“The Publicity Stunt” refers to Livingstone’s internationally hyped expedition to find the headwaters of the Nile. Milbrandt calls it a “stunt” because Livingstone’s deeper motive was not the Nile. “Livingstone was no longer mounting a Nile expedition, but a grand publicity stunt. The Nile quest provided the platform he needed to campaign against the slave... Continue Reading

“It is the grand design of Satan to lessen our opinion of God’s goodness… He seeks to hide God’s goodness, and to represent him as a God that delights in our destruction and damnation, rather than in our salvation.”   God is slandered daily. Satan, who is a liar and the father of lies, makes... Continue Reading

We regularly seek the truth of God’s word each and every Lord’s Day as we go to church and draw near to Christ through the means of grace—word, sacrament, and prayer. We walk away from a worship service and give thanks to God when one of his faithful ministers heralds the truth and preaches the... Continue Reading

The effect of sin is devastating.  As children of God, unconfessed sin has a way of getting inside our hearts so that we feel guilty – thankfully. But not every child of God immediately admits their sin in repentance.  Then it becomes difficult to pray, and the desire to open the Bible evaporates, and they... Continue Reading

Every government has ironically exposed our folly in putting too much reliance upon politics for solutions. Governments are all lumbering and ham-handed so that they are rightly criticized by those wanting either opened economies or reliable immunity.   No church leader today could have predicted the severe test that COVID-19 has brought to the church.... Continue Reading

A number of friends have put some version of this question to me in recent days. They know that my new book, One Assembly, argues against the multisite and service structure. I believe the Bible teaches that a group of Christians must gather regularly to be a church. Which means your 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.... Continue Reading

 A grateful spirit should ever be cultivated by the Christian; and especially after deliverances we should prepare a song for our God. Earth should be a temple filled with the songs of grateful saints, and every day should be a censor smoking with the sweet incense of thanksgiving. How joyful Jeremiah seems to be while... Continue Reading

Whenever you or I lose our tempers, it means we’ve gone from wanting some good thing, to demanding that we must have it or else. Sinful anger is so convinced of its own moral high ground that it feels perfectly justified visiting its wrath upon whatever, or whomever, has dared to transgress absolute justice (i.e.,... Continue Reading

It is comforting to know that the Christian does not need to repent of his or her tears; the Christian has no need to apologize for their feelings of loss. The Christian, whose bonds with others in Christ should be the strongest of all, should grieve even more deeply at the loss of someone else. Grief... Continue Reading

The disciples were afraid! I think we might have been as well. Can you imagine it? I can’t. Here they are doing their thing, toiling on throughout the night. One of them gets a glimpse through the turbulent toss of the waves of something – or it looks like someone – walking toward them on... Continue Reading