Same Old Garbage

Every Sunday evening I fill a gray recycle bin with assorted cardboard boxes, empty bottles, crushed beverage cans and other stuff they tell me I shouldn’t throw away. Just before I close the lid and wheel it to the curb I notice that the contents look just like the junk I put in there last week. There’s something about the rhythm of the Underwood household that produces the same garbage, day in and day out, week in and week out, every month, every year.

I’m okay with that, as long as it’s only physical garbage that’s stinking up our lives.

(more…)

Cheap Grace!

A new reader of this blog is really getting beat up. Like me, this person emphasizes the grace that is ours through Jesus Christ our Lord as the defining and sustaining dynamic of the Christian faith.

The response to his writings? “When are you going to say something about obedience, commitment, and morality?”

The unspoken charge? “You just want the Christian life to be easy and cheap!”

I assure you that is not what grace-teachers believe. There’s nothing cheap about grace, nothing soft about grace, nothing easy about grace.

(more…)

What Tempts You?

What would you consider the most serious and debilitating temptation to a true Christian?

Sexual sin?

Lying?

Spiritual laziness?

How about none of the above?

The most serious temptation that derails Christians is the temptation to return to the law once they’ve received new life by trusting in Jesus. It’s a “Now that Jesus saved me, I better get to work to clean up my life and make Him proud of me!” temptation. And the so-called Christian culture cheers them on, “That’s right. Get to work for Jesus you sorry-little-sinner. That’s what we’re doing!”

No They’re Not!

(more…)