not be able to do the same on earth: first, we are not God, and, second, we are not yet in heaven. . . some things cannot be created directly; some things can be produced only through a process. . . In short, God has to create free creatures who could sin before He could produce free creatures who can’t sin."⁴

To skip the in-between step would be to create robots, not free beings. God will perfect our wills but this can only happen through a transformational process.

Geisler also pushes back against the assertion that an all-good God would prevent all physical evils. He writes, "Sometimes the most loving thing God can do is not to supernaturally intervene to prevent all physical evil in our lives."⁵ How can this be true? God knows that it is through struggle and pain that we grow, not through pleasure. He is concerned with our spiritual growth and development in order to accomplish the greatest achievable outcome.

I encourage you to pick up this book. I believe it will enrich your thinking on the topic of evil in relationship to the nature of a benevolent, omnipotent God.

Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot

God endows us with gifts so we can make him known. Period.⁶

As one who is always trying to make the most of my time on earth, I was intrigued by the title of this Max Lucado book. I want an uncommon life, to make a difference in this world. I began reading The Cure for The Common Life with no expectations, having never read any of Lucado's numerous books before.

The premise is simple but beautiful: "Use your uniqueness (what you do) to make a big deal out of God (why you do it) every day of your life (where you do it)."⁷ If you do all three of these things, you will find your "sweet spot" and cure your common life.

I love this premise because I think it encapsulates neatly the meaning of life–to glorify God. My mantra lately has been John 3:30, "He must increase, but I must decrease." When my life brings glory to God, I know I have been successful.

Everyone has a sweet spot, argues Lucado, because everyone is uniquely gifted by God and equipped to work for him. Embracing your uniqueness and becoming the best you can be is the key to a fulfilling life. Lucado warns against greed and burnout and admonishes the reader to praise God and embrace the body of Christ.

The book provides a helpful guide in the appendix for discovering your own sweet spot through exercises and reflection. Even if you already believe you are doing what you are meant to do, The Cure for the Common Life provides excellent reminders that encourage you in your uniqueness and ground you to the Word of God.

A Giveaway!

How would you like to win one these books?

I'm giving away one of the above books of your choice plus a copy of my newest book, Your Utmost Is Not Enough: Trusting in God Even When Life Doesn't Make Sense, to one lucky winner!

How can you enter?

It's actually quite simple: subscribe to my email list. That's it.

I typically send out two emails a month, including one on the last Tuesday with exclusive subscriber-only content. But there's no obligation to stay subscribed once the giveaway ends. To sign up, enter your email address below and click the button. (No need to enter your email address again if you did so in the form at the top of this post.)

I'll leave the giveaway open for seven days (through the end of 2/17/26 CST) and choose a winner at random on 2/18/26. (Note: this contest is open to residents of all territories, but since I'm based in the US, if shipping costs to foreign countries are too prohibitive, I will substitute the prize for a gift card.)

I'll update this post with the first name and location of the winner as well as notify him or her by email.

Good luck!

--------------------------------------
Notes:

1. I'm based in the US, but anyone, anywhere can enter. If international costs are prohibitive, I will send instead a digital gift card in the equivalent amount.

2. Norman Geisler, If God, Why Evil?: A New Way to Think about the Question (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2011), Kindle edition, 76.

3. Ibid, 10.

4. Ibid, 62.

5. Ibid, 85.

6. Max Lucado, Cure for the Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005), Kindle edition, 5.

7. Ibid, 6.

8. This post contains affiliate links which means I receive a portion of sales at no extra cost to you.

The Attraction of Distraction

2025-12-23T07:36:00.003-06:00

Your calling might be boring, and that's okay.

Creative Christians

WE LOVE OUR distractions. We pretend they are a nuisance only to seek them out, often subconsciously. The constant ding, ping, and vibration of the PhoneWatchTablet triggers a dopamine rush that leaves us craving more.

But this problem isn't a recent one. Prior to smartphones, people clutched their Blackberry phones—nicknamed Crackberries for their endorphin-induced addictions—not to mention email, instant messages, and regular old television.

Distractions have been around as long as humans have. Look to language for some clues.

In the Spanish language the word for fun is diversión. Fun is a diversion from normal life, a break from the boring day-to-day slog. In (American) English, we use the word vacation for periods of leisure and travel. I love a good vacation, but think about the implications of that word. How depressing it is that to enjoy ourselves, we must vacate our boring, pathetic lives.

Rest, leisure, and yes, fun, are all important components of a healthy life. God commanded a Sabbath rest for his people, and, as Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man" (Mark 2:27). Jesus rested. He enjoyed time with his friends.

But the problem is when fun, free time, and travel become our end goal. Diversions, if left unchecked, will divert us from our God-given responsibilities and calling. Proverbs 28:19 warns against chasing frivolity:

Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,
but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.

The Berean Standard Bible translates the verse by referring to "he who chases fantasies." As someone who's invested countless hours in fantasy football, I'm offended. You're talking to the reigning champion of Marcia's Lil Pigskin Pals!

Again, this isn't me or (more importantly) the Bible railing against leisure, but rather a call to take care of your God-given responsibilities. For those of us living in suburban or urban environments, working the land is probably a foreign concept. I'm pretty sure the food I eat magically arrives at the supermarket every week.

Nevertheless, all of us non-farmers are still on the hook for Proverbs 28:19, because the verse extends far beyond a literal working of the land. We all have responsibilities and roles that require diligence. These are primary duties God has placed in our lives.

I love the way the 18th Century English theologian John Gill summed up the near-identical verse, Proverbs 12:11. He wrote:

Every man has his land to till, or some calling, work, or business, to be employed in, either civil or sacred; and it becomes him to be diligent therein, and such as are shall not want bread, but shall have a sufficiency of it.¹

Every person has his or her land to till. For some, like Adam, this is literal land. For others, this can be any number metaphorical fields like raising your children, going to work, or folding laundry.

Regardless of what your land is, you must till it. Notice the end goal is not endless leisure, travel, and mountains of cash at your disposal. Although these things might be attainable, they are worthless pursuits. You likely won't attain them, but even if you could they would feel empty and meaningless—a poverty worse than a lack of bread. For evidence, look to the writer of this Proverb, Solomon, who upon attaining untold wealth, faced a crisis of meaning, declaring "all is vanity …" (Ecc. 1:2). In the end, Solomon gave us his definition of the meaning of life: "Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man" (12:13).

Proverbs 28:19 reminds us that work is good, and everyone is commanded to work. But at the same time, the passage has a transcendent component. If fearing God is our ultimate land to till, then we work not for literal bread but for the bread of life. As Jesus said, "Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.

Knowing this to be true, why do we chase after worthless fantasies? I can think of at least three reasons.

1. Working our own land seems boring.

The world has so many tantalizing experiences to offer, and tending to our responsibilities becomes routine. It's not flashy. It's not stimulating. Tilling our own land can seem boring.

2. Working our own land is too much work.

Instead of diligence, some seek out comfort. When the work gets too difficult, people are tempted to chase after worthless fantasies. These can take the form of get-rich-quick schemes which prey on the greedy and indolent.

3. Working our own land is too small.

This is where I struggle. I'm always thinking bigger, and tilling land seems so small. I want to change the world! I don't have time to work my land. But without taking care of business at home, thinking on a grander scale is really a worthless pursuit. This is not to discourage you from dreaming, but a reminder that, "if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Tim. 5:8). And, as Jesus said, "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much" (Luke 16:10). Working your own land may seem little, but if you can't be faithful in the small things, you will fail when pursing loftier goals.

In the end, we all have our own land to till and God rewards the diligent, those who seek to understand what his will is for their lives and then put in the work to make it happen. These responsibilities aren't always flashy or sexy, but they could very well be a test or training for something bigger. But even if not, those who eliminate distractions and focus on their own land will not lack. Jesus said as much in his famous sermon on the mount. Preaching about worry, Jesus said not to be anxious about food and clothing. Instead, "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matt. 6:33).

Therefore be diligent in seeking God's will, and he will guide you. Put in the work he has laid before you and you shall never be in want.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like my free guide, 12 Things Effective Christians Do (Even When Life Isn't Going as Planned).

The guide will help you develop a strong, healthy relationship with God so you can experience peace in the midst of the storms of life.

12 Things Effective Christians Do is free to you. Enter your email address below and click the button to receive your copy:

You will be subscribed to my email list where I send exclusive articles and other updates, but you can unsubscribe at any time.

Notes:

1. Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible: Proverbs 12, BibleHub, accessed December 18, 2025, https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/proverbs/12.htm.Back

Trust Not in Human Leaders

2025-11-13T06:34:00.000-06:00

Only God can provide true nourishment.

Nick Scheerbart

IT SEEMS ALMOST universal that we humans place our hope in other humans to rectify our problems. Look no further than American presidential elections. Every four years millions watch with bated breath to find out if their candidate won. The acute reaction to election results on both sides of the political aisle are telling—literal weeping and despair on one side and elation on the other.

But these reactions are the exact symptoms you would expect to see from those who have given their hearts to human leaders. Lest you think I'm immune, I can tell you I too have been swept up in presidential elections in the same manner. Even as far back as 1996 when I was not yet 13 years old, I recall being downcast at Bob Dole's defeat. (Just about everything in the previous sentence is ridiculous.)

Therefore, I don't posture myself your judge. I understand the inclination to be happy or sad, because despite the intentions of the founding fathers of America, the presidential position does wield quite a bit of power.

Yet even when the preferred candidate wins, that person will never solve your problems no matter how wise or benevolent he or she is. Solomon wrote a proverb in a similar vein, about a peer oppressing the poor:

A poor man who oppresses the poor
is a beating rain that leaves no food.
Proverbs 28:3

The proverb speaks of a needy man who rises to some sort of authority. The poor are elated, believing their peer will empathize and protect them. Instead, the needy man oppresses the poor, and he is like a beating, devastating rain. The irony is thick. When a parched land is in desperate need of precipitation, the moisture it receives is so violent and excessive as to cause more harm than good.

What can we glean from this verse? Three key principals emerge from the passage.

1. Power Exposes Character

You may have heard Lord Acton's saying that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." While temptation may delve good people into depravity, power is a kind of spotlight on character. What happens when you give a greedy person power? She'll covet and steal on a grander scale. Give power to the sexually immoral, and he'll use it to obtain more sex. The desire was always there, but with authority, the person now has the ability to get more of what he wants.

In the proverb above, the needy man values power and possessions—fulfilling his own needs—more than those over which he has authority. His position affords him the means to oppress.

2. Leaders Can Use Their Power for Good or Worse

The needy leader could have used his position to help the poor people in his charge. Instead he abused and mistreated them. The irony in Proverbs 28:3 is that water, which is essential for life, causes devastation. The beating rain wipes out the land, "leaving no food."

A leader's power works the same way. He or she can nourish people or destroy them.

3. We Should Not Hope in Human Leaders

Even the best leaders will eventually let you down. Placing your hope in them is not only foolish but can also rise to the level of idolatry. Presidents, governors, and CEOs can have a tremendous impact on our lives, but to hope in anything but Jesus will leave you disappointed at best. While human power is temporary, Jesus reigns in perpetuity. As the Scriptures say, "He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever" (Isa. 9:7) and that God "will establish the throne of his kingdom forever" (2 Sam. 7:13).

This inclination to hope in mortal leaders is not new. In 1 Samuel 8, the nation of Israel demanded a king. This might seem like a normal or appropriate request from a sovereign state, but a king was not part of God's design for Israel. He was their leader. As he told Samuel, Israel's judge, "they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them" (1 Sam. 8:7). Then he instructed Samuel to warn the people about "the ways of the king who will reign over you." (1 Sam. 8:9). He said a king would, "take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. . . He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves" (1 Sam. 8:14, 17). Despite these warnings the people insisted on what can only be interpreted as a lack of faith in God almighty.

Intellectually, the lesson is quite simple. Humans cannot solve your problems. Only God can provide peace, security, and prosperity.

Jesus Is Our King

We can look at the proverb from two perspectives: the oppressor and the oppressed. For those who rise to any level of authority, work hard to serve your people rather than use them for your gain. The book of Micah teaches us how to behave: "To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God" (6:8). These tenets are especially critical for leaders.

For the oppressed: don't hope in a human savior. Pray to God for relief and trust in him to deliver. Only he can provide true nourishment. As Psalms reminds us, "Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save" (146:3, BSB). Jesus is our king, the only one who can free us from oppression.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like my free guide, 12 Things Effective Christians Do (Even When Life Isn't Going as Planned).

