I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. In these brief two verses we learn of Paul’s dearest hope, deepest motivation, and greatest joy. It’s a...

I was struck again on Sunday while watching the Vikings football game – really, were you thinking I’d be doing anything else on Sunday?! – that after his 61 yard run for a touchdown Adrian Peterson kneeled and raised his arms in an obvious gesture of prayer and praise. And, indeed, after...

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may...

Today is the birthday of Martin Luther, born in 1483, and so it seemed appropriate to choose of the hymns he wrote as the poem for this week. Luther’s poetry – for what are lyrics but poetry set to music – changed the course of cultural history in the West as much as almost anything else...

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. This is the pivot point in this section of Paul’s letter. He is making a sharp turn, moving from warning about the false confidence his opponents are offering to encouraging the Philippians to lay hold of the...