Messianic Mission
“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do”
Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life,... Continue Reading
Thinking About Eastern Orthodoxy
A primer for evangelicals.
Orthodoxy prides itself on never changing. The faith claims that it is the continuation of Apostolic Christianity, the very ancient church itself. And you can surely make a claim that at least from the ninth century or so, Eastern, Byzantine Christianity has remained very stable and consistent. Surely the modern period is wearing away at... Continue Reading
When Repentance Becomes Costly
True repentance is costly, but how much better to experience shame now rather than before the Judge of all the universe at this life’s end.
There may be people reading this right now who have committed an egregious sin or multiple egregious sins. Many around them are unaware of their participation in darkness because, to this point, they are blind to their wicked actions. Their fear of confessing before the Lord and others is the consequences that will come upon... Continue Reading
God’s Call Means Leaving
Leaving a family. Leaving a dream. Leaving a relationship. And if you haven’t felt the weight of that, then allow me to gently suggest… that you should. And perhaps the reason why you haven’t is that you’re trying to follow Jesus and drag your old life behind you.
“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses... Continue Reading
Giving Up on the Gospel
As the church of Christ, we must speak both of these words: grace and truth.
In the words of Martin Luther, we are simul justis et pecator — at the same time justified and sinners. Our sanctification will only be complete when Christ returns to take us home. However, to argue that gross and heinous sin is normative and acceptable in the Christian life makes a lie of the gospel.... Continue Reading
Rooted Disposition: Love, Joy, Peace
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.”
Joy transcends the highs and lows of life. This leads naturally to peace. The word is eirene, which in both the Septuagint and the New Testament is the equivalent of shalom, and peace was an essential component of Old Testament theology. That is why Paul so often says, “grace to you and peace.” Grace is... Continue Reading
It’s Okay to be a Slow Reader.
Slow-reading or speed-reading?
If you are a slow reader, don’t be intimidated by others or feel like you are an efficiency failure. The important thing is to read and read good stuff. Maybe this doesn’t apply to some of you because you are a fast reader. Congratulations! Maybe. But slow reading applies to many of us,... Continue Reading
On Grieving When Your Loved One’s Faith Was Ambiguous
What I've learned three years in...
If you affirm the word of God, it means that you will affirm the justice of God. It means accepting, as painful as it is, that if your loved one rejected Christ as their Savior, there are eternal consequences for that rejection. As we just said above, all who face God having rejected Jesus face... Continue Reading
Ancient Letter Writing and How It Helps Us Read the NT
An article that aims to help you read New Testament letters wisely.
It is worth noting that some epistles are much tougher to grasp. Galatians, for example, resists simple interpretation. First, there were two areas called Galatia in ancient Rome. Second, we don’t really know who the opponents were that Paul wrote against and what exactly they taught. We get general ideas, but we need to be... Continue Reading
The Affection of Christ Jesus
Reflections on Philippians 1:8.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). He is tender toward the weak, the burdened, the failing, and the struggling. He gathers lambs into his arms and carries them close to his chest (Isaiah 40:11). He doesn’t break the bruised reed or quench... Continue Reading
The Habits of Birds, The Weakness of Men, and The Spread of the Gospel
We plant and water seeds, but God gives the growth (1 Cor 3:6).
Instead of seeing that the growth of the word in the hearts of men is because of the faithfulness of God, we desperately desire to see ourselves as the hero of the growth. But I’d encourage a small exercise in gardening. Take a real seed and plant it. Then every day, go out and begin... Continue Reading
Eternity in Their Hearts
A God-shaped vacuum in every culture.
God has not left the nations without witness. The human heart, though darkened by sin, still bears traces of a God-consciousness that helps explain why many cultures preserve dim memories, expectations, or categories that can prepare the way for the proclamation of Christ. Why do people in every age and in every place... Continue Reading
The Role of the Christian Citizen
The obedient Christian is called on to submit to God’s rule, whether one cares for the human instrument of that governance or not.
It is somewhat complex. I want to admit from the outset that, this point is not simplistic. “When does the Christian not submit to the state? Or is the Christian to universally, categorically in every instance submit to the state, such that to rebel against the state is in every case to sin against God?”... Continue Reading
Long-view Leadership, Part 4: Long-view leaders let go
Why do so many successful leaders struggle to let go? Maybe they don’t trust the next generation. Or maybe they just don’t think God can get his work done without them.
God used Winston Churchill to save his country during World War 2 – and a legitimate case could be made that the free world would have fallen without his strong leadership through one of the greatest crises in modern civilization. But shortly after seeing victory, Churchill was removed from office when his coalition government fell... Continue Reading
An Ounce of Clarity vs a Pound of Cleverness
In writing, an ounce of clarity is worth more than a pound of cleverness.
A lot cleverness in writing functions like nervous laughter in conversation. It fills silence for the one providing it, but it’s distracting for everyone else. This is not to say, of course, that writers ought never be clever. Great writers can often be clever, and more artful expression or memorable turns of phrase are good... Continue Reading
Failure to Thrive: 6 Signs You Are Drifting from the Gospel
What are some signs that you are drifting away from the gospel? These symptoms can all be grouped under what we can call a spiritual failure to thrive.
We need to be aware of signs of spiritual illness and a failure to thrive. When we start to find ourselves disinterested in Jesus, his Word, and our future inheritance, we should be concerned. When we realize that we are having a difficult time discerning between truth and error, or that we are unable to... Continue Reading
Does the Regulative Principle Regulate More than Elements?
Some forms are merely circumstantial, but others are divinely regulated.