The guide will help you develop a strong, healthy relationship with God so you can experience peace in the midst of the storms of life.

12 Things Effective Christians Do is free to you. Enter your email address below and click the button to receive your copy:

You will be subscribed to my email list where I send exclusive articles and other updates, but you can unsubscribe at any time.

Who Created God?

2025-10-14T05:00:00.004-05:00

Natural laws point us to God.

Joshua Earle

WHEN GOD CONFRONTED Job, he used rhetorical questions to reveal his omnipotence. He spoke of the sea, of rain in the desert, and of mysteries beyond the grave. Toward the end of the chapter 38, God also asks Job about the stars and the sky, saying:

Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?

Can you establish their rule on the earth?

Job 38:33

In using the word ordinance, God reminds Job that the universe doesn't spin by accident. The galaxy rotates on purpose at the command of the creator. In fact ordinance, as defined by Merriam Webster, means, "a law set forth by a governmental authority."¹

This is an important distinction, because laws—whether natural or not—point to a lawgiver. Consider what physicist Isaac Newton had to say about natural laws:

"I have explained the phenomena of the heavens and of our sea by the force of gravity, but I have not yet assigned a cause to gravity."²

Science helps us see cause and effect, but ultimately we will arrive at a phenomenon which we cannot explain. Contrast Newton's statement with that of another physicist, Stephen Hawking, who wrote (in conjunction with co-author Leonard Mlodinow) that "Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing."³

How could a brilliant man like Hawking craft such an obtuse argument? Here he invokes the law of gravity as the reason the universe exists, but doesn't ponder how the law of gravity came to exist. This is like saying a tree creates itself from a seed without stopping to ask where the seed came from!

(We don't do this with anything else, by the way. Imagine finding a copy of the US Constitution and assuming the United States created itself from nothing. Or imagine seeing a stop sign and thinking that roads and cars built themselves.)

Gravity didn't invent itself; a higher authority exists. Hawking himself used the word "law." The introduction of a law requires a lawgiver. Such is the problem with any claim that the universe came to exist ex nihilo—out of nothing. Theists and atheists can agree on one point: the universe had a beginning. But the problem for the atheist is explaining the cause of the birth of the universe, because everything that has a beginning must have a cause. Who or what is responsible for the beginning of the universe? If you say "gravity" then you must ask, who or what established gravity?

To reinforce this point, consider God's response to Moses when Moses asked him his name. Remember what God said? "Tell them I AM sent you" (Exo. 3:14).

In English, this passage loses some of its force. Biblical Hebrew verb tenses relied on context rather than referencing specific time frames. So the verb I AM here also means I was and I will be. He is Yahweh: an ever present, always extant being. Unlike the universe, he has no beginning. He is uncaused. We can point to a beginning of our lives, the origins of our parents' lives, and even the genesis of the earth—however controversial its age may be. But God has no cause. No one created him. He is eternal, the great I AM.

With this in mind, you can understand the intense reaction of the Pharisees to Jesus's claim he predated Abraham. In response to the Lord's teaching on slavery to sin, the Pharisees invoked their Abrahamic heritage as evidence they were a free people. Jesus said they belonged to the devil because they did not listen to the truth. Abraham, Jesus said, looked forward to the Christ's coming because he would bring victory over death. Incredulous, the "Jews said to him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?'" (John 8:57). Remember what Jesus said? "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." (8:58)! Jesus equated himself with God, and the Pharisees weren't having any of it. They picked up stones with the intention of killing him. But Jesus, as the second person of the Trinity, has indeed always existed. No one can point to any being or phenomenon that brought about God.

And this is God's message to Job. Unlike gravity, a natural law that has a cause, God is uncaused and eternal. Such a reality demands a response from humanity. Rather than taking for granted the miracle of gravity and the delicate balance of the solar system, we should response with awe and praise. But even beyond that, the very nature of God invites us to believe—not simply an intellectual assent but rather a transformational faith in the creator and sustainer of life.

Belief in God is both rational and relational. He has given us enough evidence for faith to be reasonable, but in those gaps where we don't (or can't) understand everything, we must place our trust in God and submit to his authority. Unfortunately, pride often gets in the way of this type of faith to the point that, rather than acknowledge a higher power, we would rather believe that the universe created itself.

Why is this our inclination? Because we want to be our own authorities. If the universe is one cosmic accident, we have no responsibility and no accountability. We can live our lives however we want, decency be damned! We can eat that apple, because God didn't really say we would die. Did he? God would never do such a thing. On second thought, is God even real?

Meanwhile, acknowledging God as the designer of natural laws requires that we submit to a higher power, and who wants to submit? But in an odd twist, it is through submission that we gain freedom. By humbling ourselves and bowing to Jesus, he will lift us up. While Satan would love to bind you to the earth and keep you enslaved to sin, Jesus offers heaven to those who believe in him.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like my free guide, The 39 Parables of Christ, Explained.

The guide examines all of Christ's parables and includes a table showing the gospel references for each one.

The 39 Parables of Christ, Explained is free to you. Enter your email address below and click the button to receive your copy:

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Notes:

1. “Ordinance,” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, accessed October 9, 2025, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ordinance.

2. Paraphrased from Isaac Newton, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, 2nd ed. (1713), General Scholium, trans. Andrew Motte, rev. Florian Cajori (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1934); wording as quoted in “Isaac Newton — Cause,” Today in Science History, accessed October 9, 2025, https://todayinsci.com/N/Newton_Isaac/NewtonIsaac-Cause-Quotations.htm.

3. Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, The Grand Design (New York: Bantam Books, 2010), 180.

The Undiscovered Country: God's Plan to Redeem You and Eliminate Suffering

2025-09-09T05:00:00.022-05:00

Because Jesus faced the gates of death, we need not fear them.

Anton Konovalov

HAVE THE GATES of death been revealed to you,

or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

Job 38:17

These are just two of the many rhetorical questions God asked Job in response to Job's request for audience with the LORD. Job asked why, and God responded with questions of his own.

These weren't intended to dismiss or avoid Job's concerns, but rather to reinforce God's omnipotence and omniscience. The questions instead served as a reminder to Job that he could not possibly comprehend the complexity behind the answers he sought.

Yet this isn't to say God didn't offer any hope or satisfactory answers. On the contrary, Job walked away fully content. Perhaps all he needed was reassurance that God really is in control. And God did offer hope as we see in verse 17 above. While the mention of death and deep darkness may not stand out as particularly inspiring, bear with me as I attempt to explain.

As we learned in last month's exclusive email article, God first questioned Job about the physical world, specifically how the creator contains the ocean—vast to us—with ease. Here God goes metaphysical, asking if Job has experienced "the gates of death." God is essentially saying, Dive to the deepest parts of the ocean, and still that won't be deep enough. Check out the preceding verse: "Have you entered into springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?"

No, God transcends the material world, able to cross even into the realm of the dead. Meanwhile we struggle with exploring and understanding the physical world, and death remains a mystery. So the hope here lies in the fact that death is no mystery to God. He permeates all of reality and has an eternal perspective.

Job already knew this fact, but he had to have been encouraged by the reminder. When tragedy first struck Job, his wife famously asked him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!" (Job2:9). But Job rejected this proposition, instead reinforcing the sovereign nature of God.

Some might claim Job was merely afraid to die—afraid to approach the gates of death a la Shakespeare's Hamlet. Hamlet, as you might recall from high school English class, is the orator of the well-known "To be or not to be" soliloquy in which the Danish prince contemplates suicide. The speech begins like this:

To be or not to be—that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And, by opposing, end them.¹

Hamlet's despair stems from the murder of his father and from his uncle who claims the throne and marries his mother. The prince concludes that we would all end our own lives were it not for "the dread of something after death, the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns … thus conscience does make cowards of us all."²

But while cowardice may have kept Hamlet at bay, Job was not afraid. In fact he demonstrated tremendous courage in placing his faith in God's sovereignty. (Faith in many ways is the antithesis of fear.)

Aside from Job's response to his wife, in at least two other passages prior to hearing from God he directly addresses this issue:

Though he slay me, I will hope in him.

Job 13:15

But I know that my Redeemer lives,
and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
Even after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God.

Job 19:25-26

Keep in mind, these comments came millennia before the birth of Jesus! While Job didn't know how God would come though, he knew that he would come through.

We, on the other hand do have the privilege of knowing the how: the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus, born of a virgin, was fully God yet also fully human. He lived a perfect life and ultimately sacrificed himself for the benefit of humanity—both retroactively and in perpetuity until the day of judgment arrives. In doing so, Jesus experienced the gates of death from the human perspective. Yet on the third day after his death, God raised Jesus, restoring him physically from the realm of death.

This is our hope and our promise from Jesus: that because he overcame the grave, we too can enter into paradise with him forevermore. For those who place their faith in Jesus, the suffering we experience is only temporary and will be replaced with unsurpassed joy.

This is what Jesus told the disciples after Peter professed Jesus as the Christ. He said, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." (Matt. 16:18, NIV). The "rock" he refers to is the truth that Jesus was the anointed one—the messiah who saves the world by his sacrificial death and subsequent resurrection. On this foundation, Jesus established his church. This is the source of our hope.

Hamlet was dead wrong when he claimed death is "the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns." On the contrary, Jesus did face and conquer death. By rising from the dead, Jesus authenticated his ministry and promises that we too can overcome the realm of the dead. We need not fear death because Jesus faced its gates and overcame them.

So our lesson is really the same as it was for Job. While we can't see beyond the grave, God sees the full picture. He transcends space and time and therefore has a perfect and eternal perspective. And yet, he is not so far removed from humanity that cannot empathize with us. He subjected himself (via Jesus) to the constraints of time and space and lived as a suffering servant, ultimately unto death, for our sakes.

As a result, suffering is only temporary for those who place their faith in Jesus. For Job, simply knowing God had dominion even over the gates of death was enough to satisfy him, and that knowledge should do the same for us.

The hymn, "Because He Lives," states it simply in this way:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!³

Because of God's divine nature, death is no undiscovered country. Jesus conquered death, and he provided a path to redemption for those who place their faith in him.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like my guide to a strong, healthy relationship with God called 12 Things Effective Christians Do (Even When Life Isn't Going as Planned).

The guide details twelve cornerstone habits effective Christians have in common.

12 Things Effective Christians Do is free to you. Enter your email address below and click the button to receive your copy:

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Notes:

1. William Shakespeare, Hamlet, ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, Folger Shakespeare Library, 3.1.64-68, accessed September 4, 2025, https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/hamlet/read/3/1/.

2. Ibid., 3.1.86-87, 91.

3. Bill and Gloria Gaither, "Because He Lives." 1971.

Why Do the Wicked Still Sacrifice?

2025-06-24T08:29:00.001-05:00

A preview of June's email-only article.

Mouaadh Tobok

WE CANNOT MANIPULATE God.

That sounds obvious, right? But if it's so apparent, why do people still attempt to do so?

Solomon wrote about the sacrifices of wicked people and how they are an abomination to God, which lead me to ask why. Why would the wicked even bother offering sacrifices to the Lord?

I attempt to answer that very question in this month's email-exclusive article. And, while the concept of sacrifice might seem foreign to us, we still do the very same things Solomon warned against.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and if you'd like instant, free access, fill out the form below. (If you are already a subscriber, check your inbox!)

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THE WORD SACRIFICE is a foreign term to our ears. Sacrifice carries tones of ancient mythologies, Eastern mysticism, or Central American temples. We still use the word, but it carries a different connotation, often in the context of time or money. A good man might sacrifice to provide for his family, for example.

Readers of the Old Testament are familiar with concept of sacrifice in the Jewish context, but the notion still rings odd in the 21st century Western ear because of our lack of first hand knowledge. It's a little like learning about music from a book; you have to experience it for yourself to understand.

Nevertheless, sacrifice was an essential part of the ancient world.

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What Are You Known For?

2025-06-10T05:00:00.002-05:00

Start living for what you want to be known.

Tim Mossholder

WE KNOW PEOPLE based on their actions. Good or bad, reputations have a way of preceding us. John was "the Baptist." Frank Sinatra, "the Voice." Pinocchio, liar.

In Proverbs 21:24, Solomon writes about a different nickname. He wrote,

"'Scoffer' is the name of the arrogant, haughty man

who acts with arrogant pride."

