The Delightful Reality of God’s Happiness
God is an overflowing fountain rather than a needy drain.
He is the only being who does not depend on anything outside of himself for complete joy: God “blessed forever,” as Paul puts it (Rom. 9:5). Deep happiness and rich delight also characterize God’s relationship with his people, including you. Many of us find that hard to accept because we don’t feel delightful in the... Continue Reading
Meryl Streep as Aslan in ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ sparks Christian backlash: ‘Creative vandalism’
It's more ideological slop produced by the machine that's given us plenty already.
“Aslan is more than an allegory for Christ, he *is* how the creatures of Narnia experience Christ in their world just as we experience Jesus Christ as an incarnate MAN in ours. To cast Meryl Streep as Aslan in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia is a slap in the face to the genius of Lewis, but also... Continue Reading
Is Steven Lawson’s ‘Confession Book’ Just an AI Hoax?
Repentance is more than words.
Justin Peters has since reflected on the book, and he wrote this two days ago on his Facebook page, ‘I’m not convinced Lawson actually wrote it. Perhaps he did, but I’m not sure.’ He added, ‘If Steve really is behind the book, he had AI write it. This is classic AI. Through various circumstances, I’ve... Continue Reading
Endurance in the Christian Life
We have the assurance that our God is at work to sanctify us and make us more like Christ.
The truth is that God is sovereign and He is in control no matter how difficult the circumstances may seem. Scripture affirms this truth over and over. Our problem sometimes is that we focus on the circumstances and merely glance toward God, when we should be focusing on God and glancing at the circumstances. ... Continue Reading
A Theology of Idolatry for the Twenty-First Century – Part 3: Christ Still Silences the Idols
Every false worldview eventually creates false worship, and every false god eventually disappoints.
Every age believes it has outgrown idolatry. Every age is wrong. Every age tells itself a story about reality. Our neighbors are no less religious than the Athenians. Their temples simply look different. Their liturgies are often political rather than priestly. Their idols are more sophisticated than carved stone. But they are no less incapable... Continue Reading
30: Losing our Voice, Losing our Mind
The mouths of our Christian kids are often closed, for two reasons, 1. fear, 2. ignorance.
Christians cannot be united to everything and everyone. Christians have religious/ideological enemies. You cannot take on the enemy of paganism if you ignore the categories that identify it–religious categories by which it must be forced to make a public case. Understanding those categories will allow Christians to find their minds and voices. Only then can... Continue Reading
God is a Good Slave Owner
The freedom of belonging to Christ.
Every false god puts his servants upon the altar, but the Gospel shows us the Master already lying there. We do not climb onto the altar to atone for ourselves. Christ has done that once for all. We climb onto it alive, pardoned, and wholly His, not to purchase mercy, but because mercy purchased us.... Continue Reading
Reflections on the Christian Sabbath: Part Three
Implementing one or two of these at a time, slowly, will go a long way in blessing you, in sanctifying you in your walk with Christ.
The culture we live in is always busy and with access to constant visual stimulation from television, video games, IPhones, and the like, it is nearly impossible for us to sit still and meditate on the word of God. Yet, the psalms are filled with examples of meditation. The psalmist meditated on the word of... Continue Reading
The Problem of Pernicious Entitlement
How do we combat that sin?
Pernicious entitlement is also a danger for us spiritually. It leads us to a life of thankless grumbling that refuses to acknowledge God’s good gifts, instead taking them, and his goodness for granted. Spiritual pernicious entitlement saps faith like a mosquito drawing blood and replacing it with it’s viral load. We have a problem... Continue Reading
Devotions: Duty or Delight?
So start with the discipline, and ask God to help you grow in your delight. Then watch with joy as God slowly, bit by bit, continues His work of remaking you into someone whose devoted, disciplined delight in Him proclaims to the world the greatness of your God.
Sometimes forward momentum feels less like a confident marathon runner on mile 16 and more like a chubby junior higher half running, half stumbling down a steep hill. But God knows my frame. He remembers that I am dust. And I think that God is pleased when His distracted, busy, sinful children make an effort... Continue Reading
Repentance — The True Catalyst for Revival
Each time we allow the Holy Spirit’s invasion of our lives he brings transformation, deepens our love for Jesus and brings about a new and better understanding of his ways that enables us to fulfil his purpose and destiny, which he has chosen for us.
The gospel is a confrontation of light and darkness, death and life, truth and lies. Repentance is the kingdom’s edict for forgiveness and freedom. The importance and necessity of repentance are highlighted by the result. Without repentance there is no forgiveness. Sins are not wiped away without the blood. That repentance for forgiveness of sins... Continue Reading
What Happens to the Souls of Christians When They Die? Luke 23:42-43
Whether we live or die, he cares for us and will bring us through to himself.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”... Continue Reading
Autumn’s Analogy
Autumn is not only a colorful season with refreshing temperatures; it may also be an appropriate season for personal spiritual examination.
While we enjoy the invigoration of cooler weather and breathtaking color, let’s consider an autumn analogy to our walk with Christ. Are we aware enough of the spiritual forces around us in the world to compare our life in this world as less appealing than what awaits us in Christ’s presence? Are we too comfortable... Continue Reading
When My Fellow Christian Sins: Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick
May God help us as we admonish one another unto a greater love for one another and to be more like Christ as His return draws near.
Sometimes we have to confront someone else over how we ourselves have been treated, criticized, or slandered. Paul knew his opponents’ thoughts: “All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you” (2 Cor 12:19). In reality, he corrects, “it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking... Continue Reading
The Situation
Why rage is increasing.
