I wake up lost every morning. At least that’s what it feels like. Perhaps something similar is true of you.

Somehow during the night I’ve forgotten the big realities about God and the universe and myself and the gospel. I desperately need to steady myself with biblical truth rather than stumbling forward to live from unbelief.

I tend to forget the big realities during the day as well. I regularly catch myself living on the idiotic assumption that I will constantly remember the things that really matter — and that I will act in line with them. I assume that the realm of the seen and touched will not overwhelm the realm of the unseen and hoped for.

But in reality, whether it’s night or day,…

Continue Reading →

I sat down on the gym floor next to a college freshman after a game of pickup basketball and struck up a conversation.

We had met on the court a couple weeks before and had briefly conversed. This time, after broaching a few standard topics, I asked about his church background. I learned that he had never really attended church, so I thought what logically followed would be to ask what he believed and how he knew to believe those things. We arrived at the fact that he was "a pretty easygoing guy" and "didn't really think about it." I was a little incredulous. How was that an option? With the exception of taxes, I was sure that he knew death to be the only certainty in life. And since he him…

Continue Reading →

Are athletic achievement and fierce competition sheer madness for the Christian?

It’s a question essential not just for the celebrated Tim Tebows and Jeremy Lins, but also to a handful of unknown Christians playing in this weekend’s NCAA Tourney, and thousands (if not millions) of Christians worldwide engaged in highly skilled and highly competitive athletics.

Achievement and competition are two related, but distinct, topics for the Christian. What follows is seven Christian reflections on athletic achievement and a pair of biblical observations related to Christians in competitive sports.

7 Reflections on Athletic Achievement

1) God could have created us to be just a pair of eyes, b

…

Continue Reading →