Jesus’ teaching that those who will be resurrected to eternal life “neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Matt. 22:30) has often led to wonder (and/or panic) about what embodied existence without one of the greatest of physical pleasures humanity knows will be like.    In the 1980s, a... Continue Reading

Sometimes the impression can be given to other Christians that we regard “Calvinism” as coterminous with Christianity and that we think all gospel preaching can be fitted into the five points. The five points are not to be depreciated, but God is incomprehensibly greater than our understanding, and there are other truths to be preached... Continue Reading

The Lord’s Prayer is for those who hold firmly that Jesus Christ has inaugurated a kingdom, has risen from the dead, reigns at the right hand of God, and is coming again to judge the living and the dead. The Lord’s Prayer is for revolutionaries, for men and women who want to see the kingdoms of... Continue Reading

One of the ways we know we are a child of God is because of God’s discipline in our lives. This is surprising because when things don’t go the way we think they should in life, there is often a creeping, prosperity-esque thought that comes to our minds: “Doesn’t God love me? Because surely if... Continue Reading

As believers, we face temptation on a daily basis. Self-control is the wall of defense against the sinful desires that wage war against our soul. We must be like a city with strong walls as we practice self-control.   In Joshua 6, God spoke to Joshua and told him how to take the city of... Continue Reading

Sharing Christ with our neighbors can be something that’s done over time, as our relationships grow with them. By God’s grace we can pursue deeper and deeper intimacy with our nearby friends. The Holy Spirit can provoke us with a genuine love for them and a desire for them to know Christ in us, the... Continue Reading

I am persuaded that a life of weeping and constant prayer is the only appropriate response to the sin and suffering that surround us. The lightheartedness knowing that “everything’s going to be okay” is not for this life now, but instead for the next.    My day began by watching my deceased neighbor be buried... Continue Reading

A large percentage of Chinese Christians are part of unregistered illegal churches—remaining underground because they recognize only Christ as Lord, and they refuse to allow the atheistic government to control their churches.    For years people have told me, including some who’ve read my novel Safely Home, that there is no more persecution of Chinese Christians.... Continue Reading

A lot of people try to argue that Jesus never claimed to be God. They will say something like, “Where is the Bible verse for him claiming he was God?” Sometimes Christians will then get stumped with such a question because they can’t find the exact sentence where Jesus says, “I am God,” and so... Continue Reading

As the theological controversy heated up in the Netherlands, across Europe, and in the British Isles, the polarization between the Arminians and Calvinists threatened to break out into open warfare. Prince Maurice (Maurits; 1567–1625) and the de facto Prime Minister of the United Provinces, Jan van Oldenbarnevelt (1547–1619), were estranged. The latter supported the Arminians and Maurice... Continue Reading