That which keeps the believer in the grace of God includes the intercession of Christ and the believer drawing near to God through the one Mediator, Christ Jesus. So, although believers could fall away apart from the means of divine intercession, believers won’t fall away due to God’s gracious decree that secures the conditional-means of perseverance.    Like... Continue Reading

Our cultural narrative is not so different from any other culture’s epic. They all tell a story about what is desirable for life and what identifies the ideal person. Every culture has some collective ideal of what you should want and what you should be. But all of them end up getting something essential wrong.... Continue Reading

Much of society is being overtaken by a youth-driven culture because we have neglected God’s call to train up the next generation of young people in the way they should go. If we are to redirect the current paths of young people, we must begin in the church by taking up the charge to come... Continue Reading

With our souls fogged by sin we are natural hypocrites; knowing ourselves is like trying to drive in a steamed-up car. Knowing the world is about as difficult. We see what we expect to see. Matthew Lee Anderson puts it like this: “We will not see if we do not want to see—and we will only see... Continue Reading

In Christ, there is nothing that we could ever do for our Father to disown us. The acceptance that we receive from the Creator and Sustainer of the universe should overshadow the acceptance that we try to achieve from other people whose opinion does not truly matter. At the end of the day, only God... Continue Reading

The Bible, read with the creeds as a guidepost, focus us on the revelation of God made known in Jesus. Together, they keep us from falling into heresy (i.e. idolatry), so that our focus can be right, our praise directed to the God who called the people of Israel to be his own, and was... Continue Reading

The Spirit is involved in everything needed for creation, salvation, growth, and the renewal of all things. But in all these activities, one thing is at the center of his essence and activity. The Spirit is God’s empowering presence. He isn’t merely omnipresent in a general sense; he’s present with us. The Spirit’s presence means... Continue Reading

Fathers and mothers both need to have the flexibility that allows them to come to an agreement on rules and limits and clearly define them for the children. Doing so prevents the possibility of the kids playing one parent against the other. Our efforts to teach our children to obey both parents make it easier for... Continue Reading

Both optimism and pessimism describe ways of looking at the future, and both are unhealthy in some respects. I’ll offer the lens of Biblical hope as a robust alternative. Hope is the eager expectation that God will keep his promises. This means that if we are to be hope-filled people, we need to know what God has... Continue Reading

Even those who are black belts find it worthwhile to do the most white belt katas despite knowing the most rigorous moves and expert-level defenses. For the Christian the Lord’s Prayer finds a similar role. Whenever we get confused about how we can go about asking God for help the Lord’s Prayer is the perfect... Continue Reading