Into this, our story, steps Jesus. He is the author. And He is the plot twist.
Into this, our story, steps Jesus. He is the author. And He is the plot twist.
Sin doesn’t grant you permission to do what you want. It gives you no option but to do what it wants. And worse yet, to believe the want has come from you.
Have you ever watched a film where, right near the end, you find out a new piece of information that turns all you thought you knew about the plot and flips it on its head? I think here of The Sixth Sense, The Usual Suspects, Fight Club, Shutter Island, or The Prestige. In each, you get just one additional sliver of information and suddenly scenes that didn’t quite make sense now do and other...
Too many people have the unfortunate problem of managing quite nicely. Quite nicely is nice when all things are well, but when there’s a secret moral failure, a destructive pattern, a relational problem, or a long-buried wound, managing quite nicely is a problem. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. It’s a silent misery. As a 19 year old Christian college student, I was harboring secret sexual sins...
Like a cat with its tail on fire, we run thinking it’s a matter of self-preservation. But nothing could be further from the truth.
We’re creatures of habit. We conform to what’s normal around us. God made us that way, and it’s a good thing. It’s why you can turn on a light switch, walk across the room, read a book, and eat spaghetti without getting it all over your face (well, most of you). It’s how you build muscle, gain wisdom, and grow in character. We adjust to that which is–or that which we make–our regular...