In case you're wondering, as I was, what exactly the word scoffer means, here is the definition according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Scoffer: one who expresses scorn, derision, or contempt; mocker¹

I don't know about you, but that's not something I want to be known for. Like it our not, Solomon says, those who are arrogant and haughty will earn the moniker. Isn't this how it is with all of our behaviors and attitudes? We can call ourselves whatever we want, but our actions speak louder.

What Do You Call Yourself?

It's interesting to me that the proverb uses the word "name." He doesn't say that the prideful will simply be known as scoffers, but rather Scoffer will become their name. A name, especially in the context of the Old Testament, equates to a person's identity. If you've ever heard the phrase, "I'm going to make a name for myself," you know exactly what this means.

Although I've lost quite a bit of what I've learned, I majored in Spanish in college, even spending a short time abroad in Mexico in an immersion program.

One of the first things you learn in Spanish, whether in elementary school or conversational Spanish 1101 on the third floor of Kaufman Hall is how to ask someone their name and how to introduce yourself.

In English, we say something like, "What is your name?" to which I might respond, "My name is Andrew" or maybe to shorten it, "I'm Andrew." Here we see the principle that our name is our identity. I am Andrew. But in Spanish, a more common question is <<¿Cómo te llamas?>> In response I would say, <<Me llamo Andrew.>> Translating the conversation literally we get,

How (what) do you call yourself?
I call myself Andrew.

Functionally, the distinction is minor, but these really are two different questions, aren't they?

The first is more technical, akin to asking what appears on your birth certificate. It's why someone may answer the question with, "My name is Andrew, but I go by Andy." The second is what most people are really after when they ask the question, because the questioner wants to know how to address and refer to the subject.

Essentially the question is, what do you want to be known as? It is out of respect for our new acquaintances that we ask the question so we can call them what they want to be called.

But there is a problem with this type of question and response, whether in Spanish or English. Because what we call ourselves, ultimately, is irrelevant. I can call myself Andrew, but if everyone knows and refers to me as Andy then Andy, in effect, is my actual name.

Aside from literal names, we do this with descriptors too. If I call myself Andrew the writer, but I never write anything, the adjective is worthless. Instead, people would know me by what I do and how I behave. In the Bible, God changes the name of quite a few people, establishing new identities for them.

But were I to change my name but not change anything else about me, nothing would change. I think of the famous lines in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Juliet, lamenting that the object of her affection belongs to the family Montague—her own family's sworn enemies—waxes philosophical about surnames and language in general. She says:

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet.
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title.²

While Juliet's statement might be a bit melodramatic, I must agree that our character infuses our name with meaning and not the other way around.

What Do You Want to Be Called?

Whether they like it, the arrogant will be called Scoffers—contemptuous ones, mockers. They would probably rather be known for how amazing they are. After all, they are better-looking, smarter, and holier than the average plebe. At least, in their own minds.

Those who act in arrogant pride look down on others. Even if they aren't conscious of this attitude, prideful people by definition have a feeling of superiority. And, as Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart [a person's] mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). Therefore what lies in our hearts will manifest in words and actions.

Because this posture necessarily involves comparisons to other people, the arrogant will be known as those who mock and deride others. Even if someone were to have a higher IQ or a flatter stomach, he or she would be known instead for awful treatment of others. And although they might have an advantage over others, their worth is the same in God's eyes. He gave them intellect, so a smart person's response should be to glorify him, not look down on others!

Previously we explored God's consistent admonitions to care for the less fortunate. Another constant of the Scriptures is probably best encapsulated in this proverb, "Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor." (3:34), a passage quoted by both James and Peter in the New Testament. They quote the Septuagint version, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, saying "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (Jam. 4:6). God is passionate about how we treat one other. In fact, other than loving and revering God, loving our neighbors as ourselves is the most important commandment.

So my question to you is this. What do you want to be known for? What do you want to be called?

You can call yourself whatever you want: Einstein, Usain Bolt, Venus, or Rockefeller, but you will be known by others for your actions. Therefore decide today how you want to be known, and start living your life that way.

If I may, I'd like to offer a suggestion (to myself as well). Jesus said to his disciples, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35).

I think that's a pretty good place to start.

Hey, if you enjoyed this article, you might also like my guide to a strong, healthy relationship with God called 12 Things Effective Christians Do (Even When Life Isn't Going as Planned).

The guide details twelve cornerstone habits effective Christians have in common.

12 Things Effective Christians Do is free to you. Enter your email address below and click the button to receive your copy:

You will be subscribed to my email list where I send exclusive articles and other updates, but you can unsubscribe at any time.

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Notes:

1. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. "scoff," accessed May 27, 2025, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scoff.

2. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, act 2, sc. 2, lines 46–50, edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, Folger Shakespeare Library, accessed May 31, 2025, https://www.folger.edu/explore/shakespeares-works/romeo-and-juliet/read/2/2/.

Stop Acting Rich

2025-05-28T12:37:00.002-05:00

A preview of May's email-only article.

IT IS UNDENIABLE that God has a heart for the poor.

The Bible is replete with commandments and admonitions to care for the less fortunate. King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 21:13 that "whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered." And Jesus echoed a similar message with the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16.

But Jesus pushed the issue beyond material wealth, which gives Solomon's proverb another level of meaning. And that's exactly what we're discussing in this month's email-only article.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and if you'd like instant, free access, fill out the form below. (If you are already a subscriber, check your inbox!)

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This is a chilling parable for those who heed not the words of Solomon and ignore the cries of the poor. And Abraham's mention of Moses and the Prophets reinforces the point above. God not only cares about the less fortunate, but he also commanded the people of Israel numerous times and in multiple ways to take care of them.
But I bring up the parable here only to show that Solomon's proverb contains a spiritual dimension as well.

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Don't Follow Your Heart

2025-05-14T12:57:00.002-05:00

Your heart is a liar.

Jon Tyson

YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD the terrible advice in movies, on Instagram, or even in person from a friend or family member: Follow Your Heart.

For example: "Follow your heart: it knows the way."

Or this frightening quotation: "When you are in alignment with the desires of your heart, things have a way of working out."

The aphorism is so prevalent, you might conclude the advice originates somewhere in Scripture. In fact, the Bible tells us the opposite. Jeremiah 17:9 is a good example: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Not exactly something you would want to follow, is it?

Solomon wrote about the heart in similar fashion. He wrote, "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart" (Prov. 21:2). This passage is not as explicit as the one above, but is just as telling. Taking a deeper look will help us understand why it's unwise to follow your heart and what to do instead.

How Would You Weigh Your Heart?

Hiring managers at tech giant Google were once notorious for their unorthodox interview questions meant to gauge creativity and the problem-solving ability of applicants. These questions ranged from brain teasers to mathematical scenarios and everything in between. One alleged question, for example, is, "How much should you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle?"¹

I used "alleged" because the legends of interviewing capers at the company have grown to such proportions, it is difficult to separate fact and fiction. While we may not know which reports are true, another of these questions has stuck with me ever since I first heard it: "How would you weigh your own head?"²

Being a part of a whole, and a rather essential part at that, one's own head is not something one can easily weigh. Common answers to the question include calculating volume via water displacement to use in mass calculation and lying down with the head resting on a specialized scale.

The bottom line: there is no easy way to accomplish this task, which is the question's purpose.

If you will allow me, I'll ask one more question. This one is similar, but the query doesn't originate with Google: How would you weigh your own heart?

Again, Solomon contemplates this conundrum in Proverbs 21:2, writing, "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart." Rather than physical, this riddle is philosophical in nature. The heart here is a metaphor for our intentions, inclinations, and character.

Just like measuring the mass of your head, the proverb tells us it is impossible to weigh our own hearts, and only the Lord can do so accurately.

Why Can't We Weigh Our Own Hearts?

I find it interesting that the verse uses the verb, weigh, instead of something like judges, evaluates, or examines. No doubt its usage was intentional, as it would have resonated with Solomon's original audience.

Proper weights were critical in the ancient world. Scales required a balance, and merchants used a set of stones for weights as a standard by which to weigh precious metals as currency or to compare whatever the patron wished to purchase. For example, if someone wished to purchase an item for 400 shekels of silver (roughly ten pounds), the seller would first place stones on one side of the scale equivalent to 400 shekels and then fill the other side with silver until the scales balanced.

Unscrupulous merchants would have multiple sets of weights. One set would be heavier than advertised for use when weighing the buyer's payment (so the buyer would have to pay more silver). In this way, a seller could receive more money for the same amount of goods.

The Law of Moses explicitly forbids this practice, for example, Deuteronomy 25 which reads, "You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small... For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the Lord your God" (25:13, 16). The command also serves as a metaphor for treating others fairly.

But even when we desire to accurately measure our own hearts—our own motives, thoughts, and actions—the task is impossible. Why? Because the heart is deceitful, as Jeremiah reminds us.

From a practical standpoint, we can't properly judge ourselves because we cannot separate ourselves from the evaluation. It's a little like using a word in its own definition. As a result, we tend to show ourselves grace that we don't extend to others. We tend to excuse or write off white lies and lustful thoughts.

Practicalities aside, humanity is sinful. We all have sinned, and we inherit the sin nature from Adam. Genesis 6 describes the wickedness of the pre-flood human, stating that "every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (6:5). And lest you think this only applies to those ancient people, Jesus also said to the crowds at the Sermon on the Mount, "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" (Matt. 7:11).

Jesus's point is that God is perfect and we are not. God is the standard; he holds the true set of weights in his bag. We deceive ourselves into thinking our ways are correct, but the Lord is the objective, unchanging standard by which we will be compared.

So is there any hope for any of us? How should we respond?

Don't follow your heart.

Instead, submit your heart to God for measurement, and repent where you fall short. Seek his will and guidance through prayer. And, of course, commit yourself to studying the Bible. The book of Hebrews is instructive here: "The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (4:12).

God can use the living word to reveal to us the intentions of our hearts and convict us when necessary. So while your motivations might seem pure, place them on God's scale to see if they measure up.

And if you enjoyed this article, you might also like my quick reference guide to Jesus's parables, The 39 Parables of Christ, Explained.

The guide lists each parable and provides a brief explanation of its meaning. 39 Parables also includes a table listing which parables appear in which gospels.

The 39 Parables of Christ, Explained is free to you. Enter your email address below and click the button to receive your copy:

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Notes:
1. Robert Johnson, “15 Google Interview Questions That Made Geniuses Feel Dumb,” Business Insider, November 27, 2012, https://www.businessinsider.com/15-google-interview-questions-that-used-to-make-geniuses-feel-dumb-2012-11.

2. I wrote about this same question some years ago in a different context. See: https://www.andrewgilmore.net/2016/01/how-jesus-frustrates-scientist-in-us-all.html.

Why We Fear The One Who Made Us

2025-05-01T12:49:00.002-05:00

A preview of April's email-only article.

Caleb Woods

DOES IT EVER seem like God is hiding from us?

If he's really out there, why won't he show us his glory?

It turns out there's a good explanation for this phenomenon, something we're examining in this month's email-exclusive article.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and if you'd like instant, free access, fill out the form below. (If you are already a subscriber, check your inbox!)

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GOD CANNOT BE contained in any analogy we could conjure, but have you ever considered the paradoxical nature of our sun? Without the sun we could not survive. But were we to venture too near the sun we would perish as well. Even gazing at the yellow dwarf proves injurious.

God is a little like the sun. We cannot stand in God's presence without ceasing to exist. And yet, since God is our creator and sustainer, we would not exist at all without him.

When Moses asked to see God's glory, God replied he would show Moses his "goodness," but he said, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live" (Exo. 33:19, 20). Even Moses, who met regularly with God, could not survive an unveiled glimpse of the Almighty.

Job was well aware of the awesome, terrifying, and potentially fatal repercussions of an interaction with God. And yet, what he wanted most above all else was an audience with the Creator so he could plead his case. So after preparing his arguments, Job requested two things of God: "Withdraw your hand far from me, and let not dread of you terrify me" (13:21).

This passage is intriguing. Here's why.

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What I Read in 2024: 3 Books You Might Enjoy

2025-04-08T05:00:00.009-05:00

Three of my favorite books from 2024, plus I'm giving one of them away!

Update, 4/17/25: Congrats to Sven from Germany on winning this year's giveaway!

Clarissa Watson

AS HAS BECOME an annual tradition here at AndrewGilmore.net, I'm recapping the books I read this past year I think you will find intriguing. Many times I approach this assignment with skepticism, wondering if the exercise is mere self-indulgence, but I keep typing for two reasons.

