When I Think on My Ways | Psalm 119:59
In this verse, we see a twofold movement toward obedience.
The purpose of considering our ways is not to be more centered or enlightened; it is to turn our feet toward God’s testimonies. As Christians, our self-examination should not be self-centered because our ultimate focus is upon God and His Word. We simply examine ourselves in order to be aware of how we fail to... Continue Reading
Forsaking Sinful Ambition and Fostering Humility Instead
How can we be humble?
Serve others and not yourself. We saw this in the words and example of Jesus, and the letters remind us to honor others more than ourselves (Rom 12:10; Phil 2:3). Jesus washed his disciples’ feet (John 13:14–15) and died for us all on the cross (Matt 20:28). He serves as our High Priest (Heb 8:1)... Continue Reading
Judge Not Part 4 – The Necessity of Contentment
The Spirit-led believer walks through each day practicing the presence of God rather than seeking self-gratification from fleshly focus.
The contented heart is a humble heart. How is it constantly content? The attitudes that both build and are the attributes of a contented heart are developed in our godly character as we cooperate with God in our sanctification. It is by His grace that we can learn to be content in both low and... Continue Reading
Grace for Dysfunctional Families
How can the fifth commandment be applied in situations of family dysfunction?
Proverbs 22:6 speaks of a general principle; namely, that the parents’ direction of their children is usually formative for the rest of their lives. It does not mean that every child raised in a covenant home or sent to a Christian school and summer camps will become a true believer. The pain and regret over... Continue Reading
Together in a Hostile World
We were never meant to stand alone, and we should be available to encourage other believers as well.
There are two main reasons we often neglect the church as believers. The first is that our hearts are elsewhere. We are not that interested in the cause of Christ because we are pursuing something else. We are not concerned about having fellow workers because we are not a fellow worker. The second reason we avoid... Continue Reading
The Depth of My Depravity
My depravity was better displayed in my rejection of God and his grace than in my sins and unrighteous deeds.
Unrighteous deeds are simply the overflow of a deeper rebellion. They are the symptom, not the disease itself. Here’s the thing: You don’t know how deeply sinful you are by your unrighteousness deeds, but by your rejection of God and his grace. That is the most serious, heinous, and damnable sin of them all. ... Continue Reading
We All Know Better Than to Kick the Dog
Deep down in all our souls is the instinct to be a loving caretaker of the teeming life given to us on earth.
As representatives of God on this earth, we are not only called to care for the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, but we must care even more so for our neighbor who is of greater value (Mark 12:31; Luke 12:6-7; 15:3-7). And this, as it turns out, is the ultimate lesson of... Continue Reading
That Awkward Silence
A time of silent confession allows us to focus on the heart and most importantly, the responsibility to confess our sins to God.
Just as we sing together and worship together through the preached Word, we likewise engage in a time of silent prayer and confession together. In our silence we are confronted with our guilt before God. In our silence we are humbly bow before the throne of our sovereign God in a posture of dependence and... Continue Reading
Unconditional Election & Shepherding
Unconditional election is a powerful testimony unto the goodness of God and a tool for missions and evangelism.
Unconditional election is a reminder that just as surely as God elected and then saved a Christian, He will bring about their conformity into the image of Jesus Christ by completing the good work He began in them (Phil. 1:6). This frees me to preach expository sermons, trusting that the Lord can and will take... Continue Reading
Is the New Atheism Dead?
Turns out that all of the efforts that the New Atheists extended to root out organized religion have left them with “a fear of finding something worse.”
In addition to their own jarring polemics and personal misfires, the New Atheists failed to realize that religion, especially Christianity, was the proverbial branch upon which they were sitting. For example, the freedom of expression depends on a number of assumptions, that there is objective truth, that it can be discovered, that it is accessible... Continue Reading
Spirituality and Naturalism
As the life of the Spirit of life in Christ loses its footing in Christian thinking, the Christian view of “reality tends to get covered by the barnacles of naturalistic thought.”
