Are you a perfectionist? My perfectionism drove me toward a need to be right all the time. As a result, I discovered that my need to be right all the time led to me being wrong much of the time. The more I tried to be perfect, the more imperfect I became. God calls us […]

Often times we sin by leaving good undone. Using a basketball illustration, we step up to the line with the basketball in our hands, knowing what to do, and refuse to take the shot. James noted, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (James 4:17). When we […]

Anomia is a Greek word for sin that literally means “no law.” It is breaking the law, or committing a transgression-which is stepping over the line. Using a basketball illustration, this is missing on purpose, similar to the first sin in the Garden. Adam knew what was wrong, he understood the consequences, and he sinned […]

Adikia, a Greek word for sin, is twisting a wrong to make it right. Using a basketball analogy, twisting a wrong to make it right is missing the shot, then telling everyone that we made it. Adikia literally means “no righteousness.” John said that all unrighteousness is sin (1 John 5:17), and we must realize […]

Hamartia, a Greek word for sin, is missing the mark. Using a basketball analogy, missing the mark is attempting to make the shot, but missing it-similar to an 88 percent free throw shooter who doesn’tmiss 12 of every 100 on purpose. Missing the mark describes one aspect of how every one of us sins. Using […]

The New Testament writers used several Greek words for sin. However, those most frequently used can be summed up in four predominant terms. Each can be illustrated using a basketball free-throw analogy. First, missing the mark (hamartia) is attempting to make the shot, but missing it. Second, twisting a wrong to make it right (adikia) […]

After being blessed with God’s glory on Mount Sinai, Moses spoke to God in a way that showed his heart of confession, repentance and belief in God’s grace: “O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and […]

On Mount Sinai God revealed to Moses that He was indeed gracious, which is translated from the Hebrew root word chanan, meaning “to bend or stoop to one who is inferior.” In spite of our sin, the Restorer bends to us in order to engage us, the undeserving, with His love. Moses’ response to the […]

On the opposite side of the sin spectrum is God’s grace. Grace is the kind of undeserved love and or unmerited favor exhibited in the father who ran to his son outside the city gates in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. God is like that father: Even though we break His law, He pursues […]