The persecution under Nero was just one of many examples throughout church history of Christians suffering under the reign of a wicked ruler. Suffering is not an anomaly for the Church. It’s the norm. God has ordained that a normal part of his redemptive plan would be for his people to glorify him through joyfully... Continue Reading

The power of God is big enough, and strong enough, to destroy every argument, every reason, and every excuse for why it is ok to rebel against the divine right of God to be both served and worshiped. No excuse will stand. All that will remain is the absolute, all pervasive, power of God.  ... Continue Reading

In a previous post, I gave a few principles I’ve followed in OT exposition that have helped me avoid monotonous “Jesus is the better King” kind of sermons ever week. Principles, not rules. But they are redundant, unnecessary, and superfluous when the passage is something like 2 Samuel 7 or Jeremiah 31. What of passages... Continue Reading

Let us run toward heaven by keeping the eyes of our heart fixed on the one who is already there. The one who has already run the race and come in first. The one who stands victorious in the heavenly places and is waiting to share that victory with us. Let us keep our minds... Continue Reading

We’ve seen who Jesus is. The question is: who is he to us? The creed ends with the only logical answer: Jesus is Lord over all. Lord has become a flaccid term, like we get to decide whether Jesus is Lord or not. It means something like “Jesus has become my spiritually meaningful religious leader.” That... Continue Reading

The losses of Jonathan and Saul serve as reminders that Israel needed more than a man to hope in. In the same way, we can’t ultimately put our hope in human leaders, no matter how faithful they are. In fact, even on their best days, pastors can’t help but disappoint the flocks they love. Therefore,... Continue Reading

God smites this Servant, who is God. How can God be smiting God? He can’t, unless you have the Trinity. The Trinity drives the atonement. This moves us to the New Testament, and to be sure, the Trinity holds together the events and theology of this testament. In the Gospels, Jesus pleases the Father (Jhn 4:34)... Continue Reading

How often have we draped the flag of grace over our shoulders while we plunged back into lust, or greed, or selfishness, assuming God must forgive us? If God must forgive us no matter what we do, then we believe we are god. Perhaps the horror in this temptation is not so foreign after all. When... Continue Reading

Like the Shepherds in Pilgrim’s Progress, the author of Hebrews directs his readers to look ahead to the Celestial City. It is that eternal perspective that provides them the clarity they need to think rightly about their present circumstances. In Hebrews 11:10, the author points to the faithful example of Abraham, noting that “he was looking... Continue Reading

What difference does it make whether Luke is biography or history? Simply that we’ll better observe Luke’s focus, which enables us to focus there with him. Since Matthew, Mark, and John are biographies of Jesus, we read them rightly when we focus on the person of Jesus. Of course, we can’t ignore what Jesus did or... Continue Reading