Author: Ryan Higginbottom

Ryan lives in Washington, PA with his wife and two daughters and teaches mathematics at Washington & Jefferson College. You can connect with him on Substack.

Links for the Weekend (2026-04-03)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

The Resurrection’s Centrality

Patrick Schreiner has written a nice article about the necessity of the resurrection in the gospel message.

A gospel message that does not include the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is no gospel at all. To quote another author, “At the heart of Christianity is a cross; and one of the most significant things about it is that it is an empty cross.”

Hell to Pay: What Truly Happened to Jesus on the Cross?

Understanding exactly what happened between the Father and the Son on the cross is not easy! Here’s an article by Nick Batzig with an attempt to explain.

Some have insisted that Jesus didn’t truly endure hell on the cross, because his human nature didn’t experience complete annihilation. Others have rejected the teaching that Jesus experienced the equivalent of hell on the cross because his sufferings were temporary rather than eternal in their endurance. The answer to both of these objections is, of course, found in the mystery of the union of the two natures of Christ.

A Sonnet for Easter Dawn

Our poem of the week: A Sonnet for Easter Dawn, by Malcolm Guite. This is a poem about the discovery of Jesus’s empty tomb. Here’s a bonus, seasonally-appropriate sonnet from Malcolm Guite: This Breathless Earth. This one is about Jesus’s appearance to the disciples in the Upper Room.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called God’s Fleeting Gifts. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

God’s Fleeting Gifts

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

The signs of her are everywhere. From inspirational sayings on the fridge to masking-tape labels on spice jar lids, we see her handwriting all over the kitchen. No matter how much sorting and donating we’ve done, she’s still a huge part of that house.

Rightly so. My parents were married for almost 50 years, spending close to 45 years in that house. Mom has been gone since the fall of 2023, but I can still smell her distinctive scent when I walk in the front door.

I spent some time with my dad this past February, and I felt those now-familiar feelings that I know accompany loss and grief: sadness at my mom’s absence and gratitude for the time I had with her. That time was not short—I am not young!—but good relationships rarely last as long as we’d like. We’re finite, but we crave the infinite.

We don’t raise the topic much in conversations at work or at the coffee shop, but our death is inevitable. Famously, this is the great equalizer, the one experience (aside from birth) all humans will share. Here’s one among many obvious implications: all of God’s gifts are temporary.

It’s easy to acknowledge the temporary nature of some gifts—an ice cream cone, a garden bloom in the spring, a favorite band’s concert. We know we can’t hold onto these for long.

But we treat some other gifts differently. A best friend or spouse, an energizing career, a well-loved home—if we tilt our heads at the right angle, we might convince ourselves these will last forever. Whether our ignorance is willful or naive, we’re still ignoring the obvious. We’re going away, and so is everything we ever lay eyes on.

God’s gifts aren’t the problem, of course. He gives good gifts to his children (Ps 84:11, 34:10, 103:5). Our problem is the weight we misattribute to these gifts. We want them to be and to bear too much. When we hoist a crane on the back of a horse, we shouldn’t expect any galloping around the pasture.

One correction we can offer each other is to receive these given things in the way they are intended: as good but temporary gifts. We might think this will lead us to devalue or ignore the people and things in our lives. That’s possible, but this perspective should actually help us love them better. No spouse was made to be the object of worship; no friends were intended to be eternal sources of encouragement. We love these people and things best when we agree with what God says about them: they are good, and they (like us) are dust.

Some of my mother’s labels and notecards have been in my childhood home for decades. Her memory still lives on in that house and with her loved ones. But from the perspective of centuries, it won’t be long before those index cards, that house, and everyone who ever knew my mother’s name is gone. This may sound like a downer, but it’s actually a necessary perspective if we want to relate well to God’s gifts.

There is one of God’s gifts that will last, only one that can bear the weight of our desire, our hope, and our worship. Only one gift that will actually satisfy the desire for permanence that stands like a pillar at our core. That gift is God himself. The incarnation of Jesus was a preview of what is to come (Rev 21:3). God gives himself to his children freely and gladly—without hesitation. And we will enjoy him forever.

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Links for the Weekend (2026-03-27)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

What Unity in the Church Really Is

We don’t always have the right idea about unity in the church. Here’s a brief article describing what unity isn’t, then what it is.

I love the realism of the Bible. The writers of the New Testament held no delusions about the easiness of church and church leadership. In fact, they recognized that unity is exemplified when people with seemingly unassailable differences come together as one in an unexplainable way. True Christian unity demands diversity, difference, and dissent.

Blessed Are the Empty

Here’s a great guide to reading the Beatitudes. You’ll learn about how the Beatitudes are invitations, the OT background of the Beatitudes, and the structure of the Beatitudes themselves.

