In the documentary, PURITAN: All of Life to the Glory of God, you will walk through the hallways of history to discover this group of people who sought to purify the Church of England and would eventually flee for religious freedom. You will learn names like John Bunyan, Thomas Goodwin, Richard Sibbes, John Owen, Richard... Continue Reading

I contend that God is, in His Trinitarian self, an orderly community of selfless love. And He made us in His image for this purpose: to create, sustain and extend orderly communities of selfless love across the globe.   “What do Christians mean when they say ‘the image of God.’”That was the question asked by... Continue Reading

Be encouraged that it doesn’t depend on you to lead people to Christ. You are just a sower using the only Seed that can bring forth fruit, the Word of God. That is the only weapon at your disposal and God is the only one who can make it go deep into the heart of... Continue Reading

“No man could ever have invented such a character as Jesus. No man could have set down such artless and vulnerable accounts as these unless some real event lay behind them.” (J.B. Phillips)   J. B. Phillips (1906-1982) is perhaps best known today for his book, Your God Is Too Small. He was also a periphrastic Bible... Continue Reading

In both the Old and New Testaments, Scripture speaks openly about the many ways in which the faith of true believers is challenged, shaken and sometimes plunged into doubt and even despair. The Psalms contain more than a few examples of the saints faltering in their faith and crying out to God in fear and... Continue Reading

How is it that people really change? Or, What does sanctification look like worked out in the life of a counselee? In the course of a counseling case, a counselor may need to not only teach a counselee how to be sanctified, but, even more basically, help the counselee understand what sanctification is or how... Continue Reading

Now truth be told, I must admit that I too am guilty of using the very same reductionistic argument in an adult church-school class or two in the past—and ashamedly, I believe it may have even made it into a sermon at one point! But can’t we do better? Doesn’t the Bible speak with greater... Continue Reading

In our conversations, it’s easy to get frustrated, even irritated, when our non-Christian friends don’t “get it.” But, we need to remember what Paul says, “The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him and he is not able to understand them” (1 Cor 2:14).... Continue Reading

A Bible study leader’s primary job is faithfulness to the Lord and his Word. Our task is to help our friends engage with the Scriptures, not to push our own agenda or inflate our reputation. Let’s give ourselves to careful Bible study practices, leaving enough preparation time to write questions that lead our friends to... Continue Reading

For the apostles and early church, that Jesus was crucified was not accidental or peripheral; it was profoundly revealing. Counter intuitively, the early church didn’t try to hide his crucifixion but pushed it front and center. The Son of God had not only taken on our flesh and blood, but he had given himself, sinless,... Continue Reading