It is a peculiar characteristic of resonance that it can neither be forced nor prevented with absolute certainty…. The uncontrollability of resonance further means that it cannot be accumulated, saved, or instrumentally enhanced…Uncontrollability implies, moreover, that we cannot fight or compete for resonance…. We purchase commodities (cruises, safaris) and hope to experience resonance with nature,... Continue Reading
Outward Focus
Always consider your impact on others.
Christian liberty is absolute, but be sensitive to the consequences of your actions. And then comes the key. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 1 Corinthians 10:23–30 (ESV) “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things... Continue Reading
Defining True Worship, Part 1
No longer bound to shadows, we now worship in the fullness of Christ.
Biblical worship is fundamentally God-centered. It does not originate from human creativity or emotional energy but flows from the revelation of God in Scripture and is empowered by the Holy Spirit. The psalms are a robust example of this: filled with both lament and praise, they remind us that worship encompasses the full range of... Continue Reading
The Gospel
Creation is not an irrelevant side issue. It is foundational to the Gospel.
The culture today is much like the first-century Greeks. Many people believe that evolution is the way life came about and therefore that death is a normal and appropriate part of nature. They believe that death has always existed since life first evolved. It therefore cannot be the penalty for sin. This undermines the Gospel.... Continue Reading
Who Has God Made Us To Be?
God has made us to be like the living one. God has brought us to fullness. We now know our purpose, and so we live. We live for the first time.
Every power and authority. He, Christ, is the head over every power and authority, and this is tremendously encouraging again to you and me. Because who you and I are, no one else gets to name us. As Paul writes in the letter to the Romans, there is now therefore no condemnation for those who... Continue Reading
The Lord Knows The Plans He Has For You, But They’re Not The Plans He Told Jeremiah
Does God know the plan that he has for you, me, and our graduates? Of course. He is the omniscient sovereign Lord over all creation.
As the beginning of the chapter indicates to us, it is for the Judean exiles in Judah. Their land was just destroyed and pillaged, Jerusalem and the temple was razed to the ground, many of them have been killed, and a majority of the survivors have been taken captive and brought to the land of... Continue Reading
One-Liner Lessons for Ladies in Waiting (or Wedded Ladies)
Here are 22 one-liner lessons (11 today, 11 last week) in no particular order and with no commentary.
In truth, there are many more lessons to be learned, but these lessons, if learned, serve as a firm foundation for a godly marriage. My oldest daughter is fast approaching adulthood, and for years she’s been preparing herself to be a godly wife and mother whenever the Lord should make her one flesh... Continue Reading
What Jesus Teaches Us About Preaching Jonah
The gospel calls us to more than Jonah could imagine—not merely to tolerate our enemies, but to love them as Christ loved us—even when that love is not reciprocated, even when it costs us dearly.
Jonah’s story exposes a profound problem. The pagan sailors show moral sensitivity and reverence for Yahweh. And the brutal, idolatrous Ninevites respond to judgment with national repentance. Yet Jonah—God’s ordained prophet—remains rebellious, self-justifying, and angry at God’s mercy. Most of us know Jonah as the reluctant prophet who was swallowed by a great... Continue Reading
How We Pray For Grace
Grace in the morning. Grace at noontime. Grace for evening hours. It doesn’t come automatically, it comes by asking.
We are not used to such praying — with strange words or speaking style, but, along with praying the Scripture passages above, praying these will broaden and deepen our own prayers as we say (and pray) grace. Grace isn’t something we pray only before a meal. It’s what we pray for, every moment,... Continue Reading
The Parable of the Sower Does Not Teach That Some Are “Carnal Christians”
Where there is no fruit in keeping with the Christian gospel, no matter what a person may say, they are no more a Christian than a person who rejects the gospel altogether.
A profession of faith is not what saves a person; a profession of faith is one outward sign of the work of regeneration by the Spirit that saves us. That outward profession is evidenced as genuine when it is marked by fruit of the Spirit (there’s that word again) and works empowered by the Spirit.... Continue Reading
Introducing Pastoral Savvy
Knowledge is not enough.
To claim to be wise invites God’s humbling for one’s hubris (Prov 3.7, 1 Peter 5.5). I don’t know if I am a wise practitioner, but I’ve done enough foolish things to suggest that there is a hard way to do things in ministry. If there’s a hard way, then there is also a savvy... Continue Reading
What Is a Christian?
What had been spoken with contempt became a badge of honor.
The believers in Antioch did not invent a label for themselves. Their neighbors watched their lives and found one. Christ people…Christians….What a beautiful name to bear! And if you bear it, what sort of Christian are you? The first Christians did not call themselves Christians. Other people did. The name seems to have begun... Continue Reading
Abraham, Part 8: Isaac Promised
Is anything to hard for YHWH?
We begin with a scene of hospitality, for which the Middle Eastern peoples are famous even today. Abraham is sitting in his tent door “in the heat of the day” when three men appear. The passage doesn’t say, but it’s clear that by the end of their conversation Abraham is aware that he’s talking to... Continue Reading
The Man In Ministry
Men of God must be godly in all the following realms.
Men of God who serve as undershepherds must live honorably. There should be a distinctiveness and an attractiveness to this man’s conduct and character. Without this honorable lifestyle, shame will come upon the man, the church, the gospel, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1. His HOLINESS God’s man must strive for holiness. No shortcuts... Continue Reading
Teaching the Church to Die Well
After all, there is no cure for mortality.
If people die the way they have been formed to live, then the church bears responsibility for that formation. Pastors help when they help people get real about life and death, making full use of the church’s culture-forming means of grace: the ministry of the Word, prayer, corporate worship, and the visitation of the sick. ... Continue Reading
Your Life is a Sermon
How are you reflecting the glory of your Savior to the world?
Your character is preaching a message, one way or another, as you go about your life each day. There is a way to live that will both display the truth about God and make the truth about God attractive. God saves us just as we are, but he is not content for us to... Continue Reading
