I’m not alone, though. According to the CDC (American Center for Disease Control), we Americans work more than anyone else in the Western World. Presumably, this is to pursue the American Dream. But for many of us, busyness overtakes the dream, and, in a strange twist, becomes the way we determine who is important. For... Continue Reading

I have a coffee mug and a journal with this very verse imprinted on them. These are too often taken out of context and used to teach that God wants to bless you; that he wants you to be healthy, wealthy, and happy all the time. Aside from glossing over parts of the Bible that... Continue Reading

Genesis describes how everything God created was good (Gen. 1). God created humans as his royal image bearers to rule over creation, tend his garden, and care for his creatures—honoring their creator in all. Adam and Eve were righteous and upright, with the full ability to obey God and keep all his commands.   The... Continue Reading

As a consequence of fighting back against the increasing number of worldviews, many writers assert that Christianity has been stripped of its title as the West’s heavyweight cultural influence.  This worldview smorgasbord has led others to hail the arrival of the “Post-Christian West,” with Christian writers lamenting this transition as a harbinger of doom for... Continue Reading

This is perhaps the chief way the Holy Spirit comforts us in our afflictions. He reminds us of what Christ has done for us. And this is not because the Spirit is at a loss as to how to encourage us. He’s not like our well-meaning friends who like to spout cheap inspirational clichés and... Continue Reading

Christ’s forgiveness is broad and general. It is not like the paralytic offended Jesus earlier in the day and now Jesus is forgiving him. Christ offers him something so much better by pronouncing upon him wholesale forgiveness for his sins.   The account of the healing of the lame man in Mark 2:1–12 includes a... Continue Reading

The pastor needs to once again humble himself before the cross, see where Christ is proclaimed within the passages, and rejoice in the Word of God. The pastor needs to truly feel the passion of the truth he is about to speak. It needs to be internalized, drive him forward, and spill out over the... Continue Reading

If we thought more about our own situation before the judgment throne of God, we would be less likely to pass judgment on fellow Christians. On that day we’ll be busy enough answering for our own life; we don’t need to spend our short life meddling in the lives of others. In these matters where... Continue Reading

The wise person is not the one who has accumulated lots of facts and can destroy everyone else at Jeopardy, but the one who has submitted himself to the will of God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” No wonder then that elsewhere Solomon says: “The beginning of wisdom is this:... Continue Reading

The writings of the Puritans have warmed and affected my heart over the years. Below, you’ll discover some Christ-centered excerpts from what George Whitefield called “good old puritanical writings.” I gladly share these quotes in hopes that weary and discouraged pastors may behold Christ Jesus in his beauty, be strengthened by the grace that is... Continue Reading