Let the instruction of your father and the wisdom of your mother be as a crown, a sword, a scepter unto you. They bestow you with the royalty of being children of the covenant, and so receive that lofty calling and fulfill it in honor of both God your Father and your parents. The true... Continue Reading

The reason why we find ourselves often in a lesser-of-two-evil election is because we think like 1 Samuel 8 Israelites way too often. We end up in a kind of Judas-esque situation trying to back a different horse at the last minute because what we thought we had is not what we actually wanted. Lots... Continue Reading

David, with all his failures, still gives us a good example of how to do this in the Psalms. The first two books of the Psalms, from Psalm 1 through Psalm 72, are packed full of David’s meditations on the Word of God. From singing with his sheep to running in the wilderness, from his mighty victories to... Continue Reading

My favorite non-profit organization—One More Child—made emergency shipments to us. Fuel supplies are not what they do, but they understood the crisis and responded. We were rationing half gallons to keep medical equipment running for people with life-threatening conditions. Thankfully, our Governor opened supplies just in time. I don’t want to overdramatize what was happening,... Continue Reading

Every believer, indwelled by the Spirit of Christ, is being anointed with gifts and graces in order to serve, together with the whole church, as Christ’s prophets, priests, and princes in the world today. Bearing witness to Christ in this way is the identity and calling of all believers. We all have the profound privilege... Continue Reading

Without Christ, there is no hope. Apart from unwavering faith in His unwavering promises, would we not, all of us, be undone? Looking at my father from the doorway, weak and worn as he was, these twin realities presented themselves: “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by... Continue Reading

I was having coffee with one of the people of this church.  I asked them if they knew that God delighted over them.  They asked me how I could say that.  So I showed them this verses from Zephaniah: ‘he will rejoice over you with singing’ (3:17).  That truth made tears run down their cheek. ... Continue Reading

Two angels had been sent by the Lord to warn Lot and his family what was about to happen and take them away from Sodom. Lot, however, “lingered.” His infatuation with Sodom seemed to know no bounds. In response, “the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord... Continue Reading

Bill was a physically imposing mechanic at 6’ 6”. But Lou Gehrig’s disease, the illness that physicist Stephen Hawkins endured, soon wilted him into a shadow of the man he had been. But he had Christ. He was able to live four more years—far beyond the doctor’s expectation. What amazing Christ-filled years those were.  ... Continue Reading

The call to guard our eyes is not just a warning against overt immorality but a reminder to protect against anything that diverts our hearts from pure devotion to God. Each unguarded thought, each glance that lingers is a potential breach in our spiritual defense, a deviation from holiness that leads to brokenness, strain in... Continue Reading