The structure of the Beatitudes teaches us that in the sermon Jesus invites the empty to come and be filled. Jesus doesn’t offer ultimate happiness to those who trust in themselves for spiritual riches, restoration, and righteousness. Rather, Jesus offers the life of the kingdom to those who are empty and in faith look to him for their eternal good. And in doing so, Jesus promises that he won’t leave his followers empty but will infallibly fill them. 

How do I walk well with someone when they are grieving and they do not share my Christian faith?

Lauren Whitman (CCEF) has a video answering this question. (A transcript is also available.)

Ode to Dawn

Our poem of the week: Ode to Dawn, by Thomas McKendry. This poem is a delightful description of the sunrise. Enjoy the rhythm and rhyme!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2026-03-20)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Embrace Your Life by Enjoying Quiddity

Come for the chance to learn a new word (quiddity!), stay for advice on enjoying life exactly where you are.

How do you become a deep person? You can hear it in the word itself—it’s the desire to mine, uncover, excavate. That doesn’t happen in 14 seconds. One method, then, is through reading great books, but it’s not the only way. Lewis presents a method available to any person at any point in his or her day—practicing attentiveness.

What Is Fasting?

Cassie Achermann has written a nice overview of fasting: what it is, where it shows up in Scripture, and why you might consider doing it.

I began fasting out of a sense of deep need for God. A Bible study I had worked through left me yearning for God to bring revival in my heart as well as in my church. I started small, skipping lunch once a week and instead spending that half hour praying. Not long after, I added a second day in the week. These weren’t aimless, wandering prayer times; I was asking the Lord urgently for help in two specific areas: first, for a breakthrough in an area of ongoing sin, and second, for spiritual revival in my church, where I’d been facing discouragement and difficulty for a while.

Righteousness

Our poem of the week: Righteousness, by Kate Bluett. This is a meditation on hungering and thirsting for righteousness, as Jesus spoke of in the Sermon on the Mount.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called 3 Poor Reasons to Read the Bible. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Thanks to Cliff L for his help in rounding up links this week!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

3 Poor Reasons to Read the Bible

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

On this side of our glorified bodies, Christians have two natures that wrestle within. Our “old man” persists until we see the Lord, and as a result, even our good behavior can be laced with sin.

We rejoice at the opportunity to help our neighbor, but we recognize the pride of self-congratulation on the walk back home. We try to give money generously, but we catch ourselves scheming how to work our latest donation into a dinner conversation. Our hearts have graduate degrees in dusting sour, selfish powder on the wholesome bread of obedience and love.

Bad Reasons for Bible Reading

Reading the Bible is no exception. We can exploit even this act of devotion for selfish gain.

I’ve seen this in my life. The reasons I have for sitting down with God’s word are often mixed. The more we can identify and repent of our bad impulses, the better.

Read the Bible to Have a Great Day

Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of encouragement to exercise in the morning. I’m told this active start to the day will make me feel amazing and will set me up for success in every other area of my life.

Some people advocate Bible reading in the same manner. Fifteen minutes in the Psalms will give you the spiritual equivalent of endorphins. If you start your day with God, what could possibly bring you down?

This approach to the Bible is stained with the prosperity gospel. Yes, obedience to God brings blessing, but “blessing” does not mean a smooth path and a fat wallet. We must not tie our ease and comfort to God’s favor or our obedience.

Those who push the Bible as a vaccination against trouble also speak a lot about how “inspiring” the Scriptures are. Call me a downer, but we need this sobering truth: The Bible is not always inspiring. It isn’t supposed to be.

In the Bible we find the self-revelation of the holy God of the universe, and this revelation is not always intended to make us feel good. God has designed something much better.

Read the Bible so Others Know You’re Holy

Social media has multiplied our opportunities to broadcast our spiritual practices. And the dopamine hits from likes and shares can transform a posture of humble worship to one of gold-nugget hunting.

But Instagram did not create this temptation. From my earliest days as a Christian I have wanted others to praise me for my piety. I would read God’s word with an eye toward sharing my devotional discoveries with my friends.

Most people want others to think well of them, and in the church, this can take the insidious form of spoiling genuine time with God by an obsession with one’s reputation. Time set apart to think about and worship God becomes more time to focus on me.

Read the Bible to Earn God’s Love

Christians need to hear the gospel of grace over and over and over. The news is so stunningly good, we have trouble believing and remembering it.

We doubt that God’s love is as deep and steady and present as he says. We know the devotion God desires, and we think his love for us must be proportional to our obedience. We pick up the Bible either in the fear that we have sinned too much or in the hope that God might, finally, be pleased with our latest offering of worship.

