Darkened Glass Reflections

Category: Bible meditations

  • Cheap Grace or Transforming Grace?

    German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer coined a phrase for such a distorted understanding of grace. He called it “cheap grace.” In his classic devotional, The Cost of Discipleship, he spoke of it as preaching “forgiveness without requiring repentance,” offering “communion without confession” and “absolution without contrition.”

  • Faithfulness in Hard Times

    We serve an eternal God who created infinite space and a vast universe. Yet, we often have the audacity to think we can dictate or define the outcome of our obedience when we go through trials.

  • New Year’s Day sermon

    This is a sermon and article I wrote several years ago, but the message is worth coming back to every year. I considered that the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, was referred to as the “Feast of Trumpets” in the Old Testament. Reflection on how trumpets were used in the Bible, especially the Old Testament,…

  • New Year’s Day: A Time for Change?

    “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind” (Isaiah 65:17). “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the…

  • Reflections on the Feast of St. Stephen

    It is a little odd that the church calendar has the Feast of St. Stephen on December 26, immediately after Christmas Day. One day, we celebrate the birth of our Savior; it has become THE fun day on the church calendar, especially in terms of how we celebrate it in our society. The very next…