In Our Dying Hour
The day may come when after a long fight with disease, we shall feel that medicine can do no more, and that nothing remains but to die.
Let us cleave to Christ more closely, love Him more heartily, live to Him more thoroughly, copy Him more exactly, confess Him more boldly, follow Him more fully. Religion like this will always bring its own reward. Worldly people may laugh at it. Weak brethren may think it extreme. But it will wear well. At... Continue Reading
The Glory of the God-Man: Introducing the Christology of the Larger Catechism
As Mediator of the covenant of grace Jesus stands between God and man and draws the two together.
And that’s precisely what we have in Jesus. He is God come in the flesh to save us from our sins, and to restore us to that great end for which we were created: to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” As we behold the face of Jesus by faith through the Word and Sacraments,... Continue Reading
Thanks To A Psalmist And An Apostle For Priestly Advice
In the Old Testament, access to God was through the priesthood. Jesus is now our great High Priest.
As priests, we are privileged to be chosen by God. God has chosen us to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. As priests, we have purpose, e.g., “to proclaim the praises or excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” by both the Word and life. ... Continue Reading
Heaven: A World of Love
The glorious presence of God in heaven fills heaven with love.
There, even in heaven, dwells the God from whom every stream of holy love, yea, every drop that is, or ever was, proceeds. There dwells God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, united as one, in infinitely dear, and incomprehensible, and mutual, and eternal love. There dwells God the Father, who is... Continue Reading
The Rhythm of the Christian Life
How Life Alone and Christian Community Go Together
In a sentence, the rhythm of the Christian life is a biblically-based, centuries-old belief that time alone with God and time together with others are intimately connected and work in tandem to glorify God. What is the rhythm? The moment we hear the word “rhythm” related to our spiritual life, we probably think about... Continue Reading
Three Reasons Why Jesus Did Not Go to Hell When He Died
A popular heresy that circulates from heretic to heretic is that Jesus’ death on the cross was insufficient.
What does the Bible say about Jesus’ death? Was it really insufficient? Was it necessary for Jesus to go to hell and suffer more under God’s wrath? According to Romans 3:25, Jesus’ blood served as the propitiation and satisfied the Father. That same truth is taught in 1 John 2:1-2. The most powerful verse that... Continue Reading
If God Already Knows Everything We Need, Why Pray?
The short answer is that God commands us to pray.
Of course, God knows what we need even before we ask for it. Yet it delights God when we humble ourselves and pray to him. It demonstrates that we need him, it stirs us to love and worship him and know him as our true source of life. Our affections and zeal for the Lord... Continue Reading
Common Christian Myths About Happiness
Happiness is a good desire when we seek it in Christ.
To be holy is to see God as he is and to become like him, covered in Christ’s righteousness. And since God’s nature is to be happy (Psalm 115:3; 1 Timothy 1:11), the more like him we become in our sanctification, the happier we will be. Forcing a choice between happiness and holiness is utterly... Continue Reading
Hxrstory, Cisheteropatriarchy, and the Remaking of America: A New Curriculum Emerges in California
A new state-mandated ethnic studies curriculum for high schools.
The worldview implications from this curriculum proposal are astounding. This proposal asserts an ideological agenda from the far-left fringes of liberals, now peddled as mainstream educational policy. Here is official state policy perpetrating and advancing a massive moral and sexual revolution—and children are their target. As millions of American students prepare to return to... Continue Reading
Garden of Grief
Why here, at the Olive Press, for Jesus to struggle with the prospect of draining Calvary's woe-filled, fuming, cup?
After His last meal, He tiptoed down the slope, crossed Kidron’s weeping Brook, ascended the craggy incline, to do combat with God’s wrath, away from crowds…secluded from the world. A Provocative Question “Are those olive groves?” That was the question that my wife asked me this morning. We were on our way back to... Continue Reading