One entire book of the Old Testament, Nehemiah, is constructed around this wall in more ways than one. The book of Psalms also makes reference to it in a number of places. Positively in Psalm 48, where the city of God is seen to be ‘in good shape’ spiritually, as well as structurally in terms... Continue Reading

“When you see my coffin carried to the silent grave, I should like every one of you, whether converted or not, to be constrained to say, ‘He did earnestly urge us, in plain and simple language, not to put off the consideration of eternal things. He did entreat us to look to Christ.'”   Free... Continue Reading

At this point, Hill may, must and does argue that homosexual orientation is not sin.  Perhaps the question begging to be asked is why talk about homosexual orientation as something God does not want to remove but rather to leave like a thorn in the flesh? Is sexual orientation a thorn or not? Nevertheless, what... Continue Reading

This verse is one of the most controversial texts in all of the NT, mainly because there is such a difference of opinion over what it is that Paul is disallowing. The literature on this verse is voluminous, and adjudicating all the competing interpretations would be beyond the scope of this commentary.(4) Nevertheless, we can... Continue Reading

Over the months of treatment and years of survivorship since that day, I’ve wrestled with God’s sovereignty. I don’t question the truth of His rule and reign over all things. I’m grateful that He provided a solid biblical understanding of His character before the phone call came. But I’ve often struggled to find lasting comfort... Continue Reading

In his first letter to his exiled and suffering readers undergoing trials, the Apostle Peter reminds that these trials are only “for a little while” (1 Peter 1:6-9). This is not Peter’s attempt to minimize them or belittle the pain and challenges they produce, but to offer another bolster of hope that even the longest... Continue Reading

Maybe I need to begin by answering these questions: Do we really need another introduction to Calvinism? And should someone like you bother with it? In both cases, I will answer in affirmative. We do need more introductions to Calvinism, not least because there are lots of people who may be associated with this broadly... Continue Reading

We must remember that ministry in the New Testament is life on life. For the Apostle Paul, the church was not a distant group before which he occasionally appeared.  They were his spiritual family, with whom he lived and ministered.   How does a pastor most healthily balance ministerial service with family time? This tension... Continue Reading

Guilt is the objective reality of being liable to punishment because of something we’ve done. Shame is the subjective feeling of being worthless because of who we are. As someone said, it’s the difference between making a mistake and being a mistake. Feeling guilt when we sin is a good and godly and healthy response. So we run to... Continue Reading

I remember announcing many years ago that, in the next term of our MBC program in Egypt, the students would have a class called Cross-Cultural Counseling. The response was surprising. “Why? We’re all Egyptians.” (Even that was not technically true—there were two ladies from Jordan in the program.) One question-as-response explained the rationale of having... Continue Reading