See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 
-1 John 3:1a (ESV)

I just don’t love her anymore.” Identical words uttered on separate occasions by two men, one married to his wife for only four months, the other married to his wife for over fifty years. That may sound bizarre, but it’s quite tragically true. Both men said that they no longer felt anything for their wives, and that they weren’t getting anything out of the relationship ...

That was the introduction to my first year as a pastor. It was quite a shock, especially because both men were professing Christians. Wouldn’t their professed love for Jesus make a difference in their other relationships?

Though we may deny the commonly held opposition between the wrathful, judging God of the Old Testament and the gracious, loving God of the New Testament, we may still be guilty of propagating it by neglecting the Old Testament’s own witness to God’s character, and especially to his grace...

We say ‘God is love,’ but do we really understand how powerful those three little words are? “Love’s as warm as tears,” wrote C. S. Lewis, “love is tears.” And so begins one of the most important poems I’ve ever read. I love it, not because it’s well known or because Lewis is such a popular figure in contemporary Christian thought, but because it reminds me of my wedding...

As I was reading a daily devotional and studying this Scripture, I was distracted by thoughts of an upcoming meeting. I felt led to meditate on what it meant to have a childlike faith and how this might apply to me at this stage in my life and the people with whom I work.

Making a purchase a few years ago in a bookstore in St. Andrews, Scotland, I was given a ten-pound note as part of my change. I was amazed and pleased to see the face of Mary Slessor on the front and a map of her mission station in Calabar, now eastern Nigeria, on the back of the note...

A poem about the nature of God's love for us by William Cowper

Augustine wrote his Confessions when he was about forty-three years old, after he had become bishop of Hippo (in modern-day Algeria). In that autobiographical account he tells the story of his first thirty-three years—his birth, childhood, rebellious youth, ambition, travel to Rome and Milan, conversion, his mother’s joining him in Italy, their time together in Cassiciacum, their return journey south to North Africa, and his mother’s death en route at Ostia on the Tiber. Peter Brown writes, “What Augustine remembered in the Confessions was his inner life; and this inner life is dominated by one figure—his mother...

To be a gifted gardener is to be an artist of the earth and to be a gifted mentor is to be an artist of the soul. In fact, gardening is an apt metaphor for mentoring. The true gardener sees beauty before it’s visible, gets her hands dirty, and faithfully weeds, prunes, and waters. In awe, she recognizes that God causes the growth...

There is a problem in the life of holiness that for many does not arise at all, for some emerges intermittently, but for a certain number—more, I suspect, than ever acknowledge it in any public way—is virtually lifelong. It is the problem of felt abandonment by God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, within the frame of full commitment to God...

Seeing the time is so far spent, we will take no more in hand at this time than this one sentence; for it will be enough for us to consider this well, and to bear it away with us. “This I command unto you, that ye love one another.” Our Savior himself spake these words at His last supper: it was the last sermon that He made unto His disciples before His departure; it is a very long sermon.

Having a godly family is (or should be) the goal of every Christian couple. However, this is neither a simple nor an easy goal to achieve. C.S. Lewis gives some wise, much-needed advice to all who desire a godly family life.

When people hear that God loves them, they may assume this means He is content with the way they are. As C.S. Lewis explains in The Problem of Pain, however, the opposite is true...

In his book, The Four Loves, Lewis describes “Storge” or Affection Love that is typically displayed when someone is caring for someone else – a mother for her child; a nurse for her patient; a professor teaching his student. While it has many positive attributes, Lewis warns us that this kind of love can go sour...

Jesus is off limits for a lot of families and friends—or at least that’s how it appears sometimes. Why does sharing the good news with a stranger often feel less frightening than telling those you love most?

Prayer can at times be exhilarating, and at times can be daunting. On this topic of prayer, Paul Miller, executive director of Seeing Jesus, shares about what it looks like to being like a child in prayer.

The Bible tells us that honoring our parents, our fathers and mothers, is of such great importance that it is among the Ten Commandments. But what does it look like to honor one's parents? In this audio lecture, Klaus Bockmuehl shares about the topic of honoring one's parents.

Family is one of the most important communities we are a part of, and as of the last several years, the values of family systems have been under attack. In this audio lecture, Myron Ausburger shares about the pressing issues of our time in regards to family.

Love has come to mean many things. It's used to describe emotions. It's the glue for relationships. It frames countless stories.

And the greatest of these stories opens before time began and echoes throughout eternity. It's the story of God's unrelenting, overwhelming love for His people. Yet the truth of love is even more majestic, more staggering, and more extraordinary than we can understand: God doesn't just love us; He is love.

Jesus was love personified---compassionate, honest, humble, powerful. How did he do it? And how can we learn to love as he did? Weaving Gospel stories with experiences from his own life, Miller explores how to be honest without judging, depend on God, let love be energized by faith, embrace the way of humility, and more.

Jonathan Edwards is considered by many historians to be one of the greatest intellects of his age. Even today, Edwards's sermons and writings challenge the minds and inflame the hearts of Christians everywhere. The sermons included in Altogether Lovely reveal Jonathan Edwards's deep affection for the glory and excellency of Jesus Christ.

How did the Parable of the Prodigal Son, possibly Christ's best-known parable, get its name? It could easily have been called the Parable of the Waiting Father. Jesus told the story to illustrate the joy which there is in heaven over one sinner who repents, and so he spoke of a wanderer. But to over-emphasize that aspect of the story would be a mistake. The joy in heaven is joy in the presence of the angels, not the angel's joy. It is the joy of God as his amazing love welcomes the wanderer home.

In The God Who Loves, Pastor John MacArthur argues against two polar views of God--the sentimental grandfather whose doting love ignores correction or punishment, or God as an angry tyrant who rules by threats. Both of these images paint a distorted picture and confuse the issue of understanding God's love. By looking specifically at the epistle of 1 John, and sharing stories of real people interacting with divine love, MacArthur fleshes out the doctrine of God's love to bring clarity and encouragement to believers.