Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy
"Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy."John 16:20
There are times when we can say, “Now, Lord, we can sympathize with you better than we ever did before, for we have felt somewhat as you did in your agony here below.” We have sometimes felt as though that prophecy had been fulfilled to us, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized... Continue Reading
The Room I Can’t Name
Find out what your children are being taught this year, then teach them something truer before the world gets the first word.
A generation inherits the word “Christian” with none of the weight, catechized by the feed instead of the faith, because we assumed one hour on Sunday could hold its own against ten thousand hours of formation pointed the other way. The culture is not waiting for our permission to disciple our children. It is already... Continue Reading
Why Comfort Is Spiritually More Dangerous than Suffering
If eternity is real, comfort is not the highest good. And if the spirit matters more than the body, then the greatest danger may not be pain. The greatest danger may be never needing God badly enough to seek Him.
The wisest man who ever lived still fell when there was too little back pressure and too few consequences. Suffering, by contrast, often breaks the illusion. It reminds us that we are fragile. It exposes false gods. It strips away pride. It teaches compassion. It forces questions we would rather avoid: Who am I? Why... Continue Reading
Complete What’s Lacking in Christ’s Afflictions
If you are going to share the message of the gospel, it will be costly to you.
I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me. For I want you to know how greatly I am struggling for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me in person (Colossians 1:29-2:1). There’s an interesting phrase that appears in Colossians 1. Perhaps “interesting”... Continue Reading
Not Knowing Where You Are Going, Part 2 – The Adventure
God bless us all on the journey, and may we honor Him as we go.
This means we want our lives, wherever we are and whatever we do, to glorify God. Ultimately, we serve Jesus Christ (Colossians 3: 17, 23, 24). Sometimes feeling like I don’t know where I’m going, dealing with discouragement and doubts, I remember that even though things may not be making sense to me, they make... Continue Reading
Delightful Christianity
The Lord has more for you. But it is all found in Him.
The religion of most people consists in abstaining from sins they secretly love. Negative godliness is common; it is supposed by most that our religion consists in things we must do rather than pleasures we enjoy. (Spurgeon) What they do not realize is that genuinely abiding in Christ, drawing near and remaining near affords the... Continue Reading
A Father’s Work: God’s Holy Name
The Third Commandment is more than saying, “Do not verbally misuse God’s name and all is well.” There are other implications too.
How do God’s children live in a world that dishonors him? Fathers are the leaders of their families. As such, they are charged to prepare them for adulthood. By leading them in obedience to God’s law, fathers prepare them to glorify God. Christian families should look different from the families of the world, and not... Continue Reading
Washing the Dishes
Don’t grow weary in doing good. God is at work even when we can’t see it.
Sometimes our labor is preventing things from becoming far worse than they otherwise would be. At other times, the fruit of our work may not become visible until years later, perhaps even in the next generation. Sometimes, as pastors—or as parents—we wonder whether what we are doing is making any difference at all.... Continue Reading
The First Conspiracy Theory and the Dangers of Hidden Knowledge
Fascination with the mysteries to which God has not granted us access paves a road to decay, death, and ultimately, hell.
The problem in the garden was not curiosity, or even theorizing, it was not the seeking after truth, it was doubting God’s goodness and rightful authority. It was forgetting that he is truth. We all carry within us a longing for the garden, for a life of both freedom and connection. In Eden, there... Continue Reading
Not Knowing Where You’re Going, Part 1—It’s Okay
Abraham, by faith, went out, “not knowing where he was going.”
God is a goal setting and plan making God. We are made in His image and we can do the same. That doesn’t mean what we come up with will be perfect like His, or that our plans will happen; but often it will be part of the means to discover more about where we... Continue Reading
God’s Children Really Will Live Happily Ever After
The prospect of seeing God eclipsed all of Job’s heartaches. Surely it can eclipse yours and mine.
At last we see the restoration of God’s ideal universe, fulfilling His plan of the ages, culminating in a resurrected people living with Him on a resurrected Earth. Then, and only then, will we live “happily ever after.” In The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis paints a beautiful picture of the New Earth in the... Continue Reading
They Can’t “Keep It Gay”
The inherent radicalism of same-sex marriage can’t help but lead to other rebellions against the created order.
The rejection of the normative reality of male and female for our lives is the source of the radicalism of same-sex marriage. It dethrones male and female from their place as essential aspects of who we are, degrading them into mere objects of subjective sexual desire. This is a denial of God and of His... Continue Reading
Pray For the New PCA Stated Clerk
The PCA is called to pray for Fred Greco’s faith, family, leadership, and gospel partnership as he begins his tenure as Stated Clerk
Pray that the LORD would bless Fred Greco, his wife, Deb, and his ministry. Might the LORD continue to mature Fred in his faith, in grace, and in his walk with Christ. Pray all these for the glory of our heavenly King, the one true God, Yahweh. As Fred Greco, our new Stated Clerk,... Continue Reading
The Glory of Overlooking an Offense
Love covers a multitude of sins.
The easily offended heart is always reaching for the spotlight. Love reaches for the blanket instead, and it does so without needing anyone else to agree the offense was real, or small, or forgivable. Love just covers it and moves on. I recently began reading The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, and a line near the... Continue Reading
Get History, and Whatever You Get, Get History
History is part of God’s general revelation from which we ought to learn and can learn.
