For me, 2019 was the hardest year of my life. I spent it trying to regain the physical strength and energy I lost through my medical crisis. But everything I endured proved to be a gift.  It changed my life in so many good ways.    Approximately one year ago, on April 11, 2019, my... Continue Reading

One doesn’t have to look far to stumble across ministers who make offhanded comments in sermons about how so many other preachers are unwilling to boldly speak “the hard truths.” And though it is regretfully true that many ministers are unwilling to speak the hard parts of Scripture, these comments are often attended with a... Continue Reading

A believer struggling with pornography demonstrates that he or she can’t handle open access. The desires of their flesh are too strong and their self-control too weak. We take away their freedom to open access to protect them from themselves.   A young man or woman comes to you, admitting their struggle with pornography. Let’s say... Continue Reading

The coronavirus pandemic is the latest in a long line of disease outbreaks that have wreaked havoc on humanity over the centuries, and it will very likely not be the last. This editorial offers theological, historical, and pastoral reflections on disease and sickness.   So thou, sick world, mistak’st thy self to be Well, when... Continue Reading

Matthew Henry cites five possible reasons that David’s census was wrong: 1) He was using it to number men under twenty years of age for army service, which was forbidden in God’s law; 2) The census had no direct order from God; 3) David was going to use the results to tax the people more... Continue Reading

In the past few years, much of our work has gone digital. We plan events with digital registration forms; we send emails about ministry news, etc. I’ve been around offices where if their computer stops working or the internet is out, someone will comment: “I can’t do my work now.” If your ministry work is... Continue Reading

There are so many theologically rich hymns about both the Church universal and the local church that we can be teaching our children. Though each of these are uniquely suited to reflect the biblical teaching about the glory of Christ among His people, my wife and I specifically chose to sing Timothy Dwight’s “I Love Thy... Continue Reading

First, we see creation: formless, lifeless, lightless, empty, and watery. This is the raw material. On Day One God floods creation with light. And periods of light will alternate with periods of darkness to make “day and night.” Yet, although creation is no longer black, it is still a formless watery chaos. On Day Two God builds structure, a firmament-expanse,... Continue Reading

Polycarp’s dialogue with the governor requires a bit of commentary to be understood. When the governor told Polycarp to say “Down with the atheists”, he meant for Polycarp to renounce Christianity. Atheist was a pejorative term that pagans threw at Christians. To a polytheistic society awash in gods, goddesses, temples, and all their paraphernalia, Christianity seemed, at... Continue Reading

A striking example of God using a life-threatening epidemic to play a key role in a person coming to spiritual faith and life is found in the conversion testimony of Fanny Crosby. She went on to become the world’s premiere Christian hymnwriter of the nineteenth century.    The present COVID-19 pandemic has a lot of... Continue Reading