The apocalypse is personal for me. In 1994, Harold Camping predicted the end of the world and the return of Jesus, despite the fact that Jesus himself says no one knows when he will return (Matthew 24:26). When I was young, Camping's heresy infiltrated the church my parents were attending at the time and some…
The Olivet Discourse
One of the most difficult to interpret passages in the New Testament is Jesus' "mini-apocalypse" in Matthew 24, also as known as the Olivet Discourse. In the passage, Jesus seems to speak of the impending destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70AD but also of the event surrounding his second coming. As with most…
The Hidden Cause of Burnout
Burnout—the state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion—is a hot topic these days (sorry for the fire-related puns). There's even been a whole book written on how Millennials (my generation) has become the "burnout generation." Writers often blame a wide-variety of things that cause burnout. Explanations have ranged from the pressures placed on kids from…
The Two Hands of God’s Mission
I took one punch to the face and said, "I'm done!" I threw the boxing gloves down and walked out of the locker room. During high school, one of my football teammates brought boxing gloves into the locker room and so, after practice, when the coaches weren't around, impromptu boxing matches would start up. This…
Raising Lazarus 