Christian Atheism
Shift Your Story Before the Last Chapter
Samson had the gift, and then he had the drift. Now I want you to see his shift. In prison, after they put out his eyes, his hair began to grow back. Maybe that's what I need. And …
Blog
New writing, drawn from what we're preaching on Sunday. Currently: Christian Atheism, a seven-week series through Judges.
Christian Atheism
Hit the Pause Button Before You Go Down to Timnah
If Samson, chosen and gifted by God, could drift that far, how do we avoid presuming on God? How do we keep from toying with sin until God is done letting us toy with it? Pause Nex…
Christian Atheism
"As Before": When We Presume on God's Rescue
Here's the verse that should scare every gifted person who grew up in a godly home: And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" So he awoke from his sleep, and said, "I w…
Christian Atheism
A Head Start Is for Running Farther
Samson had God's purpose stamped on his life nine months before he was born. He was God's chosen person to set Israel free from the Philistines. But he drifted. He made pleasure hi…
Christian Atheism
Is Your Faith Yours, or Just Your Mom's?
Samson had a godly home, a covenant nation, and a vow over his life before he was born, and he still said, "Get her for me, for she pleases me well." So how do we move from careles…
Christian Atheism
Careful Parents, Careless Pleasure
If you grew up in church, you know Samson was a big, strong dude. If you're not careful, though, you'll forget some things about Samson that reveal some things about us. He grew up…
Christian Atheism
The God of the Covenant, Not the Covenant of the God
If Gideon's ephod was a little nod in the wrong direction, it set in motion a path that led his family into a snare. The Bible says Israel "played the harlot" with it. That's stron…
Christian Atheism
Scan Your Heart (and Your Office) for Ephods
What's meant to be a tool for worship can quickly become the thing that's worshiped. That's the rub, the razor's edge, the fence post we teeter on. How do we keep from worshiping t…
Christian Atheism
Verse 24 Follows Verse 23: When the Symbol Replaces the Savior
We skipped the good part of Gideon's story, the 300 men with their pots and torches. You probably learned it in Sunday school. We're jumping to the end, where Gideon goes back to l…
Christian Atheism
Courage Is Often Just Obedience with Weak Knees
After Gideon tears down his father's idols and finally stops testing God with a fleece, he faces the hardest test of all: staying devoted to God when things get tight. And the LORD…
Christian Atheism
Tear Down the Backup Plan (Even If You Have to Do It at Night)
Before God sent Gideon out against Midian, He sent him into his own backyard. Now it came to pass the same night that the LORD said to him, "Take your father's young bull, the seco…
Christian Atheism
When the Cave Gets Comfortable
Gideon is one of the most famous names in the book of Judges, but when we meet him, he's hiding. The angel of the Lord finds him threshing wheat in a winepress and says: "The LORD …
Christian Atheism
Like the Sun in Its Full Strength
After the battle, Deborah and Barak sing a duet. Judges 5 is basically a musical. I don't know the tune, but I know the lyrics, and the song ends like this: "Thus let all Your enem…
Christian Atheism
Swap Your "If" for "Up"
Barak's word was if. "If you will go with me, then I will go." But by the time we get to Judges 4:14, Deborah has a different word for him: Then Deborah said to Barak, "Up! For thi…
Christian Atheism
Clarity Isn't the Problem. Obedience Is.
Most of us don't struggle with knowing what God wants. We struggle with doing it. When Deborah calls for Barak, she doesn't give him a riddle or a vague feeling. She gives him a di…
Christian Atheism
Pray Before the Alarm Goes Off
Israel had a prayer pattern: rebellion, rescue, rest, and then rebellion again, in an endless loop. They prayed for rescue, and as soon as they were rescued, they returned to bonda…
Christian Atheism
A Left-Handed Son of the Right Hand
The story of Ehud is probably one of the most awkward stories in the Bible. I don't want us to get distracted by the bathroom scene or by the size of the king. But I do want us to …
Christian Atheism
When God Is Just Our 911 Call
I have a functional relationship with my mechanic. The only time I call him is when my car breaks down. I never call and ask, "How's your day going? How are things at the shop? Do …
Christian Atheism
Mind the Gap Between Sundays
If you've ever visited a city with trains, you know they keep them hidden underground. You step off the platform into the train, or the tube, or the subway (not the sandwich), and …
Christian Atheism
Othniel and the Beauty of Boring Faithfulness
You probably never learned about Othniel in Sunday school. You learned about Samson. He fought the Philistines with a donkey's jawbone, carried city gates on his shoulders, and bro…
Christian Atheism
A Form of Faith: How God's People Drift into Practical Atheism
We just spent a long season in the book of Romans, downloading a lot of deep, rich theology. The danger in that is that you can get really, really smart about the things of God, an…