My friend Sam Allberry likes to say, “There is more forgiveness in Jesus than there is failure in us.” But that can be so hard to believe, can’t it? There can be a whole lot of failure in us, if we’re honest. But since God knows everything, he knew what he was getting into with... Continue Reading

In the Supper, Christ’s sacrifice is sacramentally present in the symbols and mentally present in the believing remembrance of communicants.[8] But Perkins rejected the notion that the minister serves as a priest who offers a real, bodily sacrifice of Christ for the forgiveness of sins, for the Puritans recognized “only Christ’s oblation [offering] on the... Continue Reading

To be able to serve people in the name of Jesus is an incredible blessing. Christ has given you the gifts you have received. He has given you the passion you possess. To help others encounter the grace of Jesus is thrilling. To witness the Lord transforming people, restoring marriages, and commissioning people to live... Continue Reading

It is in the Bible to help God’s people relate to those whose only perception is “under the sun,” and to win such folks to a more truthful and satisfying outlook on life. The best way to apply the book is to help people grapple with the despair of materialism and naturalism, and to win... Continue Reading

Apparently, as persecution was heating up against God’s people—the church gathered for prayer. They didn’t turn to social media for prayer nor did they just pray with a few random friends. They gathered as a church specifically for prayer (Acts 12:5, 12). It would do us well to notice that the church had gathered to... Continue Reading

Through Scripture, we know our sin, we see His salvation, and we know He rules and reigns, and Christ will one day return to judge the living and the dead. In that light, we both know who Christ is, why God saved us, who we were before a Holy God without Christ and who we... Continue Reading

If you want to break it down, the negative part of the command is to not be simple minded and believe everything. Proverbs 14:15a: “The simple believes everything.” The positive part of the command is to test the spirits. That means you are critically thinking about any teaching, any idea, any movement, any action. Proverbs 14:15 again: “The... Continue Reading

Children are a heritage and a blessing from the Lord (Ps 127:3-5), and as gifts from the Lord they are to be handled and cared for as precious beings made in His image (Gen 1:27). It is the parents that are commanded in scripture to discipline their children (Prov 25:19) and teach them what they... Continue Reading

If you enjoy satire, God employs much of it in the latter part of Hosea to illustrate the unfaithfulness of His people. Chapter 7 is particularly illustrative. God’s wayward people are called a “heated oven” (7:4), “a cake not turned” (7:8), “a dove, silly and without sense” (7:11), and “a treacherous bow” (7:16) What does this... Continue Reading

What really set Christianity apart in the ancient world was the incarnation—the claim that the Most High God had himself entered into the realm of matter, taking on a physical body.  In Gnosticism, the highest deity would have nothing to do with the material world. By contrast, the Christian message is that the transcendent God... Continue Reading