Calvin’s Second Rule of Prayer
Repentance and a Sincere Sense of Need
Proper prayer demands repentance–Calvin cautions that God closes the door to us without it. For this reason, they who delight in their own foulness aspire not at all. Lawful prayer, therefore, demands repentance. Hence arises the commonplace in Scripture that God does not hearken to the wicked [John 9:31], and that their prayers [cf. Prov.... Continue Reading
Finding God’s Mercy When You Fail
In Christ, the ending of your story has already been written.
Christ’s mercy says, “Do not despair. Do not lose hope, for you have living hope in Christ, an imperishable and incorruptible hope.” May you rejoice in this hope, and may you embrace it in faith. Every Christian has the sure hope of the forgiveness of sin and the resurrection. In Christ, the end of your... Continue Reading
Dear Pastor, Why Doesn’t My Family Believe?
Christ is more gracious than you are sinful—both in His pardon of sins and in His power for new living.
Do you really think you’re the reason for why your family doesn’t believe? I’m not excusing your sin nor watering it down. It is true that our sin affects others. But, the only reason why someone believes is because the “Holy Spirit enables us to believe in Christ according to the gospel” (WLC 59; Rom.... Continue Reading
Not the Rock but the Storm
So Where is Jesus in the Parable?
By the time we reach the end of the Sermon on the Mount, it ought to be clear that Jesus is not, in this text, the rock on which a person must build their life. No, Jesus is the storm that will come and put severe pressure on the lives they have built. Jesus is... Continue Reading
God has Specifically Given Us Stuff to Enjoy, So Enjoy It!
God give us good things to enjoy, but he actively encourages us to be generous so that others may also enjoy these good gifts too.
Christmas and all its trappings is there to be enjoyed. The material aspects of Christmas are as much there to be actively enjoyed and are equally gifts from God as any of the spiritual aspects. The gifts, the food, the drink and all the merriment is legitimately enjoyable and God takes delight in our enjoyment... Continue Reading
Everlasting Love
Why Has God Saved Us?
The everlasting love of God draws us to Him. We want to be with Him, to know more of His love in every moment of our lives. We want to be the proof of God’s love to others, to love them as God loves us, so that they will look to the Lord for the... Continue Reading
Mastering your Self Is Harder than Mastering the World
Can you feel contentment in the midst of failure and disappointments?
How do you respond to that unfair comment or inconsiderate request? Will you give in to the temptation of instant gratification? Are you mastered by your spirit, or do you master it? These are the real battles where Jesus calls you to fight and makes you a conqueror. Whoever is slow to anger is... Continue Reading
Why Are You Still Worried
When we worry like the world worries, we deny that we have a heavenly Father who cares for us.
Don’t borrow from tomorrow’s troubles. To be sure, tomorrow is filled with troubles. Tomorrow is filled with suffering. Tomorrow is filled with sorrow. But God has given you what you need for this day’s troubles. He’s given us enough grace for today. Are you still worried today? Jesus cares about your worries. Our Savior warns... Continue Reading
Have You Served the Purposes of God in Your Generation?
All believers have a job to do – are we doing it?
We all must seek to be like David and fulfill the purposes of God that he has for us in our generation. But one way to ensure that this happens is by encouraging one another. It is just too easy to get discouraged and wrongly think that we are doing nothing of value, and thus... Continue Reading
Pastoral Authority in the Age of Podcasts
Practical Applications for Modern Pastoral Ministry: Five ways we can apply this concept.
