Posts with the tag “pastor-kenton-rahn”

In the Old Testament, God’s people were expected to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrate the feast of Passover in the spring, Pentecost in the summer, and Tabernacles in the ...  Read More

The grace which justifies is the grace which sanctifies.  Sanctification is all of grace.  It is initiated by grace, performed by grace, and perfected by grace.  It requires our cooperation as saints,...  Read More

According to the Bible, there are only two kinds of children in the world – the children of God and the children of the devil (cf. 1 John 1:12–13 and John 8:39–44).  That’s a very stark and startling ...  Read More

When was the last time you thought about how amazing God’s grace is?  We often think of grace as “God’s undeserved favor,” and that is certainly true!  But what does undeserved favor mean?  In the Bib...  Read More

I was born again and became a new creation in Christ on February 13, 1993 – just two months shy of my 23rd birthday.  I know for a fact that my mom helped pray me into the kingdom, and shortly after m...  Read More

When I was younger – and in much better shape – I used to go on solo backpacking trips in the Sierra mountains.  I would scour the map for a remote lake nestled in a forest and get away for a few days...  Read More

Over the years I’ve heard people make some pretty ridiculous New Year’s resolutions.  A few that stand out to me are:I will think of a password other than “password” or “hello.”I will do less laundry ...  Read More

What does it mean to have faith like a mustard seed?  In this verse, Jesus uses an analogy, and I find it interesting that he compares faith to a mustard seed.  I think there are a couple lessons we c...  Read More

If you could be any animal you wanted to be, which one would you choose?  I’ve always thought it would be fun to be a dolphin.  They seem happy and playful.  Plus I love the ocean.  But if I could be ...  Read More

Can you remember a time when you were a child and your parents disciplined you for doing something wrong?  For most of us, that would be a long list.  My mom was a softie when it came to discipline, b...  Read More

In the Old Covenant, the temple in Jerusalem had a veil separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place – the Holy of Holies.  I always thought the veil simply represented the holiness of God.  He ...  Read More

One of the books that is often neglected in the Old Testament is Haggai—named after the prophet who lived in the sixth century B.C. Haggai ministered during the period after the Babylonian exile when ...  Read More

I’ll never forget the day I almost fell off a wall like Humpty Dumpty.  I must have been around 8 years old, and I was outside playing with my friend Stephen.  For some reason we thought it would be f...  Read More

A while back a group of men at our church finished studying the Book of Ecclesiastes. We spent 21 fascinating and exciting weeks discussing Solomon’s enigmatic message, and I’ve come to the conclusion...  Read More

I wonder if you’re going through a battle right now?  According to Ephesians 6:12, we’re always facing some form of invisible warfare or another, some form of spiritual attack from our enemy.  And the...  Read More

When our daughter Gracie was about five years old, she became fascinated with ants. Being a supportive and inquisitive-minded father, I bought an Ant Farm online and had it shipped to our house.  I as...  Read More

Most people probably don’t think of themselves as strong and courageous.  That’s why we need verses like Joshua 1:9 – to remind ourselves that we can be.  By the grace of God, we can be strong and cou...  Read More

Some people think the will of God is mysterious and enigmatic—hard to understand.  But this passage makes it crystal clear.  While there are puzzling questions in life that require patience and wisdom...  Read More

The other day I drove up to my house and—glancing out my car window—flinched to see all the weeds growing in my yard.  Clearly I had neglected them for too long, and now I would have to pay the price....  Read More

There is a promise from God in Scripture for every conceivable situation we may encounter in life.  And since we’re always facing some sort of situation—a need, a trial, a perplexing dilemma, a decisi...  Read More

The Mariana trench is the deepest underwater location on earth, plummeting 36,000 feet below sea level, or roughly 6 ½ miles deep.  In 1960, oceanographers were able to descend to the bottom, and to t...  Read More

Lately I’ve been feeling the call of Yosemite Valley.  If I don’t visit once a year I start going through withdrawals.  One of the most-breathtaking views on the planet, in my opinion, is driving thro...  Read More

I can’t imagine living in a world without new things.  What if everything stayed the same and never changed?  Or everything just wore out and dilapidated over time without being fixed or replaced? It ...  Read More

This is one of the best-known and most-quoted verses in the Bible on parenting.  On the surface there is a precious promise here: if we train our children in the ways of the Lord, when they get older ...  Read More

In college, some of my friends nicknamed me “the seeker.”  At the time I wasn’t a Christian, and even though I didn’t realize it I was searching for something missing in my life.  That’s why I joined ...  Read More

We’ve all had some bad days.  Discouraging days.  Days when it seemed like everything went wrong.  Days of sorrow.  Days of regret.  Terrible days when tragedy struck.  But no matter how bad things we...  Read More

Embedded in the western wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is one of the world’s largest cut stones.  It is 44 feet long, 10 feet high, 16 feet deep, and weighs 570 tons.  The stone is so massive t...  Read More

When the Israelites crossed the Jordan river and entered the promised land, they encamped near the city of Jericho.  Tensions were high as the people prepared for their first battle with the Canaanite...  Read More

Occasionally, when I start a new year, I ask the Lord to give me a word that will signify what he wants me to learn in the days and months ahead, a word he wants me to focus and meditate on until it b...  Read More

Over the years I’ve heard people make some pretty ridiculous New Year’s resolutions.  A few that stand out to me are:I will think of a password other than “password” or “hello.”I will do less laundry ...  Read More

There are two mistakes we can make in the Christian life that are equally dangerous: we can be too hard on ourselves, or we can be too easy on ourselves.  The second mistake leads to a life of unrestr...  Read More

One of the saddest moments of my life was walking through the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC.  At one point on the tour, the museum highlights how Jews were abducted, packed into train car...  Read More

“Hey partner, how are you doing?” the paramedic said, looking down at me.I was writhing on the floor with excruciating pain radiating through my left side, the unmistakable sensation of a kidney stone...  Read More

According to the Bible, there are only two kinds of children in the world—the children of God and the children of the devil (cf. 1 John 1:12–13 and John 8:39–44).  That’s a very stark and startling re...  Read More

The fear of the Lord is a difficult concept for many Christians to grasp.  As God’s children, we marvel at the love our heavenly Father has for us, and we have a hard time understanding what role fear...  Read More

When I was in Elementary School, I had a great friend who lived on the other side of town where I grew up.  During summer vacation, we were allowed to walk, run, skateboard, or ride bikes to each othe...  Read More

I’m kind of an all-or-nothing type of person.  I like things that are black-and-white, cut-and-dry, clean, clear, simple, and straightforward.  But life is often sloppy, messy, uncontrollable, unpredi...  Read More

Recently I completed my first 40-day fast.  I never thought I would attempt something like that, but I believe the Lord invited me to a different kind of feasting that I couldn’t resist.  It reminded ...  Read More

There are a lot of wonderful promises in the Bible, but one of my favorites has to be the promise of God’s presence.  The ESV translation contains the phrase “I will be with you” eleven times and “I a...  Read More

Romans 12:12 is an amazing verse.  John Piper calls it “a description of the Christian life,” and I think he’s right.  Here is a strand of three priceless pearls for us to marvel at.  Not only is each...  Read More