A key reason for the explosive growth of the Early Church is that Christians lived by this ethical command. In the ancient Greco-Roman world, abortion and the killing of infants through a practice called “exposure” was considered legally and socially acceptable. Most of the babies left to die were little girls. In his book, The Rise of Christianity, Rodney Stark described how Christians would search out and save little girls who were... Continue Reading

Part of the theological tradition of the Protestant church is the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. In a nutshell, the Bible is sufficient for what we believe and how we live as Christians, and all other authority is subservient to Scripture. Do I believe that deeply enough to use it to measure all other... Continue Reading

If we insist that human suffering is merely a result of human sinfulness—introduced into the world by God either to correct and punish human sin or to establish a natural consequence for sin—then we’ll miss the malicious demonic purposes that operate alongside God’s own good purposes in our suffering. Maintaining an awareness of these darker... Continue Reading

God works in the world to save his people. The examples of Noah and Moses are dramatic ones, to be sure. Both situations saw God’s people in immediate peril, and the ark in both cases brought them to safety. Yet the same principle is true of Christians. God doesn’t promise to remove us from the... Continue Reading

Evidently, for some time, Paul had had it in his heart to visit Rome. He had prayed about it, planned for it, and attained a sense of peace that preaching in Rome was part of his calling. Yet, time and again, Providential circumstances had interfered. Pastoral needs had called him to other places; unexpected persecution... Continue Reading

Consider this: God may still be answering prayers that were prayed by the very first Christians, for the two thousand years that have elapsed since then make no difference to him. Twenty years after you die, your first and last prayers will still be equally fresh in his mind. You will eventually run out of... Continue Reading

If you don’t have confidence today, fear God. If you’re running to the wrong things, fear God. Because the fear of God produces confidence. That confidence makes you run to Him. That running produces rest. That rest creates security. And that security gives you joy—the kind of joy you cannot manufacture on your own, but... Continue Reading

God’s sovereignty assures believers that when we commit to doing His will and make decisions according to His Word, we cannot go wrong. Our decisions will not always be wise. But God will always weave our choices into His good will. God’s grace assures believers that He loves us and will never leave us, no... Continue Reading

If the world is preserved, it is preserved for Jesus. When God hangs His war bow in the clouds, He is effectively saying, “I will hold back my wrath from this sin-cursed world.” Why? So that He can one day take that wrath upon Himself on the cross. The temporal peace of the Noahic covenant is... Continue Reading

God’s abundant love is marked by a forbearance that outlasts every generation. The Lord has never stopped caring, listening, or moving toward his people, no matter how transient our lives are. Whether single, married, separated, or divorced, our earthly lives frequently change; God does not.   God’s love is the great comfort of those caring... Continue Reading