The digital revolution hasn’t diminished pastoral ministry. Instead, it has forced us to clarify and refine our essential role. Our calling remains unchanged, even as the context evolves. We still shepherd God’s people toward truth and wisdom, but now we do so by helping them navigate an increasingly complex information landscape. As we fulfill this... Continue Reading
Bringing Sinners to the Tree of Life
The Solution to What Ails Our Culture and Community
Resting in the power of God to heal what is broken calls for the believer to look unto Christ and the simple truth which is revealed in His word. For the church to bring the good news of the gospel unto the nations means believing in its power. To actually want sinners brought to salvation... Continue Reading
Remember Me
Prayer in Nehemiah (13)
Nehemiah is acting in faithfulness to God, in contrast to the rebellion that characterized the reason for their exile. God promised to bless faithfulness (Psalm 1; Neh. 1:5-9). Asking God to “remember” is a way of keeping God’s promises at the fore. Ultimately, of course, the faithfulness God would remember and bless is the perfect... Continue Reading
The Need for God’s All-Sufficient Grace
Whether we are weak, persecuted or under some hardship, we can find our strength in Him.
We have only weakness to offer the LORD of Glory. But in our weakness, He becomes our strength and is glorified for it shows that it is done by Christ and not ourselves. Paul would say in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power... Continue Reading
Psalm 22 in Handel’s Messiah
Does Jennens get it right? That is, did David, author of Psalm 22, intend his words to be interpreted the way Jennens reads them?
Charles Jennens correctly understood what the human authors of the Old Testament intended to communication, and in the selection and juxtaposition of key texts from Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22, he joined passages that were themselves already in conversation with one another. With the music of Handel, that conversation sprang to song in celebration of the long-awaited Savior,... Continue Reading
Pascal on the Excellence of Christ
For Pascal, Christ was the center of reality, and all things point to him. He gives us a rich feast of truth about Jesus to fortify our spiritual lives and to defend apologetically.
Pascal’s point stands: that all of reality is anchored in Christ. By claiming that we can only know reality “through Jesus Christ,” Pascal means that Christ holds the key to unlocking the meaning of existence. Moreover, for Pascal, Scripture (which is Christ-centered) is the vehicle through which we know Christ. It is the epistemic authority about... Continue Reading
Dead to Sin, Alive to God – Sanctification
What does it mean that sin will have no dominion over us since we are not under law, but under grace?
I have found that the best way to kill a temptation that is attempting to entice me to sin is to present myself totally to God in my helplessness. I fall before the throne of grace presenting my body, my members, to Him as instruments for righteousness. I pray. I study my Bible, specifically things... Continue Reading
Why Jesus Reigns in His Resurrection (and Why This Matters for Us)
Jesus’s resurrection serves as his enthronement.
Jesus’s resurrection from the dead and reign over all things is good news for those united to Christ by faith. Since Jesus has overcome sin and death, so also will his people. Believers have been set free from sin’s penalty (Rom. 8:1) and have therefore already crossed over from death to life (John 5:24). Because... Continue Reading
Syria, Christians & America
Thousands of Assad’s prisoners are now emerging from dungeons, some not having seen daylight in years or decades.
Assad’s disastrous rule ensured his own ruin. He was both wicked and incompetent. And for now, his overthrow is a strategic gain for the West, America, and Israel. It’s a huge defeat for Iran, Russia, and Hezbollah. Maybe Lebanon can now regain sovereignty against Hezbollah. Israel now seems to have the upper hand against Iran.... Continue Reading
The Mistake of Being Quick to Strategize and Slow to Pray
Prayer, though, gives confidence to do what a prayerless person wouldn’t.
The potency of prayer is experienced when trying to make wise decisions. Look no further than Jesus who, before he chose his twelve apostles (Luke 6:13-16), spent the whole night in prayer (v. 12). Prayer sometimes leads to surprising decisions that could only be made after communing with God. My wife and I recently... Continue Reading
What Is Postmodernism?
One of the core beliefs of postmodernism is the rejection of objective truth.
