A Case for Generational Optimism
We must parent with the word of God.
We are called as Christian parents to pass down our faith to our children. It is not transferable but it certainly is trainable. I believe in the sovereign electing purpose of God, and I know that he has placed each one of my children in my household for a reason. I believe that reason is... Continue Reading
It’s Time to Cancel “Common Sense”
There is no universal validity to common sense
If you want a point of contact with others in the evangelical world or even with unbelievers who are still living off of the Christian capital of the past, the next time they say that this executive order (or other similar issues) is just a matter of common sense, then just say, “No, it’s not... Continue Reading
Pivotal Year for Many Churches
Though the challenges are significant, I remain an obnoxious optimist about the future of congregations in America.
About 15,000 churches will close. Many of these churches held on tenaciously, but the number of congregations facing imminent closure has grown. For the first time in modern church history, 15,000 of the churches will cease to exist in a period of one year. Dad told me they were tornado clouds. I was a... Continue Reading
Out of the Silent Universe
Want to improve your life? Open the Bible at least four times a week.
New research shows how taking God’s word seriously adds to life’s meaning. Researchers found that those who read their Bibles once or twice a week experienced no benefit over those who never read their Bibles. At three times a week, minor gains were detected, but with at least four times a week, everything seemed to... Continue Reading
The Death of Death by Tech: Transhumanism’s False Hope
At Transhumanism’s heart is a denial of both the fall and the consequences of this sin.
Elon Musk is a poster child of the transhumanist dream with his investments in Neuralink. Neuralink has already developed human brain implant technology to eventually fuse the brain with computers. An early application has a brain implant that allows severely paralyzed patients to communicate with a computer by their thoughts. Evolutionary biologist Julius Huxley... Continue Reading
Artificial Intelligence and Preaching
Preaching is most potent when the text and the Holy Spirit have gripped and transformed the heart of the preacher.
Pastors are not mere speakers, but anointed shepherds. The task of leading and feeding is not mechanical, but relational. Nearly every person in every church can easily watch a better preacher on the internet than the one in the pulpit, but no one on YouTube can shepherd them, or pray with them in their distress,... Continue Reading
Happy Lies
I appreciate the work Dougherty has done in 'Happy Lies' to uncover, highlight, and counter a dangerous movement.
In a well-paced and reader-friendly book, Dougherty goes to great lengths to explain New Thought and show where it makes its presence known both in the wider culture and the church. It has influenced the rise of relativism and new notions of identity. It lies behind certain forms of self-help and the Law of Attraction.... Continue Reading
Smearing Sphere Sovereignty
Pete Hegseth’s critics label a bulwark of civil liberty as an extremist danger.
It is Christ who is sovereign over all. It is He who claims ownership over everything. “The earth is the Lᴏʀᴅ’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). Kuyper does in this sense defend a kind of theocracy, the rule of God over all things. But it is... Continue Reading
Honey Coated Lies
Let your words no longer be tools of manipulation, but instruments of love and life, pointing others to the One who is Truth Himself.
At its heart, flattery mocks the God of truth (John 14:6; Numbers 23:19). It aligns us with the devil, “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44), whose tactics always involve deception and manipulation. Flattery may appear polite and caring, but beneath the surface lies a black heart, motivated by self-interest and deceit. ... Continue Reading
What Happens When You Encounter God’s Presence? Or, How to Completely Be Free from Fear
Enter his presence all day and talk to him about everything, your fear will evaporate like the morning dew.
“You have two overwhelming emotions,” Jesus was saying, “but as you’ve come into My presence, one can be shed like a heavy coat on a warm day. You no longer need fear … just joy.” Their fear was gone, as it always is when we encounter His near presence. When we are in the presence... Continue Reading
Babel & the Sin of Glorifying Ourselves
We are most successful when we are striving for God’s purposes, not our own.
The goal of Babel’s people was to build a tower that would reach up to heaven, yet God has to bend down, as it were, to look at their little tinker-toy project! So in verses 7-9, God disperses the people of Babel over the face of the earth. In a total turnaround, the rebellion of... Continue Reading
Hard Law & Sweet Gospel
The severity of the Law makes the sweetness of the Gospel deeper and richer.
You don’t taste the sweet wine of the Gospel’s salvation without having tasted the bitter cup of the Law’s condemnation. “Be holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy” echoes in our ears, even as we see the dingy gray of our own pathetic efforts at holiness, and the soiled garments of our sin.... Continue Reading
A Recommitment to the Public Means of Grace
Let us devote ourselves once again to the Ministry of the word, to the sacraments and to prayer.
One very tangible way to prioritize the means of grace is through adding evening worship services in addition to morning worship services. This may not be practical for every congregation, especially with limited pastoral staff or in places where most of the congregation lives at a great distance. But, if possible for a congregation, it... Continue Reading
Searched by Scripture
Let’s remember to take a good look in the mirror and reflect on how these scriptures relate to our lives.
Sometimes we use God’s law in a superficial way. We act as mere “hearers of the Word” who hardly pause to consider before hurrying away. We don’t stop to think about how this or that text might apply to us. We give ourselves an obligatory check in the mirror, but don’t act on what we’ve... Continue Reading
Did James and Jude Write Under the Oversight of Some Apostles?
What criteria did the early church use to identify writings of the NT?
