When we stop fighting, reject God’s commands and follow our own, we find ourselves en route to a shipwreck. Why? Because God won’t let us get away with it. When we justify our sin, we can’t expect God to do the same. When we’re proud, we can’t expect to receive grace from Him (1 Pet.... Continue Reading

If people are going to see that it is the Lord speaking to them, our sermons must be firmly rooted in the passage. If people are going to see what the Lord is speaking to them specifically, our sermon must be fiercely and pointedly applicable to the people in front of us. If we are going to... Continue Reading

Nothing morbid is to be found in Baxter’s focus on death. There’s neither frivolity nor callous jokes—simply an old preacher dwelling on the implications of “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” And as Baxter’s book lacks morbidity, so does my reading it. His book is a sobering reminder. One day, we all will... Continue Reading

God calls us to worship and to rest in Him (Matthew 11:28-30) because He loves us. We go to church and worship because we love the Lord. Our obedience should never be done with a cold heart or from a sense of obligation alone. That’s not what God wants from us, and that’s not what we... Continue Reading

I think it is time to say that Francis has shifted so far that he has embraced false teachers and has disqualified himself from the benefit of the doubt. That does not mean that he is a false teacher, nor that he is beyond repentance. But it does mean that, as for me and my house, we will... Continue Reading

How should you proceed when you reach a Bible passage that you simply don’t understand? Imagine for a moment that you’ve just run across a difficult part of Scripture. You’re like a tourist who has lost his way. Which way do you turn? What street do you go down? First, let me point out a... Continue Reading

When our ministers are ordained, they are set apart for a sacred work. They are installed into their office. Authority to speak as ministers comes with the office. They have authority to administer the two sacraments that Christ instituted: holy baptism (the sign and seal of initiation into the covenant community) and holy communion (the... Continue Reading

There’s more to the 10 commandments than we usually think. Yes, all 10 commandments still matter today. We should take them seriously and seek to study and appropriately apply them to our lives.   You might be able to list the ten commandments in order, but do you know what they forbid and promote? I... Continue Reading

We challenge that doctrine or Scripture because we don’t want it to be true. If it were true, it would mean something in our lives or our thinking would have to change. So we explain it away. We even go so far as tricking ourselves into thinking that God is saying something different than what... Continue Reading

At some point during that stay in the mental hospital Cowper read Romans 3:25. The verse softened his heart and made him remember gospel truths he had learned earlier in life. He later wrote that during this time he was “overwhelmed with joy unspeakable.” He eventually left the mental hospital and went on to live... Continue Reading