This thinking is pervasive, but it is nowhere in the Bible itself. For Christians, God is a good father whose love cannot be improved. Our accounts are at maximum capacity. Whether we read the Bible, or how well we read the Bible, does not change God’s affections toward us.

One Good Reason to Read

These poor reasons to read the Bible are focused on self. A great reason to read the Bible is to focus on God.

In the Bible, God shows us himself. He shows us his holiness and his law and his mercy. We see the background and setting for the life of Jesus, the central act of history. We hear the cosmos-rocking implications of his death, resurrection, and ascension.

We read the Bible because God commands we love him with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. But the transformed people of God long to worship their loving father and hear from him.

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Links for the Weekend (2026-03-13)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Edgelords Won’t Inherit the Earth

This one is especially for parents or friends of young men or teenage boys. Joe Carter writes about this moment’s cultural figures who influence young men and contrasts it with a biblical perspective on being a man. He offers three ways for the church to help.

The tragedy of our moment is that young men are starving for such mature masculinity and often can’t find it because the platforms that dominate their attention are structurally hostile to it. When the loudest voices in a young man’s life are those modeling immaturity, he’ll assume immaturity is what strength looks like.

​​6 Tactics for Your Fight Against Sin

This article from Brad Wetherell presents some help in the battle against sin and temptation.

When temptation comes, don’t think to yourself, “Sin is inevitable. Its pull is too powerful for me. What’s the point of fighting?” Instead, tell yourself, “Sin has lost its authority over me. I belong to Christ. Therefore, I will resist. I will not act as if sin reigns.”

Whatever Is

Our poem of the week: Whatever Is, by Sarah Chestnut. This poem is a wonderful meditation on Philippians 4:8.

Thanks to Leeanne E for her help in rounding up links this week.

    Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

    Links for the Weekend (2026-03-06)

    Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

    Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

    Six Gospel Antidotes to Anxiety

    As this article says, “We live in an anxious world.” But the Bible speaks to anxiety! Brady Hanssen writes about the portions of the Sermon on the Mount relevant to those who are anxious.

    In verse 27, Jesus asks, “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” The answer is obvious: nobody. Anxiety accomplishes nothing; in fact, it is counterproductive. Psalm 139:16 reminds us, “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” The Lord has sovereignly ordained the number of our days before we were even born. Worrying about our life will not extend it beyond the days that God has given us.

    How Do You Know If You Are Called to Write a Book?—Five Questions Every Artist Should Ask

    Andy Patton had a conversation on a podcast with Will Parker Anderson about vocation and calling. (At that link is a written summary of the highlights.) Even for non-artists and non-writers, this might be helpful for thinking about what God might have you do.

    God is personal, present, and near. He wants us to walk in His way, and He has given us means of discernment. Some people have dramatic, unmistakable moments of calling. Most do not. For most of us, calling is discovered through prayer, patterns, community, Scripture, desire, slow obedience—and, to be honest, simply trying things and stumbling around.

    Hillside Vigil

    Our poem of the week: Hillside Vigil, by Thomas McKendry. This is a quiet, sobering poem about a man mourning by a grave.

    On the WPCA Blog This Week

    This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called Context Matters: Bear One Another’s Burdens. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

    Thanks to Phil A for his help in rounding up links this week!

    Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

    Context Matters: Bear One Another’s Burdens

    Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

    Perhaps you’ve heard that Christians are to bear each other’s burdens. When a member of your church family is ill, recovering from surgery, or has recently welcomed a new child, you may have been encouraged (using this verse) to provide meals and other practical assistance.

    “Bearing the burden” or “carrying the load” of another person is a memorable, vivid image. When a friend is weary and struggling with something weighty, we can take that heavy object in our arms. This is an act of service and love.

    And yet, context matters. When we learn to read the Bible as a unified collection of letters and books instead of as a binder stuffed with proverbs, we’ll see that some of its most memorable commands don’t mean what we always assumed.

    Ensnared in Sin

    The context of the command to “bear one another’s burdens” is a person caught in sin.

    Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:1-2)

    This instruction comes on the heels of Paul’s famous passage about the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16–26). Paul is explaining, in part, what it means to keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25).

    What should Christians do when someone in their fellowship is “caught” in a transgression? Those who are spiritual should “restore” them in a spirit of gentleness. These topics are tricky and sensitive; being ensnared in sin is humbling and the one who is caught has likely been exposed. We must proceed with caution and love, and Paul gives us guidance.

    Fulfill the Law of Christ

    Perhaps by now we can see that bearing another’s burdens has little to do with mowing their grass after knee replacement surgery. Paul is concerned that Christians bear the burden of their friend’s sin entrapment and help them to freedom. This is so central to the way we are to love one another within the church that Paul writes that it helps us “fulfill the law of Christ.”

