Wisdom Incarnate
Proverbs and the Sermon on the Mount.
What we behold shapes us. Our allegiance must therefore be pure and undivided. The call to holiness is ultimately the call to imitate God. Jesus commands, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Peter echoes this command: “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15–16). We are to... Continue Reading
View Your Past Through the Lens of God’s Faithfulness
Friend, God has been faithful to you, even if you don’t know the full extent of that faithfulness.
When we look backward, we often do so wondering whether or not God has been faithful. When we feel that sense of loss, we begin to question whether or not He has actually faithfully provided. Or sustained. Or guarded. Or strengthened. But what if we changed our lenses? The type of lens makes... Continue Reading
The Reformation at 500: Luther’s Wasted Year?
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
In spite of all appearances during that year of waiting in the shadows, God was not finished with Luther, and Luther was not finished with the Reformation. To quote a popular line, things were not falling apart—they were merely falling into place. I love studying the Reformation at this season of the year.... Continue Reading
The Church’s True Purpose
Aligning with God’s plan in a broken world.
History is not random. The rise and fall of nations, the suffering and triumph of God’s people, even the opposition of God’s enemies—all of it is being woven into a tapestry that will display His glory. If you ask a group of Christians, “What is the church for?” you’ll probably hear a variety of... Continue Reading
How to Read the Bible When Your Heart Feels Cold
“My heart is again burning within me as the Spirit opened the Scriptures to me.”
When our hearts were once on fire with scriptural truth and now they are not, we must realize that nothing has changed in the Bible; heaven and earth will pass away before a single letter changes in Scripture (Matt. 5:18). No, it is we who, by our sin, have quenched the Spirit and the fire... Continue Reading
Your Beginning in God’s Purpose
Long ago, God wrote your name—and it wasn’t on a scrap piece of paper or on a list of to-dos.
Why is it that you, today, believe in Jesus? Is it because God just so happened to look down one day, notice your life spinning out of control, and enter in? Was there a point in which God was a newcomer to your life—reacting to the mess of some new situation? Or, in truth, had... Continue Reading
On Pleasant Places, Part 2: The Commitment
The consequences of living in a world broken by sin reach us as well, and we know the sorrows of sickness and death, of conflict and conflagration.
Family matters. Not because we’re all really cool, but because we are chosen and set apart and loved by the God who made all things and whose Son has purchased us with his own blood. That’s a good place to start. Part 1: The Call In the second stanza of Psalm 16, David... Continue Reading
The Servant’s Descent
How would you describe the depths of Jesus’ love?
John, in His Gospel account, lays out for us a divinely-inspired expression of the Son in similar fashion of overlapping, defining description. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1–2). Try to develop a graphic that captures... Continue Reading
I Choose to Live for Jesus Christ First.–Maxim # 57
Not just the love I have for Him, but the love He has for me.
“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15). This... Continue Reading
Eight Barriers to Unity
Each side is ready to think that the other should and will concede to them and will not risk division on so little a thing.
Christians, separated as they are from one another across a variety of denominations and splinter groups, nevertheless generally agree that more unity would be a good thing. While we value the spiritual oneness we have in Christ irrespective of different labels and groupings, Scripture is clear that this spiritual oneness should be reflected in visible... Continue Reading
Better Than a Utopia
In the midst of our pain, in the darkness, we don’t need freedom from that season or pain…instead we need God.
Wouldn’t it be nice if God at least let us Christians off the hook? I mean, we’re adopted into the family of God, so wouldn’t it be nice if, as His family members, He’d be like, “it’s ok, you don’t need to face the atrocities of this world”? I mean, if I had all the... Continue Reading
Prayer: Finding Peace
Why can you have peace? You can have peace because of the trustworthy God you are addressing!
In a crisis, even unbelievers quickly pray. Why is that? Even they seem to know God is their only hope. When, as a believer, my world seems to be collapsing—slowly or suddenly—prayer should be my first, fast, and reflexive action. Whether it’s during the immediate impact, as my personal “earth” is still quaking, or in... Continue Reading
Time Outside of Our Hands
There's a season for everything, even what we want to avoid.
Man has the limitation of time and death, but God experiences no such limits. (This makes the incarnation of Jesus that much more glorious and breathtaking.) What God does endures forever (Eccl 3:14). This is in stark contrast to the works of man which will pass away, be forgotten, or both. God has designed this... Continue Reading
From Where Does My Help Come?
He guards your feet. He works day and night. He keeps your going out and your coming in.
Jesus, the true temple, the One who has fulfilled the purpose of the feasts, has come to us. He is our help. In the midst of suffering He is with us. When we’re tempted to sin He is ready to give more grace. No matter the time of day or the location, He is always... Continue Reading
God’s Promises Stand, Even When All Seems Lost
God sees you. He hears you. God hasn’t failed you. And in Christ he never will. So hold fast. Even here. Even now. The promise still stands.
So what do we do when life feels like it’s falling apart? When prayers seem unanswered, when loss is real, when the weight of suffering presses in? Two things must anchor us. Have you ever gone on a treasure hunt? A friend of mine once sent a girl he liked on a birthday... Continue Reading
Godly Disobedience
Such obedience to God often carries painful consequences because sinful authorities possess the power to inflict suffering upon those who resist them.
