Those in Christ are merely “sojourners” and “resident aliens” traveling in this fallen world until they reach their final homeland (1 Peter 1:4; 2:11). Zechariah 14:16–21 depicts the return of Christ as the time when the international people of God will gather at Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This final festival anticipates the... Continue Reading

When my kids visit my study as I’m hard at work, I grow impatient and frustrated. I will answer their questions when I’m done. How will my world keep spinning if I take a break? But God’s world spins, and it doesn’t come at our expense. He does not have to delay our interaction. He can... Continue Reading

A home visit – or a sidewalk-out-in-front-of-a-home visit – helps pastors and elders alike know how their flock is doing. Often an in-person visit reveals needs more clearly than a phone call or a screen-time session. This in turn will help you better pray for people under your care and to see them in your... Continue Reading

When Jesus was talking with His disciples shortly before He died, He told them that His Father would send the Holy Spirit, who would not only dwell with them but be in them (John 14:17). With the Holy Spirit living inside us, the reality is that we are never, ever alone. Does that mean we... Continue Reading

Patrick’s six-year captivity in Ireland had prepared him for this mission. He knew the language and customs of the country, and could relate to the people. He reaped both joys, with the baptism of “many thousands,”[1] and innumerable sorrows, including beatings, verbal abuses, threats, a kidnapping, and an imprisonment.   Every year, we read articles... Continue Reading

Even as a young Bible College student, I failed to understand the importance of church history. The buildings seemed so old and the names were so hard to pronounce. It is a sentiment that is not unique to me. I hear it all the time. I hear the cruel remarks about John Calvin and the... Continue Reading

David wrote “taste and see” in the middle of this psalm for a reason. David experienced the Lord’s goodness with his senses, in real life. God’s nearness, his deliverance, his salvation, his redemption, his hearing and answering—and consequently David’s crying out, looking to God, seeking God, and taking refuge in him—were just as real as... Continue Reading

The prideful rejected God’s word, and laughed and mocked the king’s messengers to scorn. But others welcomed the divine word and humbled themselves. The same is true today: the proud resist what God has commanded, while the humble gladly submit to whatever he says.   Humility doesn’t come from self-help. Any do-it-yourself “humility,” rooted in... Continue Reading

These correspondences at least suggest that Revelation 7 advances the messianic army motif that Revelation 5 had begun. If so, then Revelation 7 parallels the Lion and Lamb vision of Revelation 5:5–6. In that earlier vision, John hears about the Lion of Judah but actually sees the Lamb slain. The point is that the conquering... Continue Reading

Sickness, sovereignly wielded like a scalpel in the hand of our good God, can only heal us. For all things work together for those that love Him (Rom. 8:28), and disease certainly does not fall outside the category of “all things.” By it, He weans us from the passing treasure of this world, and He... Continue Reading