    It is rare that someone can escape the quicksand of entrapping sin without the help of a Christian friend. A friend who will listen, who will gently speak the truths of the gospel, who will pray, who will help develop a plan for resisting and fleeing temptation—this is a friend whose value is beyond gold. These are the friends we need, and these are the friends we are called to be.

    The surrounding passage gives further commentary on these situations.

    • Those who restore a sinner must be careful to watch themselves, lest they also be tempted (Galatians 6:1). When walking so close to the bog of sin and temptation, we must take care not to fall in the muck ourselves.
    • Christian friends must remember their own weaknesses and sin. There is no place for pride when bearing the sin burdens of another (Galatians 6:3).
    • We must not think we are better than our friend and boast in that perceived superiority (Galatians 6:4-5). Our “walking by the Spirit” is not measured by comparison to others; rather, we should use Paul’s list of the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit to make an honest self-assessment of our lives and hearts.

    What We Lose

    Do not fear. When we interpret Galatians 6:2 correctly, we are in no danger of losing the Christian call to care for our brothers and sisters when they need practical help.

    Earlier in this epistle, Paul tells the Galatians to “through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). In 1 Thessalonians, we read, “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone” (1 Thessalonians 5:15). Finally, the many New Testament commands to love one another more than cover the circumstances which are usually in mind when Galatians 6:2 is cited.

    The danger we face, in fact, is just the opposite. This is one of a few places in Scripture that teach us how to act when a friend is stuck in the brambles of sin. If we misuse Galatians 6:2 because we haven’t read the passage carefully, or because we have over-emphasized the burden-carrying image, or because we think sin is a private matter, we’ll lose valuable instruction about how Christians bear the fruit of the Spirit in community.

    Context matters.

    For more examples of why context matters, click here.

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    Links for the Weekend (2026-02-27)

    Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

    Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

    4 Practical Tools to Help You Pray

    Sometimes we talk about prayer in the abstract. (And this can be helpful!) Courtney Reissig wrote an article to help us put prayer into practice.

    Let’s get really practical about the “how” of prayer. Different strategies will work for different people, but I want to show you practical ways I’ve found to be helpful in making my prayer time more intentional. The point is not for you to replicate what has worked for me but to find something that works for you.

    How do I know when my actions are a result of sin in my heart or because of bodily weakness?

    Mike Emlet (from CCEF) answers this question about the connection between sin and our bodies in a video. (There is a transcript as well.)

    The most accurate way to conceive of our human makeup is that we are constituted as a duality—body and soul. The Bible uses terms like soul, spirit, and heart interchangeably to refer to the immaterial aspect of our personhood. But how should we understand the relationship between the immaterial and material aspects of our personhood, and how might that help us answer the question regarding sin?

    Elegy for a Tow Truck Driver

    Our poem of the week: Elegy for a Tow Truck Driver, by James Matthew Wilson. This is a poem demonstrating love and curiosity for someone the speaker didn’t quite get to know.

    Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

    Links for the Weekend (2026-02-20)

    Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

    Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

    The Only Way Out Is Through

    Marc Sims contends that every difficulty presents us with a choice: will we give up or make it through? He points to Jesus as our hope and help in these moments.

    I’m grateful for many technological innovations we have. I am grateful for the computer I am writing these thoughts out on. But I am aware of how the material circumstances of my culture have imprinted something deep in my lizard-brain: I should not have to do hard things. I am certain that every human being in every age would feel exasperated trying to get a key off an overly tight key-ring, tie a wiggling toddler’s shoes, or navigate an automated customer-service phone call with a health insurance company…but I think I feel it uniquely. I, who have been given titan-like powers through my iPhone and computer, can find it more plausible than any other previous generation that the material world should bow to my will. It doesn’t, of course. But it feels like it should. When most of my life is spent sinking digital nails effortlessly into digital boards, it feels mildly outrageous when a real one bends crooked.

    Three Things That Make Temptation Flee

    Jacob Crouch offers us just what his title promises: three things to think about to help in the fight against temptation.

    But for the Christian, there is a real sense in which these temptations no longer lord over us. We are no longer bound to obey them anymore. Even on this side of heaven we experience real victory over sin and temptation. Those are glorious seasons when our hearts are lifted to heaven and we do the things that we really want to do. What are those things that make sin seem so silly? What is our frame of mind when temptations lose their shimmer? I want to point out three things that make temptations flee.

    The Flood

    Our poem of the week: The Flood, by Kate Bluett. This poem reflects upon creation and the mercy of God in his Son.

    On the WPCA Blog This Week

    This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called The Uncomfortable Reason God is Kind to His People. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

    Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.