Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The Prodigal God and His Prodigal Sons

Last month (3/25) I had the privilege of speaking at the Day of Worship here at Grace College and Theological Seminary. I spoke on the parable commonly known as "The Prodigal Son"; however as you can see from the title of this post I have changed the title to fit the text more accurately. You can listen to the audio here.

N.B. Those who are familiar with Tim Keller's book The Prodigal God will notice that I largely follow his take on the parable. I highly recommend this book; it is short and very readable even for those who are not particularly inclined to read.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

TGIM - Thank God It's Monday?

We are all familiar with the abbreviation TGIF - Thank God It's Friday. It has become such a part of our culture that there is even a restaurant named T.G.I.Fridays! We live in a culture that often lives for the weekend, or the next vacation. According to a recent study, only about 45% of American workers are either satisfied or extremely satisfied with their jobs. A different survey suggests that the number may be as low as 33%. Only 20% of Americans feel very passionate about their jobs. Perhaps most telling was the fact that 33% of those surveyed believed they had reached a dead end in their career.

In light of that reality, a good number of us do not look forward to Monday and the start of the work week. But what would have to happen in our hearts to make us actually look forward to going to work no matter what kind of job situation we are in? To get us to the point where we might actually find ourselves saying TGIM - Thank God It's Monday?

Only something as powerful as the gospel can transform our work from drudgery to delight. Curious? At this link you can listen to a recent sermon I gave from Ephesians 6:5-9. It was part of our church's series entitled "The Gospel Changes Everything" in which we walked through the entire book of Ephesians.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Review of G. Walter Hansen, The Letter to the Philippians (Pillar New Testament Commentary)

The most recent issue of Themelios is now posted. For those who may be interested, in it you can find my positive review of this new commentary on Philippians: