Souls Always Need More Curing
Souls are cured, but they also sicken in new ways.
Who among us could be so blind to the fact that our souls are constantly in need of more curing? The reality is that most of us are not readily aware of our need for more curing–particularly when it regards a self-righteous attitude or posture toward others who are struggling with sins other than our... Continue Reading
Should We Make a Priority of Diversity in Church Leadership?
Living and ministering as I do in the most diverse city in the world, this is something I have had to think about on a personal level and something my church has had to consider on a congregational level.
The Bible makes it clear that God is building a diverse church. It is God’s plan that a church begun in one place with one people would soon spread across the earth to become a church in every place and of every people. We see the ultimate result beautifully and vividly described in passages like... Continue Reading
Immutability, the Promises of God, and the Christian Life
God’s immutability breathes a joyful certainty to every believer.
These links between immutability, promises, and the Christian life are basic, but far from superficial. Probing the relevant doctrinal connections yields valuable insights about the nature of God and how we live in Him. This essay is then an exercise in peering under the surface of doctrinal connections that we usually take for granted. ... Continue Reading
Brand Awareness in the Church
We are not in the church to make much of ourselves.
All too often, brand awareness becomes less about commending the gospel and more about commending our particular church or organisation. Far too quickly it becomes less centred on Christ and more directly centred on a particular personality (often the pastor of the church, or director of the organisation). Brand awareness in the church so often... Continue Reading
Canons Of Dort (9): The God Who Elects Unconditionally Does Not Change
Our doctrine of God is, as it is for all Christians, at the headwaters of our theology, piety, and practice.
Consider the first line of the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” The first thing we say about God is, implicitly, that he is triune and second that he is almighty. The ancient Christian church knew nothing of a God who is contingent upon creatures. I doubt that... Continue Reading
My Suffering Has Not Defined Me
I wonder if some of these Christian women are longing for security and significance that’s more touchable than a faith whose substance is merely hoped for and frustratingly unseen.
Although they would never discount their Savior, they want something more tangible than their name written in an invisible book of life: Who am I? My backdrop is a Christian, but I’m a warrior, a cancer survivor. Know and respect me by that. A strange thing happened when word first spread that I had stage... Continue Reading
I Would Rather be Treated by a Smart Turk than an Untrained Christian
The idea of a comprehensive understanding of salvation that traces the influence of redemption (which is different from creation) to all positive developments in human society and culture is nonsense.
The statement doesn’t say, but the implication is that Christians by virtue of faith, regeneration, the Bible, trust in Christ, are somehow competent to conduct scientific investigations, perform medicine, and write laws and public policy simply by virtue of their faith. These writers may assume that to work in medicine or science you need to... Continue Reading
A Plea for Pastors to Get Outdoors
As with children, so with pastors: it’s essential to our well-being to delight ourselves in God’s creation.
Known for our love of learning and study, pastors—particularly Reformed pastors—can easily spend successive days in sermon preparation, meetings, and pastoral counseling with our skin never feeling the sun and our eyes rarely beholding the spectacle of God’s creation. What free time we do have, we often spend watching TV shows and sports or engaging... Continue Reading
Why God’s Love is an Immutable Love
God has an infinite, eternal, unconditional love for his chosen people in Christ.
His love is infinite, greater than we can measure or understand (Ps. 103:11; Eph. 3:19), which God demonstrated by giving the gift of infinite value: “his only begotten Son” (John 3:16 KJV). His love is eternal (Ps. 103:15–17). His love is unconditional, giving the best good to those who do not deserve the least good... Continue Reading
A Different Kind of Profanity
We tend to reason that grumbling is not a big deal because it is not actually doing anything it is simply talk.
In contemporary American culture grumbling is often ingrained as a way of life and many treat it as harmless personal therapy. We tend to rename it as something like venting in order to remove the stigma. Grumbling is so habitual that we often miss the irony of our words when we stand in front of... Continue Reading
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