What is Our Future? (Ezekiel 47:1-12)
The story of Scripture—our story—ends with God’s presence on earth, bringing life, renewal, and healing to everything.
Our future is not really about us leaving the earth. It’s about heaven reuniting with earth and God living here, healing and restoring everything that’s broken, and bringing life and healing to the world. We began a series on the storyline of the Bible way back on March 1, which was in a different... Continue Reading
Expectations of the Pastor’s Family
The burden to be a godly example to the church and carry the burden of souls is to rest solely on the man called of God to do so, not his family.
The members of the pastor’s family are in one sense not ordinary church members because of their unique familial relationship to the pastor. Yet, when it comes to the church’s expectations of them, they should be treated as ordinary members. Pastoral ministry today is especially challenging. The most recent figures show that 50 percent... Continue Reading
Scripture: Sufficient For You
The only proper response to the Word of God is repentance, faith, and obedience.
As Christians, we are to trust the Word, because behind it is the character of a holy, just, omnipotent, and omnipresent God. The Word of God will never change, but the hearts of men change as they respond rightly it. The sufficiency of Scripture is a crucial tenet of the Christian faith. By Scripture,... Continue Reading
2 Important Things to Remember about Fighting Sin—Romans 7:13-25
Dealing frankly with our sin should lead us to confession, forgiveness, and thankfulness in Christ, not perpetual hopelessness.
Despite the fact that we are involved in a battle against enemies who seem, at times, immune to our attacks and unlimited in their resources, the glorious truth is this: the victory has already been won—on a cross outside of Jerusalem 2000 years ago. The longer I am a Christian, the more I realize... Continue Reading
The Simple Secret to Change
The grace of God works through very practical means, which is why we refer to them as means of grace.
If we find deficiencies in our practical holiness, we have to ask ourselves, “What am I loving?” because I am growing to resemble something that is not God. Therefore, we are to love God more. So then the next question presents itself: how do I increase my affections for God? This is nearing the heart... Continue Reading
Character is More Important Than Talent
If you find you’re less talented than others, be encouraged that God looks at the heart.
I haven’t been in ministry long, but I’ve already seen many cases in which people with great talent fall due to lack of character. On the other hand, I’ve seen many godly people overlooked in spite of their faithfulness and godly character simply because they weren’t as talented as others. My son walks around... Continue Reading
How Does COVID-19 Expose the Lie of the Prosperity Gospel?
The shifting of the goal posts is evident to all.
The phrase “health and wealth gospel” captures the two sides of this phenomenon. It’s this latter promise that has been exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prosperity gospel preachers all over the world claim that Christianity, when well understood and applied, is meant to give you a long life of health and a lot of... Continue Reading
Unbelief and the Hard Heart
Unbelief is a product of both a hard heart and deception.
There is nothing wrong with debating those who express doubts. However, it is a complete waste of time to continue to cast pearls before swine. Who is this? These are those in unbelief. We must give them the truth, the Gospel, but when they reject it, it is time to move on. Did our Lord... Continue Reading
Overview of the Twentieth Century
A questioning of historic Christianity made its way into many American universities and seminaries, leading to tensions between liberals and conservatives in several Protestant denominations.
The foundation of social gospel redefinitions of Christianity was the modern historical-critical method of biblical study, which argued that the virgin birth, miracles, and the resurrection were myths used by the biblical writers to express how Jesus had influenced their lives. Critical scholars in the nineteenth century had challenged the reliability of the Gospel accounts,... Continue Reading
Wisdom and Folly in Christian Responses to Coronavirus
Even in some Christian circles that make confident appeal to ‘wisdom’, the true character of wisdom can easily become distorted.
The wisdom literature is often rather neglected in our churches. Its sapiential character does not fit well within the narrow constraints of our information and doctrine-focused teaching. Its more open-ended and less definitive forms of knowledge unsettle the security of our dogmatisms. Its empirical and pragmatic focus discomforts our ideological abstractions and our personal detachment.... Continue Reading