Shakespeare once said through his character Juliet, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” That’s a poetic way of saying, what makes a thing what it is is its characteristics and essence, not what we call it. What makes a rose a rose? Not its name. What makes a rose a rose…

Are you going to heaven? If you’ve turned from sin and are trusting in Christ as your Savior and Lord, then you undoubtedly are. And praise God for that. But for those of us who are going to heaven, does it bother you that some of your friends, family, and neighbors are going to hell?…

We’ve been talking about what could be said in light of the amazing Golden Chain of Redemption found in Romans 8. We’ve already covered four of the five rhetorical questions:  If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all,…

We’ve been talking about what could be said in light of the amazing Golden Chain of Redemption found in Romans 8. We’ve already covered two of the six rhetorical questions:  If God is for us, who can be against us? and He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us…

Paul asks this question of reflection in Romans 8:31: “What then shall we say to these things?” What is “these things” referring to? He’s referring to the grace-filled, hope-building, joy-inducing realities of the Golden Chain of Redemption that I explained in our last episode. There are 5 links to that chain. If you are in…

There are so many passages in the Bible that give us great hope, but one of the best has to be found in Romans 8:29-30. It’s commonly called the Golden Chain of Redemption. It’s called that because each reality mentioned is precious like gold and linked together like a chain to bring about our full…

Have you ever been so frustrated or so discouraged or so hurt or so tired that you couldn’t even bring yourself to utter words of prayer to God? All you could do was growl and weep and moan. Well, guess what? The Bible says in Romans 8 that even in those moments of weakness, God…

Joy to the World! The Lord is come. Let earth receive her king. Did you know that song is more than just a Christmas song? In fact, some would argue that it’s not really a Christmas song at all, looking to Christ’s first coming in the manger, but rather a coronation song looking to Christ’s…

To live in this fallen and broken age is to suffer in some form or fashion. There’s pain. There’s loss. There’s disappointment. There’s disaster. Sometimes there’s a lot of good with a little bad, but sometimes there’s a lot of bad with a little good. Couple onto this experience of simply being a human in…

What if I told you you are in the middle of a war and that you have a relentless enemy striving to kill you? And that that enemy is not interested in the least in a peace treaty or a compromise. They will stop at nothing until you are dead. And because of that, you…