As a loyal husband, God leverages His influence to plead with his wife. He names her sins, but also offers an opportunity to forsake them. The same One who disciplines His beloved speaks kindly to her with words of renewal and restoration (2:14ff.). The call to repent is a compassionate plea to return to the... Continue Reading

The conflicts of our day are not the time for Christians to be afraid. We must be willing to put ourselves in danger. Speaking the truth of Christ and biblical standards, especially when it comes to sexuality, will cause you problems. You will subject yourself to cancel culture. Your social media accounts could be censored... Continue Reading

Some try to delude themselves into thinking they can read the Bible without any framework…which is a lot like me driving without my glasses on. Our goal isn’t to read the Bible without a rubric, but to get the right one in our minds and hearts. The question isn’t whether to have a framework or... Continue Reading

The unadulterated Word of God is what the local church needs. Anything else will not fulfill the people and will lead to unrest, lawless behavior, and ultimately will be so dull that it will not penetrate the hearts of people and will be incapable of saving the soul (James 1:21; 1 Tim. 1:10; 2 Tim.... Continue Reading

The joy that Jesus wants to see in us is His joy. Earlier, Jesus spoke to His disciples about peace, saying, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27). Where does the Christian’s peace come from? It comes from Him;... Continue Reading

With humility in hand, we imagine the future. The following questions help you do this. What are you doing that you want to remain private? Forecast into the future and imagine your life when the private becomes public, because it will become public. What have you learned from the funerals of the wise and funerals of the... Continue Reading

Family is certainly a means of God’s grace, but eventually even family can let us down. The government and politicians can do a lot of good, but they are terrible rocks. Success might seem to provide protection for a time, but it will eventually move on to someone else. No, the only one who is immovable,... Continue Reading

The core evil of the original sin was believing the forbidden knowledge of good and evil would yield more satisfaction than God. The core evil of ancient Israel was believing idols would yield more protection and prosperity than God. The core evil in all our sins is believing some broken cistern will give us greater... Continue Reading

Lockdown has removed this sense of intimacy and security for your pastor, so that his preaching has not been just to members, but in a marketplace. Most Christians will have (or ought to have) stuck with their own online ministry, but in the back of his mind and the depths of his heart there lurks... Continue Reading

A sacrificed lamb referred to the provision of God for escaping His wrath. But those lambs were placeholders. They could not take away the sin of human beings. They were animals. They pointed to the day that God would provide the true Lamb who was able to take away sin by His death. That’s the... Continue Reading