First, I love knowing what other people are reading. I can't leave a conversation with my bibliophile colleagues or friends without inquiring about his or her latest read. Even on the beach or at a coffee shop, I try to spy book titles peaking through the finger lattice of public readers. So, my thinking goes, if I possess insatiable book curiosity, you might as well.

Second, I enjoy the giveaway tied to this tradition. Yes, the activity is somewhat self-serving in that you must surrender your email address to enter the drawing. But, as always, you can remove yourself from the list at any time with one click, no questions asked. Marketing strategy aside, I take pleasure in the act of generosity, and by sharing books I enjoyed I hope to form a bond—however tenuous—with the recipient.

This year, I am switching things up a bit. You must opt-in to be entered in the drawing. In years past I would draw a name from my existing list only to receive silence in response to the email notification. Whether the winner had no knowledge of the contest, ceased checking his email, or lay comatose in a county hospital I knew not. Therefore, even those currently on my email list must sign up for the contest. To do so, enter your email below and click "Enter the Contest."

If you're new around here, the winner, drawn at random, will receive one of the following books for free, plus a copy of my latest book, You're Utmost Is Not Enough: Trusting God When Life Doesn't Make Sense, in your preferred format.¹

On to what I read.

Three Books You Might Enjoy

I had a consistent reading year by my standards, completing eight books while starting a few others that I did not enjoy and abandoned. As usual, nonfiction dominated the landscape; just two of the octet were fiction. Nevertheless, I dedicated a good portion of my autumnal reading to a thick anthology of short stories—one I look forward to finishing.

With the constant bustle of life, it seems I must always fight my exhausted brain for reading time. Yet I never regret the minutes I spend reading, and I need only pore over my TBR list to generate some internal giddiness at all of the wisdom, knowledge, enrichment, and entertainment awaiting me on my bedroom bookshelf or overstuffed Kindle library.

Here are three books I read in 2024 I think you might enjoy.

Waiting on God: What to Do When God Does Nothing

If God determines we’re going to wait, believe me, we will. We will not hurry God. The waiting is a given. But how will we wait? Since we’re going to wait anyway, we might as well wait well. Patience, then, is the art of waiting well.²

Having enjoyed Dr. Stiles's Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus several years ago, I was excited to crack open Waiting on God.

Stiles guides the reader through seasons of waiting by examining the life of Joseph—a man who had to spend years of his life waiting on God in situations that were unfair and did not make sense from a human perspective.

But if you know Joseph's story, you know God used circumstances like slavery and prison to test Joseph and to build up his character, not just for Joseph's sake but as part of a plan to save the lives of many in the midst of a widespread famine.

Stiles provides great insight into the ancient world and the text, connecting dots and highlighting subtle allusions you might have missed despite several readings of the Genesis account. For example, when Judah demanded Tamar be killed for her act of prostitution, Tamar revealed Judah's signet and staff as proof he was the patron of her services. She said, "Please examine and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?" (Gen. 38.25, NASB, emphasis added).

I've read the story at least a dozen times but I never made the connection: "Please examine and see" are the exact words Joseph's brothers used when they brought the bloodstained coat to Jacob to deceive him into believing Joseph had died! Judah may have tried to forget his sin against Joseph, but Tamar's phrasing, no doubt, resurfaced Judah's guilty conscience.

Here are just a few (of many) other highlights from the book:

Faithfulness in obscurity.

"God sees our faithfulness in obscurity as preparation for increasing influence."³

The difference between testing and temptation.

Temptation leads to sin, testing strengthens us. God will never use the former (that's Satan's realm), but frequently tests us. "We never find God tempting us—or placing us in a situation where our failure is his goal. . . Sometimes the testing of God occurs to discover the good or evil in our hearts, but never with the goal of enticing us to evil."⁴

Handling frustration when you're not living up to your potential.

"Sometimes you may find it necessary to set your gift on the shelf for a while and focus on other parts of God’s will for your life. . . God may ask you to set something aside for a season in order to develop another area (like character) or another gift altogether."⁵

Perhaps one of the most poignant passages comes in the introduction where Stiles writes, "In the end, if we really knew the big picture, we too would want what God wants for us—and in the exact way and timing he wants it to occur."⁶ We might not know the reasoning behind waiting, but God does, and we must trust that his plans are much greater than our own.

If you've ever struggled with waiting on God, you might enjoy Waiting on God.

Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style

Only godless savages eschew the series comma.⁷

While I understand that not all readers are writers, nearly everyone, at some point, must write. As the author states, "We’re all of us writers: We write term papers and office memos, letters to teachers and product reviews, journals and blog entries, appeals to politicians. Some of us write books. All of us write emails."⁸

A long-time copy editor for Random House, Dreyer wrote this book to reveal (and correct) the most frequent errors that come across his desk, so to speak. As such, the book is more one long list of confusions and their clarifications organized by type. While such a proposition might sound worse than a colonoscopy, if you are at all interested in writing with clarity and accuracy, Dreyer's English is a good place to start.

And, while grammar and technical aspects of language can make for dry reading, the author infuses the subject with humor on nearly every page. Katie caught me laughing out loud more than once. Dreyer is clever in subtly breaking rules right after mentioning them to demonstrate their absurdity, to show the danger of breaking said rule, or, sometimes, to ensure you're paying attention. Dreyer concludes his thoughts on ending sentences with prepositions like this:

But to tie a sentence into a strangling knot to avoid a prepositional conclusion is unhelpful and unnatural, and it’s something no good writer should attempt and no eager reader should have to contend with.⁹

Dreyer also offers a simple passive voice litmus test:

If you can append “by zombies” to the end of a sentence, . . . you’ve indeed written a sentence in the passive voice.¹⁰

He also uses footnotes as a delivery method for jokes. Playing off of the previous example, Dreyer writes a sentence using the passive voice, then footnotes the sentence. The footnote simply reads, "By zombies."

In addition to lightening up the subject with humor, Dreyer does at least two things well:

1. He acknowledges and points out nonrules regarding usage.

While some teachers or authors won't even acknowledge gray areas exist, the author tells you his opinion but offers both sides of the argument. For example, Dreyer insists it is acceptable to use "none" in the plural:

If you can find fault with the sentence "None of us are going to the party," you have an ear better attuned to the English language than mine.¹¹

2. Dreyer is not condescending.

English is a difficult language, even for the native speaker. So, I think, the temptation for those who've mastered usage is to look down upon we plebes who haven't. Dreyer doesn't shy away from telling you when some common mistakes are plain wrong, but where so many other grammar books are preachy, I never got the sense that Dreyer felt less of the reader for making mistakes—more like he wants to guide him or her to the path of clear prose.

Other tidbits:

Only type one space after a period.

"I know that back when you were in seventh-grade typing class and pecking away at your Smith Corona Coronet Automatic 12, Mrs. Tegnell taught you to type a double space after a sentence-ending period, but you are no longer in the seventh grade, you are no longer typing on a typewriter, and Mrs. Tegnell is no longer looking over your shoulder. Either break yourself of the habit or, once you’ve finished writing whatever it is you’re writing, do a global search-and-exterminate for double spaces."¹²

In American English, include periods and commas inside closing quote marks.

"If there’s anything that Brits despise about American punctuation, it’s this. 'The song title does not contain a comma or a period,' they’ll growl. 'Why are you sticking it inside the quotation marks?' For some reason, 'It’s the American way' does not satisfy them. But it is the American way, and though I do see the logic of the Brit methodology, I’m certainly not going to be the person who attempts to upend universal stateside practice."¹³

In short, whether you are a professional writer, aim to be one, or simply want to communicate more clearly, Dreyer's English is a helpful (and, at times, hilarious) guide. I plan on revisiting this book every few years. source.

Disappointment with God: Three Questions No One Asks Aloud

We remain ignorant of many details, not because God enjoys keeping us in the dark, but because we have not the faculties to absorb so much light.¹⁴

Disappointment with God is the best Christian book I've read since I finished C. S. Lewis's The Weight of Glory in 2019. The book is not new—Author Philip Yancey first published the book in 1988—but this was my first exposure to an author I've heard much about.

My interest in this book was twofold. First, I've written quite a bit about similar topics. If you've hung with me the past couple of years, you know we've been discussing Job often. And my most recent book, Your Utmost Is Not Enough, explores several themes Yancey addresses such as the fairness of God and human suffering. Second, as I said, Yancey has a reputation among people I respect as an insightful author.

The subtitle is "Three questions no one asks aloud," which sets the stage for the focus of the book. Yancey writes that the longer he considered these three questions "the more I realized [they] are lodged somewhere inside all of us. Yet few people ask them aloud, for they seem at best impolite, at worst heretical."¹⁵

The questions, according to Yancey, are:

1. Is God unfair?

2. Is God silent?

3. Is God hidden?

Yancey begins by telling the tale of his friend Richard who had a severe faith crisis leading to him abandoning his faith. Using Richard's objections and disillusionment as a guide, Disappointment with God attempts to respond to Richard and the three questions about God's nature and behavior.

Yancey waits until nearly the end of the book to directly address these questions. He uses the first half to build a foundation for answering them, exploring the Bible to establish who God is and what his purposes are. For example, some claim if God would simply show himself to us, then they would believe and obey. But is this true? Yancey reminds us of God's direct revelation at Sinai and how the Israelites still turned away from him.

The author's survey of God's relationship with humans in the Bible reveals what he calls "a profound advance in intimacy,"¹⁶ a transition from God's terrifying presence at Sinai to the Immanuel (God with us) in the form of Jesus, to the Holy Spirit who lives inside of the believer. This progression is a necessary foundation for answering the three questions above.

It is difficult to encapsulate the poignancy of the book here in this short space, but what Yancey does well is appeal both to logic and to the the emotional side as well—retaining empathy and compassion for those feeling disappointment with God. I would recommend this book to any Christian because I agree that every believer will, at some point, come to question whether God is fair, silent, and hidden.

A Giveaway!

How would you like to win one these books?

I'm giving away one of the above books of your choice plus a copy of my newest book, Your Utmost Is Not Enough: Trusting in God Even When Life Doesn't Make Sense, to one lucky winner!

How can you enter?

It's actually quite simple: subscribe to my email list. That's it.

I typically send out two emails a month, including one on the last Tuesday with exclusive subscriber-only content. But there's no obligation to stay subscribed once the giveaway ends. To sign up, enter your email address below and click the button. (No need to enter your email address again if you did so in the form at the top of this post.)

I'll leave the giveaway open for seven days (through the end of 4/14/25 CST) and choose a winner at random on 4/15/25. (Note: this contest is open to residents of all territories, but since I'm based in the US, if shipping costs to foreign countries are too prohibitive, I might substitute the prize for a gift card.)

I'll update this post with the first name and location of the winner as well as notify him or her by email.

Good luck!

--------------------------------------
Notes:
1. I'm based in the US, but anyone, anywhere can enter. If international costs are prohibitive, I will send instead a digital gift card in the equivalent amount.

2. Wayne Stiles, Waiting on God: What to Do When God Does Nothing (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2015), Kindle edition, 15.
3. Ibid, 110.

4. Ibid., 146.

5. Ibid., 130.

6. Ibid., 15.

7. Benjamin Dreyer, Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarify and Style (New York: Random House, 2019), Kindle edition, 7.

8. Ibid., xvi.

9. Ibid., 12.

10. Ibid., 14.

11. Ibid., 17.

12. Ibid., 21.

13. Ibid., 83.

14. Philip Yancey, Disappointment with God: Three Questions No One Asks Aloud (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2015), Kindle edition, 224.

15. Ibid., 39.

16. Ibid., 153.

17. This post contains affiliate links which means I receive a portion of sales at no extra cost to you.

"I would be silent and die": How Integrity Shapes Life's Toughest Trials

2025-02-25T07:15:00.001-06:00

A preview of February's email-only article.

Engin Akyurt

LIFE HAS A way of beating us down at times, doesn't it?

When events don't transpire as they should and when life seems unfair, the temptation to give up our integrity can be tantalizing. Life hasn't been good to me, so why should I continue to do what is good and right?

Such a response, while common, is short-sighted.

In this month's email-exclusive article, we're continuing our examination of Job. We ponder how in the world he was able to hold fast to his integrity when he had seemingly no reason to do so.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and if you'd like instant, free access, fill out the form below. (If you are already a subscriber, check your inbox!)

