Do Everything Without Grumbling
Every decision to grumble is a decision not to pray, not to pour out our hearts before God.
Like all temptations common to man, the temptation to grumble always comes with “the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). But how? How can we confront our own tendencies to murmur and, amazingly, begin to “do all things without grumbling” (Philippians 2:14)? “Do all things without... Continue Reading
No One Can Come to Me Unless the Father Who Sent Me Draws Him
Even the most mature Christians are in great need of reflecting on the cross.
Not only has God provided the way to eternal life through the Son, He also draws His people to Him in such a way that they believe and repent in total surrender to the Lordship of Christ. Those who were God’s enemies who considered the cross as “Nonsense” and Christianity as, at best, a pie... Continue Reading
Why Did God Command Hosea to Marry an Immoral Woman?
Hosea’s marriage as a prophetic sign-act reveals the length to which God is willing to go to wake us from our sinful stupor.
The prophet is called by God to enter into a marriage that functions, most scandalously, as an enacted parable, graphically—even shockingly—illustrating Israel’s infidelity to her husband, Yahweh. The punch this passage packs is that Yahweh God, in redeeming lost sinners, became a cuckold straight away, taking to himself an unfaithful wife. Strikingly, provocatively, and scandalously, he... Continue Reading
Marriage and the 7th Commandment
Simply put, marriage between a husband and wife is a picture of the relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and His church .
Why does God take marriage so seriously? Any number of things could be said in answer to that question. One could point to the many societal ills and the damage that is done by sexual immorality and divorce. The breakdown of the family has taken a truly staggering toll on our society. But there is also... Continue Reading
Tried with Fire: Death and Its Brood
If Adam had not eaten the fruit, then none of these bad things would have happened. Creation would not have been spoiled.
A couple of conclusions can be drawn from Genesis 3. First, the death penalty that God pronounced upon Adam worked at more than one level. The sentence clearly involved more than the death of the body. The judgment of Genesis 3 weaves several concepts together. These include alienation from God, alienation between humans, the corruption... Continue Reading
Seven Letters Seven Dangers: The Doctrinaire Church
Remember your first love in the Lord Jesus. Return to him.
Let me ask you this, beloved church of God, when you speak the truth do people know that you love them? I do not mean do you say you love them. No, I mean do they sense your love? Can they feel your love? Can they feel a tenderness, a gentleness, a compassion in your... Continue Reading
The Color of Preaching
What we need is to return to a biblical theology of the church, right worship, and right preaching.
Strangely, for all the problems the New Testament addresses, it yet brings the people of God (culturally divided as they were) into one church to participate in one worship service to the one triune God. The gospel was the bridge that transcended barriers. What color is God? This is a strange question, but one... Continue Reading
The Pastoral Challenge of Ministering God’s Law and Gospel in Difficult Cases
In such cases, there are no easy paths forward.
I can assure you that when facing these kinds of pastoral challenges it is wonderful to have a team of elders with whom I can think, pray, study and minister. Left to myself, each of those cases would have been handled with far less wisdom and care than they warranted. A challenge every faithful... Continue Reading
Saved by Grace But Entertained by Sin
Am I communing comfortably with sin?
Jesus teaches against both the act of sin and the stirring up of our desire for sin. He goes further to say that the means by which such desires might be stirred (the eyes or the hand) should be cut off lest we stumble. When my entertainment puts sin on display so that it awakens... Continue Reading
My Great Ministry Dream
Making it to the end of your ministry still walking with and faithfully serving Christ is not something any pastor should ever take for granted.
I want to make it to the end of my ministry without falling into disqualifying sin. I want to make it to the end of my ministry still loving Jesus, still learning his Word, still committed to my family, still tender-hearted toward the church, still praying for and sharing the Gospel with lost souls, and... Continue Reading