We are historical creatures, and we must steward our humanity by giving attention to history, recognizing that the world we see around us is not unattached from all that has come before it. Should I be reading something else? The question rolled around my mind as I sat reading David McCullough’s 1776 while on... Continue Reading
Why Christians Must Learn to Think Biblically in a Confused World
Keystone Habit #2—Rooted in God's Word
Christians who are not rooted in God’s Word will eventually begin to see, feel, and live like the world around them. Those who let the Word of Christ dwell in them richly will discover increasing stability, joy, discernment, peace, and spiritual fruitfulness. A tree can appear healthy for years while its root system is... Continue Reading
Gideon’s 9700
When God Has You on the Sidelines
What matters most is to be where we bring God the most glory. And only God can know where we need to be to bring him the most glory. The other day, I was reading the story of Gideon in Judges 7. I’ve read the story many times, and have always been taken by... Continue Reading
Watching What We Wear
Modesty: We should be ashamed to show off certain features of our anatomy in public.
The reality is we all have “unpresentable parts”—parts of the body that are not evil but are to be “treated with greater modesty” (1 Corinthians 12:23). To call upon Christians—women and men—to cover up these parts is not cruel and unusual punishment. In truth, it’s an important way we honor God and love one another.... Continue Reading
An Unavoidable Political Building Block
Sin affects the way we think and plan.
“Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint” (Alexander Hamilton). This common idea was corollary of human depravity. In “What the Founders Didn’t Trust,” Barton Swaim argued, as many of our posts have, that the depravity of man... Continue Reading
The Unhindered Gospel
Scars for Christ were left on the apostles' backs.
The Lord had made clear that the road from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth was paved with suffering, the pathway of the cross. It turned out pretty quickly that the life of the church was not going to be some fairytale honeymoon. The honeymoon, at least proverbially, is one of the best... Continue Reading
Why Did God Give Us Mosaics?
Incredible beauty can arise from what appears to be little more than chaos, waste, and fragments.
God sees beauty beyond our marred natures, He sees possibility beyond our fractured circumstances, He sees ability beyond our broken bodies, and so He shapes it, He assembles it, and He polishes it into something wondrous, something worthy of His name. In many of the great European palaces, you can find entire walls that... Continue Reading
Sowell on Discrimination and Disparities
Clear thinking instead of reckless emoting is needed here.
Disparities come about for all sort of reasons.…Thomas Sowell is one clear thinker who has discussed this in detail. He has penned dozens of vitally important books that dissect and dismantle the reigning leftist orthodoxies. Why do some people, or groups, or nations, seem to do better than others in various ways? The standard... Continue Reading
On Ministry, Part 4: The Qualities
Love for God—manifested by obedience—renders us to serve others well.
Our spiritual gifts (1 Timothy 4:14) are not for our benefit; they’re for everybody except us. Our task is to serve those alongside us by doing well what we can do, in order to strengthen them in their faith and in their walk. Having laid out the qualifications for the church ministry offices, Paul... Continue Reading
The Keys of the Kingdom: On Church Discipline (WCF 30.1–30.4)
A church that refuses to practice biblical discipline is not just a defective church; it is not a church at all.
To watch a sheep wander toward a cliff and refuse to use the shepherd’s crook to pull them back is pastoral malpractice. The keys of the kingdom are heavy, and church censures are agonizingly painful for the elders who must administer them. Yet, they are a vital gift from our King—a spiritual immune system given... Continue Reading
Striving Side by Side
The Mind of Christ and the Mission of the Church
To strive side by side for the faith of the gospel is far more than a call to teamwork. It is a call to embody together the self-giving life of the crucified and exalted Lord. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and... Continue Reading
Sermons Are Not Ted Talks
Preaching Maxims, Numbers 1-50
Sermons are fundamentally a spiritual exercise, more art than science, more gift than craft. When centered on faith in the Son of God, who gave Himself for us, they are nothing less than an encounter with the living God. Introduction1 I first wrote these maxims on the social media platform Formerly Known as Twitter... Continue Reading
Learning the Logic of Leviticus 8-10
Place & Priest
On the same day, the very day of their ordination, two of the priests, Nadab and Abihu, sinned grievously, offending God’s holiness. The Lord killed them. We learn sober lessons. God regulates worship. Worshipping the Lord is a matter of life and death. Destruction comes to all who do not worship God as he has... Continue Reading
The Darkest of Dark Ages
It seems clear that infanticide is the wave of the future in the West.
A new Dark Age is upon us. The therapeutic culture has perverted our culture’s moral imagination.…We truly live in a world where good is called evil and evil is called good and where the murder of innocents is seen as a sign of moral progress. Indeed, the former Dark Ages perhaps don’t seem quite so... Continue Reading
Ordered Liberty After the Protestant Public Square
Reflections on Christian Nationalism, Protestant Institutionalism, and the Church’s Limits
The church can teach that liberty must be ordered without claiming the state’s office. The church can declare that rulers are accountable to God without giving the magistrate the keys of the kingdom. This article is not intended to replace, summarize, or correct the PCA’s ongoing study of Christian Nationalism. That work deserves careful... Continue Reading
The Ordinary and Enduring Gifts of the Spirit
All God-given gifts are to be used to serve the body of Christ, not to build ourselves up.
God calls us to use the “ordinary” gifts that He has given us, cheerfully, for the good of others and for His own glory. Scripture teaches that when Christ ascended, “he gave gifts” to all His people (Eph. 4:8). These gifts were given to strengthen and build up the church, the body of Christ.... Continue Reading