Here's a snippet of this month's exclusive:

EVERYONE FACES ADVERSITY. If you're not in the throes of suffering at the moment, you'll have your day soon. Encouraging, right?

Of course, some—seemingly at random—experience a disproportionate amount of tragedy, but no matter who you are, adversity lies waiting. Such is the result of living in a fallen world. In writing these words, I do not mean to discourage or depress you. I'd rather pretend nothing bad will ever happen. But ignorance in this case is not the proverbial bliss. Instead, armed with the knowledge that grief might be en route, we can steel ourselves for the coming storm.

"How?" You might ask.

While we've dissected nearly every angle of Job's story, he says something interesting in chapter 13—a subtle phrase but one worth examining.

Want to read the rest?

Just enter your email address to join the list, and I'll send it to you right away:

I send two to three emails per month, but you can unsubscribe at any time.

See you next month!

Keeping the Faith: How to Find Strength When You Run out of Answers

2024-12-10T05:00:00.005-06:00

No matter how studied, you will eventually run out of answers.

Greg Rakozy

BEARING THE IMAGE of God has its perks.

We are capable of creativity, one of the Almighty's key traits. In the history of humanity, God first appears as creator, materializing the universe with mere words. When you read a novel, watch a thrilling film, or explore some architectural marvel, you enjoy the product of creativity.

Language is another differentiator among created beings. You're reading a message which is an encoding from your past (my present) containing my thoughts. As you read these words, your mind decodes them to derive meaning. It's an incredible transaction and a talent we share with our creator.

A third perk (among others) is our ability to reason and think in the abstract. God has granted us the gift of intellect. We can consider alternate realities, we can reverse engineer, and we can understand cause and effect.

And yet, as smart as we may think we have become, this third perk can also manifest as a curse.

No matter how studied or rational or wise we may be, our intellect has limits. Although we share this ability to understand complex matters, this "mind", with God, he is infinite, and we are finite. We are like grade schoolers who balk at the complexity of long division while God not only understands quantum mechanics, but also created the system from which quantum mechanics originates.

We have a germ of intellect, and as a result know answers and explanations exist for every phenomenon—whether or not we understand them. Christians diligently study the Scriptures, and theologians pen commentaries and systematic theologies to explain every aspect of reality. Apologists synthesize nature, history, and logic to answer the deepest philosophical questions humanity can muster.

We can study every textbook and even memorize the Bible and feel pretty good about life. But inevitably a day comes when the answers run dry. Adversity, whether in the form of physical pain or emotional anguish, has the tendency to cause one to question everything he thought he knew. Reading in the Bible that God is just is one thing. Stage IV cancer is another. Yes, I can give you a perfectly cogent, Scripture-based rationale for cancer, but I can't specifically explain yours. And even if I could, would it lessen the pain?

This is where Job stands in the 13th chapter of his book. He's lost just about everything that matters to him, and those who he hasn't lost—his wife and friends—seem to be against him. Zophar even goes as far to say that Job hasn't received enough punishment! And if being suddenly poor, bereaved of his children, and friendless was enough, his health has deteriorated to the point of constant pain.

Job's friends recite wisdom and offer explanations for his predicament. But Job has had enough of their explaining. In defense he says, "What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you" (Job 13:2), nearly an exact repetition of what he said in Job 12:3.

But what is Job really saying here?

He's telling them he already knows all of the apologetic and theological answers they hurl his way. He knows them, but they don't help. They don't answer the central questions of injustice, of randomness, and of his suffering. Sure, one can talk about suffering in a general, aggregated, sense. But none of these answers explain Job's specific situation. Who in history lost his wealth, health, and children in a matter of days?

At this moment, Job has run out of answers.

Maybe you, too, have run out of answers. How should you respond? How can you find strength in the depths of despair?

Job's example provides some guidance. First, he admitted he didn't have the answers. His desperation stemmed largely from the fact that he did not know why his life was in turmoil. He told his friends, "What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you" (13:2). He had the knowledge, but human knowledge was insufficient to alleviate his pain or even to explain his predicament.

Second, he petitioned God: "But I would speak to the Almighty. I desire to argue my case with God" (13:3). He knew there was an answer, and he knew God had the answer, so he pleaded for an audience with the creator.

Third, Job maintained hope that God would eventually answer his prayer. He said to his friends, "Though he slay me, I will hope in him" (13:15). Despite his disillusionment and grief, Job knew the Almighty could provide an explanation.

While I don't claim the path will be easy, fast, or enjoyable, we can follow a similar trek. Admitting we don't have all of the answers is scary, but when tethered to the next two steps, doing so can be liberating and is a pathway to peace.

Petitioning God is in itself an expression of faith because by asking, we acknowledge his ability to answer. Would you ask if you didn't believe he has the answer? It is important to abide in him through difficult times. Be honest about your pain and disappointment, and ask for answers.

Last is probably the most difficult, but also the most important. We must follow Job's example and maintain hope that answers will come eventually. Waiting on God, especially in the midst of grief, can seem unbearable. But we know that as an omniscient being, God knows the right timing. The other consideration here is our cognitive limitations. Perhaps, at this time, we are simply incapable of understanding the myriad variables involved in our situations.

If you're reading ahead, you might be shocked to know that while God responds verbally to Job, he never directly answers his questions. Why not? Because Job could not fathom the complete picture. Instead, God answers Job like this: "Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion?" (Job 38:31). We can't even reach the stars, and if we could, we wouldn't survive the encounter. God, on the other hand, created the celestial bodies and can manipulate them at will.

And guess what? Scripture tells us Job was completely satisfied with God's response. How could this be? Job lost nearly everything! Didn't he require answers?

Yes, Job did want an explanation for his suffering. But behind all of these questions lay a deeper, more important query. Christian author Philip Yancey wrote that "God spectacularly answered Job's biggest question: Is anybody out there? Once Job caught sight of the unseen world, all his urgent questions faded away."[1]

When faced with God's glory, nothing else seems to matter. God is so good, so perfect and holy, that his mere presence is restorative. Job was okay with not having all of the answers because he was confronted with the creator and sustainer of all things.

Pursuing answers is not a bad thing. But what we need more in times of anguish is God's presence—to know that, yes, someone is out there, someone omnipotent, omniscient, and glorious. God is so vast and infinite that time and space do not contain him. He exists outside of the constructs of minutes and seconds, of feet and inches. He is the alpha and omega—the beginning and the end all at the same time. He is the "I am"; God simply is. He has no beginning or cause, no antecedent.

When we experience God's presence and feel his nearness, nothing else matters. Pain and grief wash away in the ocean of his being because God is the essence of love and goodness.

So while answers are nice, instead seek his presence. Beg for it. Be jealous for his nearness.

If you enjoyed this article, you might like my free Old Testament reading guide, How to Read through the Old Testament without Getting Lost or Dozing Off: A 90-Day Reading Guide with Notes. This guide is a 90-day chronological survey of the entire Old Testament, and a guide I still use personally.

Interested? Just enter your email address below, and I'll send the reading guide your way.

Notes

1. Philip Yancy, Disappointment with God: Three Questions No One Asks Aloud (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015), 269, Kindle.

The Unparalleled Gift of Gray Hair

2024-08-27T09:00:00.001-05:00

A preview of August's email-only article.

Tim Mossholder

WHEN YOU PONDER growing old, you might not be inclined to celebrate.

Instead you might feel anxious or despondent. Perhaps we can chalk up these common responses to the premium our society places on youth.

But old age, King Solomon argued, is a precious gift.

In this month's email-exclusive article, we'll examine Solomon's words on turning gray and why old age is actually good news.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and if you'd like instant, free access, fill out the form below. (If you are already a subscriber, check your inbox!)

Here's a snippet of this month's exclusive:

SOCIETY WON'T JUDGE you for feeling despondent upon noticing your first gray hair. In the 21st century, such an event might as well come with a death sentence because that follicle change signals the beginning of the end.
GQ calls your first gray a "somewhat sobering milestone." Allure compares white hair to "an unwelcome house guest." Both outlets then proceed to offer advice on how to handle the distressing new revelation.
Why the despondency? It's not so much the gray itself but what it signals: the descent to 4:00 PM dinner buffets, copious physician appointments, and telling the same stories to the same people.

Want to read the rest?

Just enter your email address to join the list, and I'll send it to you right away:

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See you next month!

What I Read in 2023: 3 Books You Might Also Enjoy

2024-06-11T05:00:00.006-05:00

Three of my favorite books from 2023, plus I'm giving one of them away!

Update, 6/18/24: Congrats to Sara from Newfoundland for winning the giveaway!

Dan Dimitriu

WITH AN EVER-GROWING TBR list, I came to the sobering realization recently that I will never be able to read all of those books before I die, even if I never added another one to the list. At least, not at my current pace.

The past twelve months have seemed especially devoid of leisure time due to various professional and personal commitments. Nevertheless I still managed to finish eight books in 2023. Here are three I think you will enjoy.

Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith

The roots of Christianity lie deep within the biblical feasts. On Passover Jesus became the lamb whose blood redeemed us, on Firstfruits he rose from the dead as the firstborn of the new creation, and on Pentecost he poured out his Spirit to inaugurate the new covenant.[1]

Sitting at the Feet of Rabbit Jesus provides helpful context to the life of Jesus, first century Israel, and the New Testament as a whole.

As the inspired word of God, the Bible has the ability to stand on its own. You don't need to understand the history of the Greek and Roman empires or know what the Mishnah is or when Sukkot occurs to discern its life-changing truths.

Nevertheless, understanding the culture and background of the real time and space in which Jesus operated lends itself to a much deeper appreciation and understanding of the significance of the savior's life. This is the aim of Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus.

Spangler and Tverberg explore Jewish traditions such as the rabbi-disciple relationship, the sacred feasts, the Torah, and even tzitziyot (tassels). But the authors don't explore Hebrew culture for its own sake. In their own words, "The goal of this book is not so much to help you understand Judaism as to help you hear Christ’s life-changing words with greater clarity and force."[2]

The authors use Jewish customs and cultural practices like spades and brushes to excavate the roots of the life of Christ. And in doing so, the Christian reader can examine the gospels with fresh eyes.

One example is Jesus's use of the phrase Kingdom of Heaven in the book of Matthew, while other gospel writers attribute the phrase Kingdom of God. Why the difference? Matthew wrote his gospel for a Jewish audience—a people who do not say God's name out of respect. Therefore, while Jesus meant "kingdom of God" he most likely would have used the euphemism "kingdom of heaven".

Overall, I enjoyed this book and the authors achieved their goal of imparting a greater understanding of Jesus through the prism of first century Judaism. I recommend it for anyone trying to do the same.

Alexander Hamilton

Today, we are indisputably the heirs to Hamilton's America, and to repudiate his legacy is, in many ways, to repudiate the modern world.[3]

After reading Chernow's exhaustive account of one of the United States' lesser-celebrated founders, I understand the temptation of its readers to retell the story as a Broadway musical. Hamilton's life remains remarkable for a wide variety of reasons, and it reads like a drama of which Shakespeare would be proud.

While Lin-Manuel Miranda drew inspiration for his smash hit musical, Hamilton, from Chernow's book, my exposure to Alexander Hamilton came in reverse order. I have not seen the play, but over the past several years, I kept hearing people extol the drama's virtues. Therefore I decided to see what the fuss was all about and head straight to the source.

It would be a disservice to Chernow to even attempt to summarize the book without several thousand words at my disposal, so rather than do so, I'll give you the highlights of the life of a man I knew little about.

Hamilton was not born in America but rather the Caribbean island Nevis. He spent most of his childhood in St. Croix where he found himself the victim of repeated tragedy.

Within a span of five years, from age 10 to 14, Alexander (along with his brother James) endured the loss of his father who fled from his life and the deaths of his mother, cousin, aunt, uncle, and grandmother. The Hamilton brothers found themselves orphaned and poor. As Chernow writes, "That this abominable childhood produced such a strong, productive, self-reliant human being—that this fatherless adolescent could have ended up a founding father of a country he had not yet even seen—seems little short of miraculous."[4]

"Hamilton did not know it, but he had just written his way out of poverty. This natural calamity was to prove his salvation."[5]

In response to a devastating hurricane, Hamilton wrote a poem intended for his deadbeat father. The poem garnered such attention that local businessmen who saw promise in the seventeen-year-old, raised money to send Alexander to New York to receive formal education.