The irony is that many modern attempts to make worship more attractive to the world often makes worship less distinctly Christian, but the church is most compelling when she is most faithful to her identity. The church is most missional when she is most distinctly the church. One of the more common arguments in... Continue Reading
A Reading in John of Damascus, with Commentary: Or, Another Problem with Theological Retrieval Demonstrated. (Part Two)
Continued analysis of John of Damascus’s arguments for image worship which are considered one of the greatest works on the doctrine of the Eastern communions.
Yet those who cannot read can hear the spoken word, which is how God’s Spirit worked through his apostles to convert the heathen. We nowhere read that the apostles went to the lost with images, nor that artistic skill at fashioning images is a gift of the Spirit. Yet time and again we hear of... Continue Reading
My Marine Buddy’s Witness Led Me to Christ
Don’t underestimate the influence you can have on others for Christ.
Men, who really knows you in your church? Your soul was made for godly masculine intimacy with other Christian men, and with Christ. Take time to pursue it. Heaven and hell really are hanging in the balance. Two audible dings immediately rang out as my cell phone turned on. “Heard you guys lost a... Continue Reading
Why the Church Must Recover a Theology of Life
Abortion rates are rising. The church must step up with a lived theology that proclaims a pro-life ethic.
Our congregations begin to truly mirror the image of God when we move toward broken people instead of away from them. Only that kind of church will meaningfully confront abortion. The Post-Roe Paradox: Why Abortion Rates Are Still Rising On January 27, 1973, a single decision legalized abortion in every state. Almost fifty years... Continue Reading
A Marriage with Christ in the Middle (Colossians 3:18-19)
Kindness, compassion, and forgiveness are all found and pictured in our Lord Jesus Christ.
If Christ is in the middle of a marriage, a wife will gladly submit to her husband, and the husband will gladly love his wife. May God give grace to our marriages today, and may all glory go to Him. Husbands and wives find much in Scripture for how to love and respect one... Continue Reading
An Optimistic Farmer
The sower appears to be more concerned that that a section of good soil might remain unsown, than that the seed might be sown too liberally.
The return on good soil will more than make up for any “wasted seed” along the way. As we preach and promote the gospel, there might indeed be hard soil. But we must, like Jesus, be willing to sow optimistically. The story of the parable of the Parable of the Sower (Mk 4:1–20 and parallels)... Continue Reading
“Praying in the Holy Spirit”: What Does Jude 20 Mean for Christians Today?
In Jude’s context, prayer is directly connected to spiritual perseverance amid false teaching and moral compromise.
In an age of distraction, superficiality, and spiritual confusion, Christians must recover serious, Scripture-shaped, Spirit-dependent prayer. Not theatrical prayer. Not mystical speculation. Not cold formalism. But humble, biblical, Christ-centred communion with the living God. Among the shorter books of the Bible, the letter of Jude contains some remarkably weighty exhortations. Writing to Christians threatened... Continue Reading
Calibrating a Dial or Rendering a Verdict?
How the AIC Improperly Frames the Question
If homosexual desire is a form of “unnatural” desire, then it must be addressed as such. The church must decide whether it will accept or reject it as compatible with ordained office. A verdict must be rendered. The current discussion surrounding ordination and same-sex attraction has largely been framed in terms of degree. How... Continue Reading
Out of the Echo Chamber
Why church politics gets better when we buy each other lunch.
In the end, a presbytery characterized by love shows the world that the Gospel is real. It proves to a broken, divided world that the church can handle intense disagreements without splintering into warring tribes. For many elders, Presbytery and GA meetings can easily feel less like courts of the Lord Jesus Christ and... Continue Reading
What is the Seal of the Holy Spirit?
Some Christians in the first centuries defined the seal of the Spirit as baptism itself.
We might say that baptism is the visible sign of the Spirit’s invisible work within us that tangibly shows God’s seal upon us and his promise to save in the gospel. Paul speaks of the Spirit sealing believers in three texts (2 Cor. 1:21–22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). While interpreters often associate this sealing with... Continue Reading
The Body of Christ: On the Nature of the Church (WCF 25.1–25.6)
The Westminster Confession utterly shatters a low view of the church.
While our experience of the visible church is fallible—flawed, messy, and subject to error—it remains the apple of God’s eye and the earthly expression of Christ’s bride. We must not abandon the visible church, for it is the very place where Christ has promised to meet us, feed us with His Word, and prepare us... Continue Reading
This Is How We Know We Know
The Holy Spirit not only designates a Christian by the knowledge of God, but also characterises knowledge by keeping the commandments.
Religion is not defined by a number of opinions, or by a collection of articles of faith, but rather by practice and obedience to the known will of God. This is because knowledge is a duty in relation to something else—it is instrumental to something else—it is not principally intended for itself, but for obedience.... Continue Reading
Absorbing Frustration in the Home
The Hidden Usefulness of Steady Strength
Christ doesn’t lead His bride with irritation and volatility, and He doesn’t abandon her in distress. He leads with strength under control. So when frustration rises in the home, the first response shouldn’t be explosion or retreat, but self-government. In my article yesterday about kingdom utility, I wrote that a husband is useful to... Continue Reading
Steve Mcqueen: Born Again, Set Free
When the king of cool met the King of kings, he fell to his knees.
Steve McQueen reportedly left life with a bible given to him by Billy Graham. According to his wife, he read it daily. Why? Because he had a new heart, new affections, new loves. He knew the Savior and had been adopted by God. Steve McQueen made The Great Escape. But he was sprung by... Continue Reading