Three times Paul repeats the same sobering phrase: "God gave them up." God does not force people into obedience. In love, God calls, warns, pursues, and invites. But when people continually reject the Creator in favor of created things, there comes a point where God allows them to experience the natural consequences of that choice.   Read More

At its heart, idolatry isn't simply bowing before an image. It's allowing anything less than God to shape our identity, direct our desires, or define our hope.   Read More

The world continues to offer competing promises of security, identity, and hope. The gospel still declares something better: Jesus is Lord, and through Him God is making all things new.   Read More

Paul doesn't begin by telling them what they lack. He doesn't present himself as the expert arriving to correct an inferior church. He recognizes that God is already at work among them. Paul has something to offer, but he also expects to receive something.   Read More

Sometimes we reduce the gospel to what happens when someone accepts Christ. Praise God, the gospel does transform us. It forgives our sins, makes us new, and invites us into God's family. But before the gospel changes our story, it announces God's story. God acted in Jesus. Christ died. Christ rose. Christ reigns. Those events changed history before they ever changed our hearts.   Read More

We aren't reading the conclusion of God's story. We're reading the chapter that invites us into it.   Read More