While receiving formal education in New York at King's College (now called Columbia), Hamilton became swept up in the American revolution and worked his way up to becoming general George Washington's aide de camp. Washington would come to rely heavily upon Hamilton's organization skills and knowledge of the French language.

This relationship would prove profitable not only in war, but also critical to the survival and flourishing of the new nation post British surrender when the first president selected Hamilton as his Secretary of Treasury.

"The rift between Hamilton and Madison precipitated the start of the two-party system in America."[6]

After teaming up with James Madison (along with fellow statesman John Jay) to write The Federalist, a collection of essays intended to convince the state of New York to ratify the new US constitution, the fruitful relationship between the two would deteriorate.

Post revolution and passage of the US Constitution, one of the most pressing matters facing the young nation was financial. The national debt had ballooned to $54 million and total state debt was $25 million.[7] As Treasury Secretary, Hamilton took it upon himself to right the US financial ship. But, in doing so, he created some significant waves.

Much of the debt was in the form of IOUs to soldiers of the revolution. Hamilton argued that the government should pay back holders of US securities in full in order to reestablish the faith of creditors in the nation's financial system.

Although the plan was brilliant—Daniel Webster would later claim, "The fabled birth of Minerva from the brain of Jove was hardly more sudden or more perfect than the financial system of the United States as it burst forth from the conception of Alexander Hamilton.”[8]—the aftermath resulted in a schism between Hamilton and his constitutional counterpart, James Madison. And even more significant: as congress and the public picked sides in the argument, the groups coalesced into what would become a two-party political system that we still see in America today.[9]

Congress approved Hamilton's plans to shore up America's financial woes, a plan that succeeded to move the USA toward financial preeminence. But an unfortunate side effect was a split between those who supported Hamilton's plan and those who opposed—a division that largely aligned with northern and southern states respectively.

To be sure, these tensions had existed long before Hamilton's rise to prominence, but the passage of Hamilton's funding plan severed whatever tenuous unity George Washington was able to hold together.

"In one of history’s most mystifying cases of bad judgment, [Hamilton] entered into a sordid affair with a married woman named Maria Reynolds that, if it did not blacken his name forever, certainly sullied it.[10]

Over the course of a year from the summer of 1791 though June of 1792, Hamilton engaged in an extramarital affair with Reynolds. Maria and her husband James would leverage the relationship to extort money from the Treasury Secretary.

Whether the illicit relationship was a setup for blackmail from the beginning is up for debate. Although Hamilton would pay the Reynolds some money, he refused James's request for a government job.

Five years after breaking off the affair, Hamilton came clean. A small circle of people, including James Monroe, had become aware of some of the Treasury Secretary's indiscretions and were challenging his professional integrity.

In response, Hamilton wrote and published what would come to be known as The Reynolds Pamphlet, a ninety-five page document containing all the details of the affair. To quote Chernow, "Hamilton’s strategy was simple: he was prepared to sacrifice his private reputation to preserve his public honor."[11]

The entire affair would only weaken Hamilton's influence.

Hamilton died in duel with Aaron Burr.

Burr, the former Vice President under Thomas Jefferson, had watched his political career spiral downward. Hamilton, a principled man, had little respect for Burr who Hamilton saw as one who was willing to shift his beliefs and affiliations in exchange for influence.

So when Hamilton's acquaintance published a letter stating "I could detail to you a still more despicable opinion which General Hamilton has expressed of Mr. Burr", Burr saw this as a chance to enliven his political career by challenging Hamilton to a duel.

Hamilton could have avoided the clash with some sort of vague apology, but instead balked that Burr provided no specific details which Hamilton could refute or address.

Ultimately, the two followed through with the duel. By all accounts, Hamilton intentionally missed his shot, while Burr shot the former Treasury Secretary in the abdomen—a blow that would result in death the following day.

Such a summary only begins to scratch the surface of Chernow's book, one from which every American could benefit.

The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues

Leaders who can identify, hire, and cultivate employees who are humble, hungry, and smart will have a serious advantage of those who cannot."[12]

Since reading the Ideal Team Player in April, I've returned to the book multiple times for guidance in the interview and hiring process.

Lencioni distills his tips for identifying, developing, and hiring the best people for your team using the business fable format—a fictionalized scenario which serves to illustrate the main points.

Throughout the fable, newfound CEO Jeff Shanley learns that all ideal team players, regardless of industry or position possess three common virtues: humility, hunger, and (people) smarts.

Humility is an obvious one: recognizing other people are just as important (or even more important) to team success is essential. Those lacking humility will step over the team to get credit.
Hungry people are invested in their work. They want to do a good job and are willing to exert extra effort for the success of the team.
Those with people smarts know how to "read the room." They are good at relating with one another and have a high level of emotional intelligence.

Team members lacking any one of these three virtues will contribute to deficiencies and breakdowns in the team's dynamics.

Imagine, for example, someone who is smart and hungry, but not humble. How would he behave? He would use his people skills to manipulate the team in order to feed his hunger to succeed.

Or what about someone who is humble and smart, but not hungry? She might be a favorite personality in the office, but her lack of production and engagement would sooner or later become a drag on the team. Others might come to resent her for not "pulling her weight."

You get the point.

The fable format allows for quick reading and, although a bit cheesy at times, works well in getting the point across. Lencioni chose to show, not tell, how team dynamics could be affected by deficiencies in any of these virtues.

Lencioni's most salient advice pertains to the hiring process. Often, what hiring mangers look for are technical skills and not how the candidate would fit in with the team and organization's culture. A person's credentials, however, should simply be the baseline for consideration with more emphasis placed on the three essential virtues: humility, hunger, smarts.

A Giveaway!

How would you like to win one these books?

I'm giving away one of the above books of your choice plus a copy of my newest book, Your Utmost Is Not Enough: Trusting in God Even When Life Doesn't Make Sense, to one lucky winner!

Already on the list? You're already entered!

I'll leave the giveaway open for seven days (through the end of 6/17/24 CST) and choose a winner at random on 6/18/24. (Note: this contest is open to residents of all territories, but since I'm based in the US, if shipping costs to foreign countries are too prohibitive, I might substitute the prize for a gift card.)

I'll update this post with the first name and location of the winner as well as notify him or her by email.

Good luck!

--------------------------------------
Notes:
1. Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2018), Kindle edition, 127.

2. Ibid, 11.
3. Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton (New York: Penguin, 2005), Kindle edition, 6.

4. Ibid, 26.

5. Ibid, 37.

6. Ibid, 307.

7. Ibid, 298.
8. Ibid, 303.

9. Ibid, 306.

10. Ibid, 364.

11. Ibid, 535.

12. Patrick Lencioni, The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues (Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass, 2016).

13. This post contains affiliate links which means I receive a portion of sales at no extra cost to you.

How the Wise Respond to God's Wrath

2024-02-27T05:00:00.001-06:00

A preview of February's email-only article.

Ben White

DO YOU EVER think about the wrath of God?

I know our heavenly father's final judgment is everyone's favorite pastime, but those who are wise do not shy away from the subject.

In this month's email-exclusive article, we'll examine Proverbs 16:14, its spiritual applications, and why God desires repentance, not penance.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and if you'd like instant, free access, fill out the form below. (If you are already a subscriber, check your inbox!)

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I LOVE THE multidimensionality of advice offered in the book of Proverbs. On the one hand the book provides practical guidance for life with passages like, "The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there" (20:4, BSB). And on the other hand Proverbs pours out spiritual salves in verses such as "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life" (4:23).

Often, you get both levels of insight within the same verse.

Proverbs 16:14 is a good example: "A king’s wrath is a messenger of death, and a wise man will appease it." The verse may not seem too practical since we do not answer to kings. Nevertheless we all have authority figures in our lives--bosses and teachers to name a couple--who have the power to impact our lives. Their wrath may not bring about death in a literal sense, but a termination or failed course can ruin one's livelihood. As a result, we would do well to prevent, if possible, their ire and, if not possible, to appease it.

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Cancel Your Plans: God Has Something Better for You

2023-07-18T05:00:00.005-05:00

Freedom comes with responsibility.

Parabol

IF YOU ASK me, one of the great mysteries of human existence is the tension between freedom and the sovereignty of God. I have strong opinions on the matter, but even the most studied scholars would be foolish to claim they've unraveled the matter in totality; the wisest among humans is still a fool compared to God.

Some sects claim free will is an illusion. God controls everything like a master puppeteer or perhaps a computer programmer. Though it seems like we can decide things for ourselves, we can't.

Others reside on the opposite end of the spectrum. They say God does not intervene or regulate anything in our reality. Everything is up to us.

Scripture, of course, summarily rejects the latter position, one held by many founders of the United States of America. To get around these contradictions one had to deny the veracity of Scripture. Thomas Jefferson went so far as to cut out portions of the Bible that did not align with his worldview, creating the so-called Thomas Jefferson Bible.

Meanwhile the extreme position of the former argument, while on more solid ground than the latter, is also in error. How do I know? Perhaps the best argument for at least some amount of free will is found in what Jesus dubbed the greatest commandment: "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut. 6:5). For humans to be able to express authentic love, we must have free will because the essence of love is choice. If someone were able to force you to love him or her, would that really be love? Of course not. Therefore, to affirm the capacity to love is to posit free will.

I WRITE ALL of this only as a preface to what Solomon has to say in Proverbs 16:1: "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD."

As you'll see, this proverb is loaded with significance, but the first line asserts what we've been discussing already: mankind has the freedom to make his own plans. We plan any number of things as we go about life. These are small decisions like what food we should buy to life-altering plans for what college to go to and where to live.

Notice that the proverb refers to the plans of the heart. Solomon is writing about our most cherished desires and aspirations and the corresponding plans we have to realize those desires. We are free to develop these plans on our own for better or worse.

But accompanying this freedom is a sort of responsibility to honor the one who created us. You see, some say to acknowledge human freedom is to diminish the sovereignty of God. In reality, God, in his omnipotence, granted us a finite amount of agency. This does not reduce God's power or knowledge because we understand that he grants us the ability to plan and also that he could revoke such privileges at any time if he so desired. He is God after all.

Understanding this phenomenon might help us comprehend the next line of Proverbs 16:1, "but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD." You might read this part of the verse and conclude that God controls every word we say. We make plans and he subverts those plans by redirecting our tongues. Such a prospect is certainly possible and within God's right. Bible scholars like John Gill and Joseph Benson astutely point to Balaam who went to Moab to curse Israel on behalf of King Balak but instead blurt out blessings. Was such an instance an overriding of the Balaam's free will? The matter is up for debate.

Still, I'm not sure this is the verse's focus. Instead I think its meaning is more like this: "the ability to speak comes from God." If my translation is correct, then the full meaning of the Proverb might be: you have the freedom to make your own plans, but remember, even the ability to speak comes from God. The implication: if you can't even do something as simple as speak without the enabling power of God, why on earth would you make plans without consulting and including God?

Now, lest you think I'm someone clever, you must know I merely borrowed and repackaged the same idea from TT Perowne who wrote: "the implied moral of the proverb is, If you cannot do the less without God, do not attempt to do the greater without Him."[1]

So if you have plans that don't include or consider God, cancel them. Why on earth would you make plans without honoring the one by whom you are able to plan in the first place? Setting aside our debt and duty to God for a moment, the truth of the matter is that God has much greater plans for you anyway! So not only is it moral to allow God to direct our planning, but doing so is also in our best interest.

WE COULD LEAVE the Proverb alone at that, and I think we would do well. But humor me, if you would, for just a few paragraphs more, because I think the proverb actually probes much deeper than the depths at which we've been exploring. Consider again the second half, "the answer of the tongue is from the LORD."

While we can't possibly understand the mysteries of creation, the book of Genesis does provide us some details thereof including these two: God created mankind in his image, distinct from the rest of creation, and God spoke the universe into existence. While God could have used any method to create, he chose to speak the sun, moon, stars, sky, plants, and animals into existence.

As the creation narrative demonstrates, language is a divine trait, and in creating humanity, he imbued us with the ability to express abstract thought. It's one of the ways we stand distinct from the rest of creation. This trait begins with spoken words, something we pick up naturally as children as our brains develop, but goes far beyond the ability to speak. As you read this article, for example, you are reading the expressions of the author.

Language itself is an act of creation because it allows us to formulate thoughts, and yes, even plans, into an intelligible format. Think back to the book of Exodus in which God provided detailed instructions for building the tabernacle. God conceived of the tent in his mind then translated it into a format that humans could understand and act on.