…the reality of the Christian life lived by the reality of the indwelling Spirit would suffer. As that reality was diluted evangelicalism kept up the appearances of true spirituality, the Christian life, by external means of organization and methods. It became more fashionable to talk and teach about Christian truth using the world’s categories as... Continue Reading
All Education is Religious
The concept of a neutral school – or a neutral anything, for that matter – is born out of a narrow understanding of religion.
In education, the words “secular, government, and public” are not synonymous with neutrality. A public school is every bit as enmeshed in a system of ardently held, worldview-shaping religio-philosophical underpinnings as any religious school out there. It is not neutral because it is not possible to be neutral. The claim that every school is... Continue Reading
Circles of Responsibility: Circles of Sovereignty
How could the one who declares himself to be perfect, wise, good, and loving in every way also be in absolute control of the universe and let all of this happen on his watch?
Imagine I have drawn a small circle inside a much larger circle on a sheet of paper. The inner circle is labeled the circle of responsibility, and the outer circle the circle of concern. The circle of responsibility—the smaller, inner circle—represents things God has called you to do that you cannot give to anyone else. These are... Continue Reading
When Revival Happens to Someone Else
It is descriptive of those extraordinary times when the Lord is pleased to pour out a greater abundance of saving grace, resulting in a greater zeal for Kingdom priorities and a vital spirituality characterizing the people of God.
When our Christian brothers and sisters in other denominational contexts see real blessing from God on their labors, let’s not let our various disagreements with them over doctrine and practice prevent us from recognizing the true work of God in their midst. Let’s not betray a belief that if God isn’t blessing us (or those... Continue Reading
Destroying the Healthy Bodies of Minor Children
According to Vanderbilt, surgeries removing children’s healthy sexual organs are lucrative because they require a lot of “follow ups.”
If you bring your gender-confused child to one of these clinics, they will put your child on the path to destroying their fertility, to mutilating their sexual organs, and to a hundred other long-term physical problems due to suppressing puberty, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries. So-called “gender affirming healthcare” is a nightmare, and it is claiming the... Continue Reading
The Art of Persuasion
Inducements used by the preacher to persuade.
The response of Habakkuk is not to pull up his bootstraps but to call upon the Lord. He asks him to bring about faith that shall enable him to live. It seems that this is an excellent example of where inducements ought to lead hearers. When they hear them, they should turn to the Lord. However,... Continue Reading
Christ Over All
In our view, the great need for the evangelical church is unashamedly to retain and in many ways return to what is most central: the glory of the triune God in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Whether it is in the first century or the present day, the church quickly departs from Christ and his Word and seeks to establish truth apart from divine revelation. But as Paul warns the Colossians, he warns us: divine revelation, centered in Christ, is the foundation of all knowledge. We do not have truth apart... Continue Reading
How a Look at Sex in the Old Testament Offers a Way out of the LGBTQ+ Maze
The culture offers only shifting sands about the definition of words, the purpose of bodies, the nature of reality and identity, and truth itself; however, the Old Testament is direct and firm about these things.
Love is not what valorizes a human sexual relationship in God’s eyes. Love, of course, is related to the idea of a deep and lasting bond between two human beings. But given how widespread the mantra “love is love” has become in valorizing various types of human sexual relationships, it needs to be mentioned separately.... Continue Reading
With Drag Queen on “Dancing With The Stars,” Disney Aims More Sexual Propaganda at Kids
Because "DWTS" is considered a family-friendly show, children could watch the series on Disney Plus without parental knowledge.
Allowing a drag performer to compete, and with a male pro dancer no less, is just another part of a systemic effort by Disney — which now hosts “Dancing with the Stars” on Disney Plus — to push the entertainment giant’s perverted sexual agenda on kids. In a move that shouldn’t come as a... Continue Reading
The Sheep Need Shepherds
The Crucial Responsibility of Elders
We serve a God who has designed the church with very specific features and functions. In his divine wisdom, he has planned out the integral parts of the church for particular purposes. Yet, because he loves us, he has also established that design with our spiritual advantage and joy in mind. Therefore, whether we’ve been... Continue Reading
I Refuse to Say “I Identify As” — Here’s Why
Choice: That’s exactly where “identify as” goes wrong.
