Against Requiring Background Checks
The PCA would set a dangerous precedent with a "shall"...
It is not for the General Assembly to require lower courts or churches to dispose of their property against their will. Writing such provisions into the PCA constitution would set a dangerous precedent and would undermine the freedom and rights of local churches. Overtures to the 51st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in... Continue Reading
Is Productivity a Godly Goal or an Unhealthy Obsession?
Productivity is taking your time, energy, gifts, and focus and using them wisely for the glory of God and the good of your neighbor.
Let’s avoid the traps of making productivity an unhealthy obsession with results or a very well-intentioned goal we can never reach. Let’s understand productivity correctly—as making the best use you can of the resources God has placed in your hands—and use it as a means of serving our Lord and the people around us. This... Continue Reading
On Nehemiah and Living for God Through Christ
The Big Idea of Nehemiah can be expressed this way: God is faithful even when his people are not (cf. 2 Tim. 2:13).
Until or unless God makes people able to live for him by causing them to be born again by the Spirit, faithful leaders work in vain to modify external behavior to mimic it. Yet Nehemiah does not teach us that all leadership is pointless; instead, Nehemiah helps us to set our sights more on faithfulness... Continue Reading
Perfected Love
There is a cost to love.
John goes so far as to say that if we love one another God abides in us. Love is a telltale sign that our faith is functioning according to new life in Christ. By it we gain assurance of our salvation. More than that, John tells us that His love has been perfected in us. John does not... Continue Reading
Encouragement for Those Who Aren’t Resting on the Sabbath
It’s a day that God calls us to observe in his word.
The Sabbath is an opportunity for us to be a blessing to others—to be in fellowship with the people of God, to encourage them, and to serve them. It’s a day of service—gathered in worship and then outside worship in fellowship with God’s people. The Blessings of Sabbath If I were in a position... Continue Reading
Jesus, Children and the Kingdom of God
Jesus is saying that we cannot enter his kingdom thinking that we are important, or hanging onto the things that give us status.
Jesus turns our world’s ways on their head. For those of us with nothing to boast in, it is wonderful news. But for those who have spent our lives scrambling to be near the front of the queue, it is a sharp rebuke and challenge. The question Jesus presses upon me is, ‘Have I come... Continue Reading
Decisive Moments: The Fall of Jerusalem
In April of AD 70, Titus besieged Jerusalem, causing horrific suffering in the city due to famine.
For the Jews the greatest tragedy of all happened in September of AD 70. The Romans got into Jerusalem and they destroyed and desecrated the temple. In fulfilment of Christ’s prophecy in Matthew 24:2, not one stone was upon another. The entire temple complex was razed to the ground, never to be rebuilt. According to... Continue Reading
Apathy and the Forsaking of Remembrance
Keeping the Strength of Christ Near Unto Our Heart
It is not until we are humbled by the reality of what the Gospel teaches, that Christ has died for the ungodly, and we give up our feeble claims to might and self-identity that we can come and take on the yoke of Jesus our Lord. Yet, in some sense that only gets at the... Continue Reading
Facing our Failures
Lessons from Peter's Denial
Peter went from being scared of the Jewish people to preaching to thousands. How? What changed between Peter’s thrice denial to a few months later preaching Christ in the temple? Peter met the resurrect Christ, was restored to office, and received the Holy Spirit. The weakest Christian is the one who relies on their own... Continue Reading
It Is Possible to Remain Faithful in an Oppressive World
Don’t be defeatist. Keep on serving God, day by day.
When you see the culture degrading and moving farther from the true God, don’t think that faithful living is impossible. There were many who remained faithful in the time of King Ahab and there are faithful believers in much more difficult situations around the world right now. God’s promises remain true. We can continue to... Continue Reading
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