The ability to express ourselves in intelligible ways is a divine trait, one exclusive to humans among created beings on earth.[2] It's what allows a Mozart to compose Serenade No. 13, a Harper Lee to pen To Kill a Mockingbird, or a Frank Lloyd Wright to design the Guggenheim.

So perhaps, just maybe, Solomon is tipping his hat to the creation narrative in which God gave humanity the gift of language. We can have all the plans in the world stored up in our hearts, but it is God who gives us the ability to execute those plans by giving us the gift of expression.

Am I reading too much into the proverb? Quite possibly. I'll admit that. But I'll leave you with one story that might reinforce the argument.

Consider Babel. God gave mankind the incredible gifts of agency and language, and what happened? People got together and planned to build a tower to "make a name" for themselves. In their pride they sought their own glory rather than God's glory.

How often do we do the same thing?

I know I'm guilty of focusing too much on how I can become richer, more respected, and more attractive instead of finding ways in which I can honor God. I make plans in my heart that benefit me. I try so hard to make a name for myself when instead I should try to elevate the name of Jesus. Do you ever do the same?

In response to humanity's pride, God mixed up their languages, making effective communication impossible. The people still held their plans for self-glory and security in their hearts, but without the ability to communicate with one another they had to abandon the project.

All of this should serve as a reminder that though we're free to plan out our lives, we would be fools not include the one who not only gives us the freedom to make those plans but also the ability to execute them with his divine gift of expression.

If you enjoyed this article, you might like my free Old Testament reading guide, How to Read through the Old Testament without Getting Lost or Dozing Off: A 90-Day Reading Guide with Notes.

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Notes

1. Commentary on Proverbs 16:1 from the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges.

2. Angels and demons, it seems, have the same ability.

Change Your Entire Outlook on Death with this Weird Historical Fact

2023-06-20T09:30:00.001-05:00

A preview of June's email-only article.

Christina Morillo

HAVE YOU EVER pondered the afterlife?

That's the question we're asking in this month's email-only article. No doubt you've though about what lies beyond death before, but maybe you've never thought about the privilege of revelation that we all enjoy today.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and if you'd like instant, free access, fill out the form below. (If you are already a subscriber, check your inbox!)

Here's a snippet of this month's exclusive:

Job's vision of death and the beyond is something much different than what you or I imagine. He sees an existence filled with darkness where even the light is like darkness. In fact, as many commentators have pointed out, Job actually uses three different Hebrew words to signify darkness.
At this point, Job just wants to be left alone so he can enjoy a few moments before he dies because, in his mind, death results in eternal gloom.
The question, then, is how did we transition from Job's view of eternal darkness to one of everlasting light?

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If We Are God's Masterpiece, Why Are We So Broken?

2023-05-16T20:38:00.002-05:00

Sin results in dust, but God has a restoration plan in place.

Thrive by Daniel Popper, photo: Marianna Smiley

THE BOOK OF Job is one of contrasts. You see the uprightness of Job juxtaposed with the evil of Satan. Job is wealthy and healthy one moment then brought to poverty and disease in the next. But perhaps the biggest contrasts we see are the stark differences between expectation and Job's reality.

Job's friends expect that only the wicked should suffer, so they blame him for his problems.

Job knows he's innocent, but he eventually gives up trying to convince his friends and instead starts petitioning God for answers. Job essentially holds the same expectations his friends have, which renders his downtrodden reality all the more puzzling considering his blamelessness. It's the classic, Why do bad things happen to good people? question that just about every human everywhere throughout time has asked at one point or another.

In the midst of these petitions, Job asks God the following:

Remember that you molded me like clay.
Will you now turn me to dust again?

Job 10:9, NIV

First, you gotta love the word "remember" as if God could forget. As we saw last time, Job doesn't actually think God can forget, but in Job's limited knowledge, he cannot think of another explanation for his predicament. God must have forgotten the care he took to create Job when he molded him like a master potter molds clay.

Referencing clay is an overt allusion to the creation narrative in which "God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature" (Gen. 2:7). Here we see the creator formed us from the earth. I imagine him gathering up dirt and, as Job suggests, molding it like a potter does clay behind the wheel.

The potter metaphor suggests God took time and extra care to mold Adam just the way he wanted. Genesis 2:7 tells us he "formed" the man. This method of creation is unique to mankind; for the other aspects of creation, God simply spoke them into existence. What can we glean from this distinction? The creator fashions us just the way he desires. He takes extra care to ensure that mankind, made in his image, is his masterpiece. King David confirmed these notions centuries later when he wrote, "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psa. 139:14).

You are God's masterpiece. You are an image-bearer of God—the pinnacle of creation. What does all of this extra care in the creation process tell us? Like a painter's masterpiece, you have immense value.

But if this is all true, why is there so much brokenness in the world? Why would God create masterpieces just to see them demolished?

Job asked the same question: "Will you now turn me to dust again?" In other words, Why bother taking so much care in crafting me only to destroy me?

Job, in his despair, conveniently neglected to acknowledge what follows the creation narrative: the fall of mankind. Prior to Adam's disobedience, no one would return to dust. But when the first couple ate the fruit, sin corrupted the flesh, and death entered the equation. In response to his sin God said to Adam, "Out of [the ground] you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Gen. 3:19).

Sin corrupted humanity such that sickness and death and entropy entered the equation of our lives. Prior, Adam and Eve enjoyed an imperishable existence in Eden. But like a virus sin infected its hosts, ultimately rendering them dust once again.

But why Job, whom even God said was blameless?[1] Despite being God's handiwork, all humans inherit the sin nature passed down through Adam. As a result, we are born into corruption. Second, "blameless" doesn't not mean Job was sin-free. Every human who reaches an age in which he or she is able to discern right from wrong will eventually choose wrong. As Paul wrote, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).

Does this mean Job deserved what he got? Were Job's friends right? In one sense we could say yes because the consequence of sin is death. But in practical terms, no, of course Job did not deserve all of the tragedy that befell him.

Here's the thing about clay pots: they are fragile. Whether by a sudden fall or regular wear and tear, they are subject to becoming broken. Outside of Eden, humanity is fragile too. Although we are masterpieces, we reside in a corrupted world where moth and rust destroy.[2]

Yes, we are perishable because of the reality of sin, but God does not abandon us in this state. Instead, he has a plan to restore and rescue us. He will one day transform us from dust into a new, imperishable creation. The apostle Paul wrote about this in 1 Corinthians 15:

The dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

1 Corinthians 15:52-55

I suppose the moral is this. God is not finished perfecting his masterpiece. Because of the corruption of sin, our bodies will pass away. But God will give us a new and immortal body, a transformation that will take away the sting of death and brokenness in our current reality.

We know this to be true because of the resurrection of Jesus, and in this event we place our faith and look forward to the day when death is swallowed up in victory.

And if you enjoyed this article, you might like my free Old Testament reading guide, How to Read through the Old Testament without Getting Lost or Dozing Off: A 90-Day Reading Guide with Notes.

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Notes

1. See Job 1:8.

2. See Matthew 6:19.

Job's Response to Suffering Might Make You Rethink Your Approach

2023-03-23T13:42:00.005-05:00

We can't see in the dark, but God can.

Observer by Mari Lezhava

THE ENEMY WANTS you to embrace meaninglessness.

When unfortunate, coincidental, evil, tragic, or random events jam their way into our lives, the evil one wants us to stop asking why and instead conclude that no why exists. Because when we give a giant bear hug to the idea that life is purposeless, we lose hope and such a state opens up all kinds of possibilities for Satan and his minions.

The hopeless person really has nothing left to lose.

For his lot, Job never stopped petitioning God for answers. Though he might have resorted to snark and sarcasm, he never stopped his search for answers. After admitting he loathed his life and bitterness had filled his soul, he began asking questions of God. For example, in Job 10:4 he said, "Have you eyes of flesh? Do you see as man sees?"

Such an inquiry, though, was disingenuous. Just a few verses later he said, "You know that I am not guilty" (v. 7) and, "You have made me like clay" (v. 9)—acknowledgements of God's omniscience and omnipotence respectively.

Nevertheless he asked the question anyway for effect. Although he knew God does not "see as man sees," to Job, in this moment, it seems like God's vision is limited. Such a question is Job's rhetorical method for petitioning God for answers.

This inquiry might also be a subtle dig at his friends who claimed he should repent and insinuated he deserved his suffering. It's as if he was saying, "These guys obviously don't know what they're talking about, so why don't you come to my defense, God? Is your judgment faulty like these humans?"

As odd as it sounds, we should follow Job's lead here.

Cut through all the rhetoric and flowery language and what you have left? A man who is hurting and cannot for the life of him understand why he's going through what he's going through. And to make matters worse, he knows there is a reason behind his circumstances, but he doesn't know what that reason is.

I think we all get to this point at some time in our lives. It may or may not be as dramatic as Job's plight, but we come to a crossroads where we just want answers. Life doesn't make sense like we think it should.

At this moment, the evil one would love nothing more than for you to embrace meaninglessness—to believe your plight has no purpose. Why? Because you can't denounce meaning without also denouncing the source of all meaning, your creator.

Contrast that type of reaction to Job's. He never stopped questioning God. He cajoled, pleaded, and wept, but he didn't give up hope of finding meaning. He was honest with God.

When's the last time you were honest with God?

Sometimes I dance around my hangups in prayer as if God doesn't already know everything going on in my life. But even if you don't get answers right away, it is helpful to pray, "God, I am not sure why I have to go through this. It seems as if you are so far removed from my situation, but I need you to intervene. Please help me understand."

In these types of prayers we run toward God, and we affirm his omniscience rather than turn away from him who has all of the answers.

Take it from Job: one of the best things to do when life doesn't make sense is to keep pursuing the only one who does not see as man sees.

Pursuing God is just one trait of an effective Christian life. I've compiled a list of twelve habits fruitful Christ-followers have in common.

If you'd like to experience peace amid the storms of life, check out this guide.

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The Best, Worst Things about Bearing God's Image

2023-03-07T08:00:00.001-06:00

A preview of February's email-only article.

Jared Rice

LIFE HAS A way of beating us down at times. But no matter how bad our circumstances, often the worst part is not knowing why terrible things occur.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and this month we're looking at Job 10. Job reached some depths of despair most of us will never know, but he always held on to one truth. We discuss that truth in this month's article.

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Here's a snippet of this month's exclusive:

When we open up the tenth chapter of Job, we find our protagonist in a dark place.
Of course, Job spends most of the book in metaphorical darkness, but here in chapter ten he takes a turn for the worse, admitting, "I loathe my life" (v. 1). Life, the most precious of gifts, the most beautiful and fragile and rarest of possessions, and yet Job loathes it.
What does it mean to loathe? Merriam-Webster defines loathing as great disklike; disgust. Job is disgusted with his own life. Why? You know the reasons. His children have died. His possessions have been plundered. His health has deteriorated to an excruciating degree. His wife told him to "Curse God and die" (Job 2:9). His friends, helpful at first, descend into jerk territory—accusing him of sin, suggesting his children deserved their fate, and proclaiming he should repent—all for want of a better theology.
Penniless, abandoned, bereaved, confused, accused, and afflicted, you can see why Job's life might disgust him. Earlier in the book he even said it would have been better if his mother had miscarried! That's some pretty dark stuff right there.
Have you ever loathed your life?

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When Even the Best Medicine Can't Cure You

2023-02-18T06:47:00.003-06:00

"Every human heart carries the feeling of disquiet and of separation from its true home."¹

Nathan Dumlao

THIS WORLD OFFERS a taste of some of the most beautiful, exhilarating, and heartwarming phenomena. God's creation—intrinsically good—can leave one filled with awe at the sight of something as mundane as a sunset. The earth spins away from the sun once per day, yet still we marvel at its magnificence.

If you ask me, one of the best things about life is comedy. I love to laugh.

Most people do, of course, but why do we laugh? Why do we enjoy it?

We often laugh when presented with something so incongruous with reality that it subverts our expectations. Perhaps we enjoy laughing because doing so helps us mentally to escape the harsh realities of life.

Solomon commented on mirth and the sorrow it often belies. He wrote, "Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief" (Proverbs 14:13).

I can't say Solomon intended this reference, but I think of Sarah when I read this verse. You probably know the story. Upon overhearing news that she would become pregnant at the age of 90, she laughed. Wouldn't you? As the Scripture reads:

So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Genesis 18:12-14

Why did Sarah laugh? Because the idea of a senior citizen bearing a child seemed incongruous with what she knew to be possible. It was outlandish, farcical even.