Postmodernism can be roughly defined by the following characteristics (other characteristics could be added, and these appear in no particular order): A critical nature towards rationalism and empiricism (logic and verification to discern truth). A rejection of absolute truth. “Truth” is determined by one’s community. Language is a social construct that is used for pragmatic... Continue Reading
The woke left and woke right show no mercy
Both sides sadly applauded the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Just like the woke left, there is a “woke right” similarly prepared to reduce individual human beings to avatars of the hated class they represent. They don’t know or care to know what kind of man Brian Thompson really was. His profession marks him as an “oppressor,” and that’s all that matters to them. Like... Continue Reading
3 Questions about Creation: Who, How, and Why?
There is only one Creator, and therefore there is only one God.
God gives us the answer to one of the most enduring questions: Where did the cosmos come from? Is the universe the result of some free personal agent, or did the universe somehow create itself? The biblical account teaches that creation is distinct from God (the two are not the same being) and at the... Continue Reading
Christian Masculinity: Rethinking Strength and Grace
What does the mature man of God look like?
He puts away filthy language and rejects bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice. He is kind to others, tenderhearted, and forgiving, just as God in Christ forgave him. True masculinity begins with aggressively fighting our own self-love, covetousness, pride, and boasting. It looks like abandoning speech that defames, denigrates, or demeans others and instead... Continue Reading
Revisiting the PCA Report: “Man’s Duty to Protect Woman”
A quarter-century after issuance of the PCA’s report, “Man’s Duty to Protect Woman,” its relevance continues with the Church, and an anti-Christendom culture.
In 2001, the PCA’s General Assembly adopted a majority report of an ad interim study committee on Women in the Military entitled, “Man’s Duty to Protect Woman.” As I wrote for the Aquila Report (Aug. 14, 2016), the PCA committee sought to convey the whole counsel of God summarizing the issue of man’s duty toward... Continue Reading
Jesus Christ, Our Perfect Model and Powerful Enabler of Godly Speech
Five categories of words Jesus spoke.
Our Lord spoke words that instructed ignorant hearts. Jesus’ speech repeatedly demonstrated the prediction of Isaiah 11:2, “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—a Spirit of wisdom and understanding, a Spirit of counsel and strength, a Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” Thankfully, the same Holy Spirit that empowered... Continue Reading
Pineapples and Biblical Interpretation — What’s the Connection?
Potential errors we risk committing while interpreting what the Bible says and means.
To avoid root fallacies when interpreting the meaning of biblical words, use the help of reliable lexicons along with knowing how the same writer uses the particular word elsewhere. Then strive to understand the word in its immediate context. Your understanding of the Bible will be noticeably and fruitfully enhanced. The very first fallacy... Continue Reading
Check Your Kids’ Playlist
The shooter at the Christian school in Madison, Wis. was wearing a shirt with the letters KMFDM.
Those letters, KMFDM, no doubt, will mean nothing to most of you, but I immediately recognized them as the name of a band I followed in the Chicago-land area back in the early ‘90s. This band usually opened for a band ironically named Ministry, but the scene was by no means Christian. This is... Continue Reading
A Case for Biblical Counseling
True Counseling is Discipleship
The Biblical Counseling approach to counseling does not come “ready-made” in the Bible, but rather is “one outworking of biblical faith into the particulars of our time, place, problems, and persons.”27 In other words, there is no such faithful counseling that says, “Here’s a Bible verse, now go in peace.” Counseling takes time, patience, and effort.... Continue Reading
Leadership is Responsibility: The Failure of Saul
A Self-Focused King
The primary attribute of leadership in any sphere is taking responsibility for others. Saul failed to take responsibility, so his dynasty was never established. On the other hand, David took responsibility long before donning his crown, so his dynasty was the longest in history.[3] But ultimately, David was established and Saul was not because it... Continue Reading
The Pursuit of Joy
The fullness of our joy is found in our state of delight in Christ (John 15:11).
Joy is completed when we share it with others in a reciprocal way (Phil. 2:1-3). An increase of the joy of God’s people proclaims the gospel and unites our hearts in our delight in Him (1 Thess. 2:19-20). This unifying joy is only a picture of what will be revealed on the last day when... Continue Reading