Many people are genuinely uncomfortable with Holy Spirit language, but that is what Peter, Hebrews, Paul, and Jude affirm. The distinctive messages that come from God are by the Spirit through the prophets in the previous days, and through the Son by the Spirit in these last days. The question raises a few questions... Continue Reading
Sermon of the Week: “The Remembrance of Christ”
Remember him, thou poor dying, hopeless creature, and thou shalt be made to sing for joy and gladness.
And first, remembrance of Jesus will tend to give you hope when you are under the burden of your sins. Notice a few characters here tonight. There comes in a poor creature. Look at him! He has neglected himself this last month; he looks as if he had hardly eaten his daily bread. What is... Continue Reading
God Is Nearer and More Compassionate Than You Think
Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
For God will grant a man’s requests but in his own good time. Therefore, for quick results, one turns to the right jurisdiction, namely the ancestors who are authorised to direct the affairs of the clan in the here and now.” In short, most Africans view the ancestors and spirits as more dependable than God.... Continue Reading
Rest in the Rock
A rest that transforms.
Rest in God isn’t passive; it is active and brings with it a sense of hope. In Jeremiah 17:7-8 we are given a picture of a tree planted by a stream. It says, But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by... Continue Reading
Two Roads
The righteous road is a blessed road indeed.
Thankfully, Jesus did not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers. Instead, He delighted in, and meditated upon, the law of the Lord. He lived a life of perfect obedience and died a cursed death in our place. You and... Continue Reading
The Coherence of J. Gresham Machen’s Libertarianism with his Presbyterianism
Examining Machen’s various writings how we may synthesize his libertarian and Presbyterian sensibilities instead of settling for contradictions in his thinking.
For the scope of our present essay, we’ll examine Machen’s libertarianism in terms of voluntarism, the principle of relying on voluntary action and freedom of choice, particularly when associating with ecclesiastical structures. This voluntarism was worked out in many of Machen’s letters about church and civil politics, and ultimately was forced in Machen’s deposition from... Continue Reading
No Matter What’s Going Wrong, There’s Always Something Going Right for the Christian
In the midst of all that’s going badly, Jesus is going right.
Jeremiah wept for the people, wept for their sin, wept for the judgment they were undergoing. Everything was going badly. But even when everything was going wrong, something was still going right – The Lord was still compassionate. His presence was still with them. It seems like bad things come in bunches, doesn’t it?... Continue Reading
How Can Pastors Help Their Church Become a Praying Church?
Be faithful in the little of prayer.
How do we start? How do we keep prayer from becoming boring? How do I learn how to lead a prayer meeting that isn’t boring? It’s just being like a little child when you’re faced with this huge, impossible task. It’s okay just to launch into it, but even before you announce it, I actually... Continue Reading
Sowing Gospel Seeds in Children’s Ministry
What a privilege it is to be a sower in God’s field.
The salvation of the children we disciple does not rest on our shoulders. We are called to be faithful sowers, but the work of transformation belongs to God alone. Consider the hope this gives us: the child who tests your patience, the one who seems disengaged, and even the one whose story breaks your heart... Continue Reading
The Return of Apologetics
We are all invited to be witnesses of the great love of our great God and to unabashedly share the greatest story we could ever share: the story of the gospel.
We often feel we need to provide all of the answers in a discussion about faith. If that is the case, then we will never be ready. However, some of the most important moments are when we can lovingly reveal that the questioner has gaps in their understanding. Approximately 30 million people watched and... Continue Reading
7 Pitfalls to Avoid in Your Discipleship
The best discipling involves helping people lean on God.
We are responsible for how we minister to others, but not how they respond. People will sin, even when you warn them not to. Some will fall away despite your pleading. Some might betray you, despite of your love for them. Pitfalls to Avoid As you get going in discipleship and doing spiritual good... Continue Reading
The Best Parts of Being a Pastor
God is good to allow pastors to enjoy these blessings.
Almost every week, I am deeply aware of how little I have to offer unless the Spirit helps me. I’m amazed that he so often uses what I have to offer. It’s a reminder that our confidence is not in our own abilities, but in the Spirit working through the word. I think I... Continue Reading
Court Rules That Elephants Are Not Persons
A reflection on your deepest purpose and highest joy.
You and I are obviously more intelligent than elephants and whales. At least, I cannot imagine them writing this article on my laptop, dexterity aside. But they are obviously superior to us in size and better adapted to their habitats than we are to ours…By what measure are we to claim that we are superior... Continue Reading
How Are We to Use the Law: Let Me Count the Ways (Part 2)
The Law is a reflection of Who God is.
Far from being a buzzkill that directs us away from “freedom and fun,” the Law of God causes us to actively live out our lives in such a way that we both pursue and grasp joy from the Lord within our lives. Before I had come to truly embrace the doctrines of grace, I... Continue Reading
Parenting Is Still Hard. Jesus Is Still King.
Come, Lord Jesus. Have mercy on us parents who are, quite frankly, scared to death.
Will our children turn out okay? I don’t know. Will they love God and others with all they are? Again, I’m not sure. Will God be with us and move toward our kids in love? Yes, and amen! Parenting has always been difficult. Even with the vast array of Christian resources available today—resources to... Continue Reading
The Church Must Not Idealize the Past
Rejecting the notion that there’s ever been a time in history when the church was pristine.
We need to remember the constancy of human nature across time. Human beings are fallen, and we’ve always been fallen. When we look back in history, we need to avoid both idealizing the past and idealizing the present against the past. We are prone to the same kinds of temptations as our historical subjects. They... Continue Reading