What a great responsibility we bear when we take the name of Christian! Baxter reminded Christians that “The world will judge of the scriptures by your lives, and of religion by your lives, and of Christ himself by your lives!”[7]. Who is adequate for these things? Yet remember that what the world needs to see... Continue Reading

God’s grace is sufficient for you too. A positive pregnancy test is never bad news. Pregnancy is always much more of a blessing than a burden. If you get an unplanned or difficult pregnancy, your life isn’t over, a life—your baby’s life—is just beginning.   Imagine for a second that you’re a 27 year old... Continue Reading

Wounds might be self-inflicted. Stress may be self-induced. Pressure can almost crush. Yes, others may traumatize us. Yet the way the Servant of Yahweh so delicately deals with the half-fractured and fragile, brings purpose and meaning to all battering rams and remarks.   You’re bruised, badly crushed! You’re gutted, deeply hurt! You’re through, nearly spent!... Continue Reading

1 Thessalonians was written shortly after Paul’s departure, and the letter is replete with how this quick departure was difficult. He had worked as a tentmaker in their midst and thus shared his very life with them (1 Thess 2:8–9). Paul mothered and fathered these believers in their newfound faith (1 Thess 2:7, 11). They... Continue Reading

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks. Open the gates, that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in... Continue Reading

It is by setting our minds on eternity with God that we are strengthened to live for God in this life. Christ promises the persecuted church at Smyrna, “be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” And yet, it does not take persecution to struggle to be faithful. No one... Continue Reading

If God gives us any voice at all in our culture, it will be from the cruciform platform of ordinary acts of faithfulness, from dishes and diapers to street evangelism and closing on Sunday. To be heard, we must say that to which no one will listen. Like Daniel, we must bury our seeds of... Continue Reading

Matthew is identifying a pattern, a way that God tends to work. It’s a pattern, that takes place with Israel in the Exodus, and one that’s repeated in the life of Jesus. If we learn this pattern, it will help us when we face it as well. There’s a trajectory that’s repeated so many times... Continue Reading

There are, as it were, two conflicting natures at war within us, the flesh against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh (Gal 5:7; Rom. 7:15–23). Doing right is possible to the Christian, but it will not come easily. There can be no laidback attitude if one is to resist the devil, the world,... Continue Reading

He was a prolific writer and one of the most published and appreciated in the generation after Calvin. Besides translations, musical arrangements, poetry, and devotional and historical works, his production includes theological, political, and medical treatises. Goulart understood God’s Word to be the only current revelation of God to humanity.   In 1595, Simon Goulart... Continue Reading