Be Sad During COVID-19… but Be Sad Differently
Christian grief is a transformed kind of grief.
It is comforting to know that the Christian does not need to repent of his or her tears; the Christian has no need to apologize for their feelings of loss. The Christian, whose bonds with others in Christ should be the strongest of all, should grieve even more deeply at the loss of someone else. Grief... Continue Reading
The Reality of a Virtual Funeral
We have hope in Christ and we must remember that he has gone before us—passing through death—and now ruling from heaven’s throne.
As we sit in empty rooms for virtual funeral services, we must look to our real hope that we have in Christ Jesus. In a strange providential season when friends, family, and our church body is kept at a distance—we must cling to the hope we have in Jesus Christ. We must remember the words... Continue Reading
10 Words Every Christian Should Know (and Be Able to Explain)
Without understanding how they are justified in Christ, Christians may wrongly think their own works, good or bad, could keep them in or out of God’s kingdom.
Believers will never have to face God’s just sentence for their sins and spend eternity in hell separated from God. Think of someone in a courtroom who is guilty of a horrible crime and deserving of the severest punishment, but is instead declared innocent because someone else paid the penalty for them—and even made them... Continue Reading
Grumbling: A Family Tradition
Alone on the cross, instead of grumbling, Jesus took our grumblings upon himself as the representative Grumbler.
To complain is to ask God why he’s not giving water in the desert and plead for him to provide; to grumble is to say there’s not water because God doesn’t care. The first seeks to obtain something. The other seeks only to destroy. In Philippians 2:14, Paul commands the people not to grumble but... Continue Reading
Saved from the Deep
When you remember the Lord and pray, it is only because God is with you to uphold your spirit in order to pray.
Why would God be so ready to hear our prayers, especially if we have been like Jonah, who had hardly been a paragon of faith? He answers that his prayer came “into your holy temple” (Jon. 2:7). The temple was the place where the atoning sacrifices were offered. To leap forward from Jonah to the... Continue Reading
None of Your Pain Will Be Wasted
Paul says that our affliction in this age prepares for us this coming glory which is beyond comprehension and compare.
Just as “suffering produces endurance” (Romans 5:3) and “the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:3), so also affliction in this life, endured in faith, produces this incomparable, immeasurable weight of coming glory. Which means that in those moments when we are suffering — and so far as we can tell, as in those final... Continue Reading
Lord, I Don’t Know What to Do
May we follow King Jehoshaphat’s example and resolve to seek the Lord.
2 Chronicles 20 begins with a daunting picture. Several nations, the Bible calls them a “vast multitude”, joined together to fight against Judah. King Jehoshaphat was afraid. Yet in that fear, he didn’t panic. He didn’t begin to strategize with the leaders of the land. He didn’t turn to the corrupt king of Israel for... Continue Reading
Fight the Good Fight of Faith
As followers of Christ, we are to participate in the good fight of faith and to lay hold of eternal life.
If someone were after you and you were running away from that predator for your life, we would both call that “fleeing” and would use much energy to do it. Running away from a threat is not passive. This is active. It would involve sweat, time, and much energy. If we were pursuing someone in... Continue Reading
A Life and Death Decision
Stop dabbling with God’s way and with your sin. Make your choice.
The fork in the road Moses pointed out to the nation of Israel is a decision every person must make for himself. Not just those present, not just those in the future of the nation Israel, but in a real sense every person who ever lives must choose between life or death. Everyone must choose.... Continue Reading
Teaching Men to Pray
Fundamental to coming to Christ is an attitude or spirit of learning, growing.
It’s very interesting that in the Westminster Shorter Catechism each petition in the Lord’s prayer is examined and explained. It’s very helpful in teaching a new believer what prayer is all about. However, we’re not to that point yet with this new believer. Intimacy with God in prayer grows slowly. When one is helping a... Continue Reading