Elihu reminds young preachers that those who have the “breath of the Almighty” are qualified to speak His Word, regardless of their age. In truth, youth does come with a fair share of weakness–but God’s Spirit overcomes. As he started to get into the meat of his message, Elihu showed his dependence on God’s Spirit... Continue Reading

Kermit Gosnell has been had. The now-forgotten poster boy you used and cast away, the one you once found it convenient to revile as someone monstrous and so different from you. No mention of him now, I see, who did no worse than your new law allows, but dons an orange jumpsuit in a cell... Continue Reading

Both Paul and Peter, under the inspiration of the Spirit, address a key question that continues to plague our culture today—“What makes a person beautiful?” Of concern here is how does one live as a new creation in Christ and make that image look beautiful? What qualities are revered and elevated among those who walk... Continue Reading

In Jesus Christ, in whom all God’s promises are yes and amen, the redeeming gospel of the kingdom had come. It would begin as a mustard seed and grow to fill the earth. Mark tells us that when Jesus entered Jerusalem His first order of business was to go the temple and “look around at all... Continue Reading

If our Social Justice brothers sincerely wish to engage other Bible believers with their applications of Scripture, they need to remind themselves that the Reformation’s “formal principle” was Sola Scriptura, the Bible’s final authority and sufficiency for all matters of faith and practice, not new revelations of new “prophets” of the “reader-response” mind!   I was... Continue Reading

It was suddenly so clear to me how important the great hymns I had learned had been in building up my faith and driving home the essential biblical truths I so needed to rest upon at that very moment. Hearing and feeling through song what I knew to be true from God’s Word both settled... Continue Reading

The post-sexual addiction wilderness is a particularly treacherous and painful section of the larger wilderness of the Christian life. The author of Hebrews sees the entire Christian life as a trek through the wilderness. In Christ, we have been delivered from slavery to sin, but until Jesus returns, we are called to strive to enter... Continue Reading

I grew up in a time when it was common for Christians to bash homosexuals rather than to lovingly call them to repentance and faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I often heard preachers stand in the pulpit and ridicule homosexuals to the laughter of the audience. Even as a teenager, I was appalled... Continue Reading

On occasion, we wonder if an individual really has been converted. And sometimes we have an inexplicable, ill-defined sense that something is missing. But we cannot read the heart. Even so, we hear of friends—whose faith we never doubted—turning away from Christ.   I can still recall the conversation although it took place more than three... Continue Reading

While Katy Perry has popularized the self-empowerment ballad, I might substitute her part in the satanic identity for one of six dozen other purveyors of the ego anthem. The earliest is probably Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” though the example I lately gave my Paradise Lost students was Whitney Houston’s rendition of “Greatest Love of All.”  ... Continue Reading