We know that all earthly authorities—civil magistrates, church officers, husbands, parents, employers, and others—are sinful, and yet God knowingly requires us to submit to them in the Lord. However, He does not permit those authorities to require sinful conduct from those under their care. Not only may a human authority not command someone to sin,... Continue Reading
PRIDE And the New Babel
Pride is not a sexual revolution. It is a theological revolution.
The answer to Babel has therefore never been self-expression. The answer is repentance. The answer is not the creation of a new self but submission to the One who made us. The answer is not constructing an identity from our desires but receiving an identity from our Creator. One of the greatest mistakes modern... Continue Reading
A Father’s Work: No Idols
A father is to keep a watchful eye on his children, even in his weakness.
The sin of idolatry is a rejection of the only True God. A father must protect his family from that sin. He does so by his own example and by requiring his children to walk in obedience to the commandments of God. Since a father cannot change the heart, it will begin as external conformity.... Continue Reading
The Phone is No One’s Enemy
They are part of the fulfillment of the mandate God gave to Adam and Eve in Eden.
Part of “subduing” and “ruling” (Genesis 1:26-28) is fulfilled in phones, computers, and other technology. Yes, these things can be and are abused. But the problem is in the person who operates it, or, in the case of children harmed, the parents who allow its use. But the phone is not the problem. We... Continue Reading
The God on the Ballot
What happens to a people who hand a prince the trust that belongs to God alone?
“Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation” (Psalm 146:3). The Psalmist is not telling you to abandon the public square. He is telling you where salvation does not live, so that you will stop demanding it from an address that cannot supply it. “It is... Continue Reading
Why the Whole Counsel is So Important
“For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).
Living out Acts 20:27 means that all our thoughts and actions are constantly to be corrected or revised according to divine, transcultural norms. Averse which has been at the center of my life for over a half century has been on my mind a lot lately. Several of us have begun strategizing and working... Continue Reading
What Is the Fruit of Joy?
The perception of Christianity is that it’s all rule-keeping and no fun.
The fruit of joy blossoms from the heart of God’s gracious work. His very indwelling by His Spirit gives joy because He Himself is joyful. This is far more than a superficial cheeriness or a passing happiness dependent on circumstance. Joy overflows from a heart wholly satisfied in Christ and daily takes delight in Him.... Continue Reading
On Trans Lunacy
It is time to call out the trans revolutionaries.
In his latest book Pandemic of Lunacy, philosopher J. Budziszewski dismantles the delusion that manhood and womanhood can be whatever we wish, exposing the lack of scientific basis for transgender ideology and the real harms of “transitioning.” There are plenty of lunacies out there. The latest book by J. Budziszewski lists 30 of them.... Continue Reading
United in One Spirit
On the Communion of Saints (WCF 26.1–26.3)
The communion of saints is a beautiful, demanding reality. It means that when you suffer, you do not suffer alone, for the Body suffers with you. It means that when you lack, the Body provides for you. And it means that your time, your spiritual gifts, and your bank account are no longer exclusively your... Continue Reading
What Happens When the Church Gathers for Worship?
When Heaven and Earth Overlap
When the church gathers in Christ’s name, heaven and earth overlap in a mysterious and glorious way. The risen Christ walks among his churches, ministers to his people, and prepares them for the everlasting assembly to come (Revelation 1-3). From a biblical perspective, the gathering of God’s people is not merely a spiritual add-on... Continue Reading
Are You the Reason People Are Believing in Jesus?
When your life crosses theirs, does it make a difference?
What can a dead man do? We were completely impotent. For those of us who have been spiritually raised from utter death to live and walk with Christ, this too is all of God. Our part now is to walk with Him and testify of the One who raised us from hell to heaven and... Continue Reading
The Cozy, Comfy, Warm Blanket Sin of Complaint
Considering the idolatrous nature of grumbling.
It is difficult to complain against God when you are bringing Him your heart. Your grumbling begins to transform into prayer. Your complaints turn into petitions. You stop dethroning God and start running to Him instead. I want you to consider with me the sin of “complaining.” That might register as a small-scale sin... Continue Reading
The Quiet Theology of “All Creatures Great and Small”
Compassionate and attentive to His creation. Human dominion was meant to mirror that same care.
The quiet goodness portrayed in All Creatures Great and Small resonates so deeply. It echoes something true about the world God is restoring. And what the show captures in glimpses, Christ is bringing to fullness: a life where ordinary faithfulness, shared burdens, and steadfast love are not small things at all, but signs of His... Continue Reading
The Courage to Raise Godly Children
It is the duty of all Christians to cherish and nurture our children.
We need much wisdom as we approach parenting and raising our children, and until Christ’s return Christians have the privilege and duty to raise their children in the love of God, obedience to his commands, and true hope in Christ our Savior. A while back I read a series of articles by author Alex... Continue Reading
God’s Mercy in Withholding Wealth
Learning to thank God for a circumstance we often despise.
When Christ is our greatest treasure, our hearts rest content in Him. By loving Christ above all, our other loves become appropriately ordered. Wealth becomes a mere tool in service to His will. One time early in our marriage, I, exasperated by yet another unexpected bill, voiced the following sentiment to my wife: “Wouldn’t... Continue Reading