But at the same time, Sarah's laugh was probably part defense-mechanism. She had hoped her whole life for a child, but had been disappointed for decades. Her chuckle, then, was a way to mask her heartache and guard her heart from more.

When Sarah conceived and bore a child, Abraham called him Isaac, which means laughter. Isaac was the embodiment of the type of incongruity possible with God. That Sarah, with whom the Scripture tells us the "way of women had ceased" (Gen. 18:11), could conceive and bear a child is a miracle. Such is outside the bounds of reality. We would all laugh if the story weren't true. As Sarah herself said, "God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me" (Gen. 21:6).

The birth of a child under any circumstance, but especially in Sarah's case, is cause for great joy. And yet, recall the second part of the Proverb, "The end of joy may be grief."

What does Solomon mean?

What begins as joyous, the life of a child, will eventually result in death.

Of course, the Proverb speaks to more than just childbirth, but the event is a good representation of the sentiment Solomon is expressing.

The world is full of myriad pleasures. But the joys of this world, when not rooted in the person or purposes of God bring heartache and grief.

If we back up one verse, I think we can see the connection. Proverbs 14:12 reads, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death."

These things seem right to us because laughter is pleasant and fun. Joy is, well, joyous. But gaiety only masks an underlying truth we all intuit at some point in our lives.

We are finite.

And ever since the fall of humanity, the pleasures of this world have served as mere distractions from recognizing that winter is coming.

Therefore we must seek out God, who promises eternal joy. We think we know the right path, but he alone is the source of life.

Reading the Bible and prayer are critical activities for those who wish to seek out God. If you've struggled to establish good devotional habits, you might find my guide useful.

This guide lays out a step-by-step process you can follow to establish healthy quiet time habits. When you do, you'll grow closer to God, and I can promise you'll consider the time well spent.

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Notes

1. Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, https://biblehub.com/commentaries/kad/proverbs/14.htm.

What Makes You Feel Secure?

2023-02-01T09:56:00.001-06:00

A preview of January's email-only article.

Jaime Spaniol

IT IS TEMPTING to focus our energy and efforts on the material world, especially when it comes to security. We build stronger houses, install better locks, and design more intelligent surveillance systems.

These things are no inherently bad, but if we're not careful we can shift our focus from the the eternal to the temporary.

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers, and this month we're looking at a verse from Proverbs 14 that will help provide some eternal prospective regarding the concept of security. If you'd like instant, free access, fill out the form below. (If you are already a subscriber, check your inbox!)

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While it's true Solomon may have borrowed or modified many proverbs from ancient sources, Proverbs 14:11 is nevertheless intriguing considering the context in which it was written. The verse reads, "The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish."
The surface reading is pretty obvious: God honors upright living and disaster besets those who are wicked. And the implications are just as obvious: be good, not evil.
But beneath the surface level we can observe a few additional layers of meaning that help us better understand how to apply the verse to our lives.
One can see right off the contrast between the house of the wicked and the tent of the upright. One is sturdy, able to withstand storms, while the other is flimsy and subject to the elements. And yet the house is destroyed, not the tent.
What are we to make of such a phenomenon?

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What I Read in 2022: 3 Books You Might Also Enjoy

2023-01-17T05:00:00.003-06:00

Three of my favorite books from 2022, plus I'm giving one of them away!

Update, 1/25/23: Congrats to Thomas from Spain on winning the book giveaway!

Siora Photography

I GOT AMBITOUS in September of 2021 and decided to pick up Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

I remember my first exposure to the book. I was in high school and a I spied a guy a grade ahead of me buried in the novel. Although I didn't know him well, he had a reputation as a superior intellect.

I love reading, as you know, and I've always admired a good intellect, so seeing Atlas Shrugged in this high school senior's hands was reason enough to add the work to my mental to-be-read list. That was in 2001.

Twenty years later I had occasion to pick up Rand's magnum opus. I am in graduate school at the moment, and a scholarship opportunity arose involving the reading of and writing an essay about the book. Those interested received a complimentary copy of the book in a digital format.

Although I knew the book was long, the electronic format masked its true girth. The English Standard Version of the Bible contains 757,439 words.[1] Atlas Shrugged, in comparison, contains an estimated 645,000 words.[2] Within a couple of weeks my coursework overtook most available free time for reading. But as the scholarship deadline came and passed me by, I found myself enthralled in Rand's book. So from September to May I read until I worked my way through the novel.

Alas, I cannot recommend Atlas Shrugged in my annual roundup of books I read. I had high hopes for the book, and the work was compelling much of the time. In the end, though, only strict adherents or new converts to Rand's objectivism philosophy will probably consider a book of such length worth the read. Although I resonate with much of Ayn's worldview, she makes zero allowance for either God or for charity of any kind. Additionally, portions of the book—the Galt speech, for example—are so long as to become repetitive.

I only bring up Atlas Shrugged as context for my year of reading; I spent almost half of the year finishing up the book. With that background established, here are three books I think you might enjoy.

Convicted: A Crooked Cop, an Innocent Man, and an Unlikely Journey of Forgiveness and Friendship

I promised myself that if I ever saw this cop again, I was going to kill him. I intended to keep that promise.[3]

Several years ago, Jameel McGee and Andrew Collins—co-authors of Convicted (in addition to Mark Tabb)—came and spoke at our church.

The pair told an abbreviated version of their compelling story to the congregation that day.

As the subtitle teases, Andrew was a crooked narcotics officer on the Benton Harbor beat in southwestern Michigan. Jameel "Zookie" was a man in the wrong place at the wrong time. Collins, hungry to make a name for himself on the force, turned to unethical means to secure convictions. So when Andrew received a tip about about an impending drug deal at a convenience store, he was ready.

A man named Will drove Jameel to the store that day. Jameel didn't have a license so he hitched a ride with a friend of his cousin in order to buy groceries. What he didn't know was that Will had arranged a drug deal at that very same convenience store.

Without probable cause or a warrant, Collins searched the vehicle and found an ounce of crack. Because Will had borrowed Jameel's phone to arrange the deal, Collins assumed Jameel was the dealer. Will lied and told the police the same story to save himself from prison.

While Jameel stewed in jail, Andrew's tactics grew increasingly unethical. He began holding on to drugs he confiscated so he could plant them on suspects to facilitate arrests and convictions. He falsified police reports. He pocketed cash with fake reports of controlled buys and false informants.

As the months carried on, Collins became sloppy and his illegal activity caught up to him, culminating in his arrest upon the discovery of a large amount of drugs he had stashed in his office. With a guilty plea, many of the convictions Collins had helped to secure—including that of Jameel McGee—were overturned.

If the story were to end right there, the book would still be an intriguing read. But the unlikely events that transpired afterward lack explanation but for the power of the Holy Spirt.

The two encountered each other by chance at a park in Benton Harbor following Andrew's release from jail. Despite Jameel's vow to kill Andrew, he attributes his ability to eschew his thirst for revenge to God. "I thought I'd left [God] back in prison," Jameel writes, "but he was right here, waiting for me at the very moment I needed him most. If he hadn't been, if I'd done what I wanted to do, then, man, my life might have been over."[4]

Even more implausible, Jameel and Andrew would eventually become friends, working together in ministry as a beacon of the redemptive power of Jesus Christ.

Convicted is by far my favorite read of the year. Revisiting some of the passages to write up this summary made me want to read the book all over again. And even though Convicted is a few years old, the book offers some hope for the seemingly ever-present racial tensions we see across the United States, especially those between police departments and minority communities.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

The servant had in some cases become more adroit than its master... Empathy, evidently, existed only within the human community, whereas intelligence to some degree could be found throughout every phylum and order including the arachnida.[5]

The source material for the 1982 film Blade Runner, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is perhaps sci-fi dystopian author, Philip K. Dick's, most famous novel.

In my baccalaureate days, I read another of Dick's novels, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, a book which captivated me to the extent that I finished reading it long after my science fiction course at the University of Oklahoma concluded. In addition, I enjoy many movies based on Dick's tales like Minority Report and Blade Runner itself.

As such, I was ecstatic to dive in to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? on the return flight from my church's mission trip to Jamaica.

In true Philip K. Dick form, the novel deals with existential issues of reality and identity as bounty hunter Rick Deckard searches for six escaped androids so he can "retire" them. Humans created androids to be assistants on Mars where the majority of earthlings emigrated after World War Terminus left earth nearly uninhabitable. Nevertheless, androids are not allowed to be free of their masters, but technology has advanced to the point in which the machines look and behave just like humans. Deckard must use an examination known as the Voigt-Kampff Empathy Test to tell them apart.

Deckard's six targets come from a new model line called Nexus-6. One of the fugitive androids has already injured a fellow bounty hunter, leading Deckard to wonder whether he will be able to survive his assignment. And, after becoming smitten with a female Nexus-6 named Rachael, he also begins to wonder whether he should kill them at all.

The novel's title stems from Deckard's greatest desire: to own a real animal. Most species have become extinct in the wake of the war, and therefore people own "electric" replicas. Only the wealthy can afford real animals like sheep, owls, or horses.

Whether you've seen Blade Runner or not, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is a great read for anyone who's a fan of science fiction novels. Just be prepared for the author to mess with your head; it's his signature move.

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.[6][7]

Had Atomic Habits been the first book I'd ever read on the subject, I probably would have considered it revolutionary.

Nevertheless, having read Duhigg's The Power of Habit—one of my all-time favorite books—some years ago, I found Atomic Habits less profitable than I would have otherwise.

That's not to say Clear's book is not worthwhile; I wouldn't have included it on this list if I didn't think it is deserving of attention. Even having a pretty decent foundation in habit theory, I found Atomic Habits to be both entertaining and useful.

The premise of the book is simple: tiny changes lead to big differences. By focusing on incremental, continuous, improvement rather than on grandiose changes, we can achieve things we never thought possible before.

After establishing the premise, Clear presents four "laws" of behavior change:

1. Make It Obvious

2. Make It Attractive

3. Make It Easy

4. Make It Satisfying

The book abounds with too many nuggets of wisdom and interesting stories to mention here, so 'll highlight just one. Regarding Law 3, Make It Easy, atomic habits are about dicing up large goals into realistic, almost effortless tasks. Once routinized, you can iterate and slowly increment the difficulty to achieve the results you desire.

One can also apply the converse of each of the four laws to bad habits. Want to break an undesirable habit? Make it difficult. Make it less obvious (e.g. get junk food out of the house or keep it out of sight). Make it unattractive. Make it unsatisfying to engage in the activity. Easier said than done, to be sure, but Clear offers practical tips to short-circuit the bad behavior in our lives.

Even for those well-versed in habit theory, Atomic Habits is an easy read and a great addition to the popular literature at hand.

A Giveaway!

How would you like to win one these books?

I'm giving away one of the above books of your choice plus a copy of my newest book, Your Utmost Is Not Enough: Trusting in God Even When Life Doesn't Make Sense, to one lucky winner!

Already on the list? You're already entered!

I'll leave the giveaway open for seven days (through the end of 1/24/23 CST) and choose a random winner on 1/25/23. (Note: this contest is open to residents of all territories, but since I'm based in the US, if cost is too prohibitive in foreign countries, I might substitute the prize for a gift card.)

I'll update this post with the first name and location of the winner as well as notify him or her by email.

Good luck!

--------------------------------------
Notes:
1. Allison Dexter, “How Many Words are in the Bible?” CNN.com, February 3, 2006, https://wordcounter.io/blog/how-many-words-are-in-the-bible.

2. I could not find a definitive word count for Atlas Shrugged.
3. Jameel Zookie McGee and Andrew Collins with Mark Tabb, Convicted: A Crooked Cop, an Innocent Man, and an Unlikely Journey of Forgiveness and Friendship (Colorado Springs: Waterbrook, 2017), Kindle edition, 11.

4. Ibid, 160.

5. Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (New York: Del Rey, 1968), Kindle edition, 28.

6. James Clear, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones (New York: Avery, 2018), 28.

7. Much thanks to my co-worker, Emily, who loaned me her copy of Atomic Habits. Sorry I held on to the book for so long!
8. Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader (New York: Crown Business, 2015), Kindle edition, 4.

9. This post contains affiliate links which means I receive a portion of sales at no extra cost to you.

AndrewGilmore.net

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