When a person “identifies as” something he isn’t, what he’s doing is telling reality he’s in charge instead. That’s not just foolish, it’s unspeakably arrogant. I’ve written before of transgender bullying. Then it was a man bullying women by claiming he was one. This bullying is different is different: It’s just as real, but more foolish... Continue Reading
Pastors are Teachers First
A Paragraph That Reformed My Ministry
It’s simple: pastors are primarily teachers, and the goal of our teaching is the salvation of souls — a supernatural goal we can’t produce. This understanding leads us, naturally, to prayer. We ask God to do what only he can do, and this accompanies the task of preaching (and the whole of our work) with... Continue Reading
The Day the Bible Became a Bestseller
Martin Luther didn’t set out to produce a bestseller. But 500 years ago, that’s exactly what he did.
Luther sought to create a Bible not to be a bestseller, but one through which individuals would hear God speaking directly to them in their world, in their time, in their place. A Bible that was God’s Word—more accurately, God speaking. Not a passive tool that sits on a shelf or a table or even... Continue Reading
Protect the Sheep
The shepherd must keep a close watch on the flock so that sin is not permitted to fester and multiply.
Christians are not passive participants in this world. Instead, God has called us to push His message of reconciliation forward and against the opposing spiritual forces so that the world may know the love of Christ and that the symphony of nations would glorify God. In other words, the flock is perhaps most protected when... Continue Reading
The Bewitching Influence of Secularism
Secularism seeks to block a consistent application of Christianity to every aspect of life.
If we decide to send our children to secular institutions, we had better do so with our eyes wide open to the worldview their minds will be filled with on a daily basis. If we send our children to public schools, we must be aware that the bewitching influence of secularism runs swift and strong.... Continue Reading
Eschatology Q & A — “What About the Great Tribulation?”
“In the amillennial system, where does the tribulation fit in? Are we living in it now, or will it be a distinct time before the return of Christ?"
In light of the tendency to relegate a time of “great” tribulation to the distant past or imminent future, it is important to survey the biblical teaching in this regard. As we will see, this time of “great tribulation” cannot be tied exclusively to the events of A.D. 70, or to the very end. God’s... Continue Reading
Sexual Liberation Has Failed Women
Book Review: "The Case Against the Sexual Revolution," by Louise Perry
The modern sexual revolution was responding to real problems. But its solution, Perry argues, has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. It hasn’t delivered on its promises. Young people are having less (and less satisfying) sex than their parents or grandparents; divorce, abortion, sexual violence, and pornography have all shot up. And women... Continue Reading
American Academy of Pediatrics Captured by Gender Ideology; Mainstream Professionals Are Calling Them Out
Respected professionals who work in the field of sexuality and gender themselves have been critical of AAP policy and their lack of academic rigor and responsibility.
The so-called “gender affirming” model puts young people on track to start an often deeply invasive, irreversible, and radical medical and surgical regimen at odds with where biology and their own natural development would have taken them. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), a 92-year-old, 67,000 member organization, prides itself as the paragon of... Continue Reading
The Tao in America
The poison of subjectivism is an existential threat to Western Civilization and humanity that enables tyranny and totalitarianism.
The Tao tells us how we ought to live; we then discover that we don’t live up to it. We fail, and fail miserably. It tells us that we ought to value things according to their value, and then we discover that we have not done so. We have not valued what is supremely valuable. That is,... Continue Reading
When God Gave His Holy Spirit to Simple Men in Great Abundance
Neither Luther nor the other magisterial Reformers despised the church. But they saw the church as only a witness to and a powerful illustration of salvation by grace—not the dispenser of that salvation.
The sixteenth century was a monumental period in the history of the Christian church. It was not without its faults, nor without its failures. But Christians in those days were bursting with the power and the energy of this great discovery—that the burden of their sins had been taken by Jesus Christ and they, at... Continue Reading
