Is Hope a Blessing or a Curse?
It was believed by the Greeks that hope was the most pernicious of all evils because it prevented people from accepting their fate.
Hope isn’t an evil to be caged; it is a boon and blessing for citizens of heaven. Hope is the home language of the Christian, and we need to stay fluent if we want to be useful to the Lord in this life. According to Greek mythology, all evil is the fault of one... Continue Reading
Seven Letters Seven Dangers: Pride
Sinful pride shows itself in many ways.
Do you see, Theophilus, how pride can find its way into all manner of churches? And to what does this pride lead but divisions between those who ought to be united and to an ugliness that cannot attract unbelievers to Christ. Dear Theophilus, Greetings in Jesus’ name! May his grace abound to you through... Continue Reading
Worship in Spirit and Truth—Not Spirit or Truth
The truth we know and believe about God stands at the very heart of worship and separates the true and living God from worthless idols.
Just as the heart is engaged in worship, so must the mind be engaged. More than an intellectual comprehension of the truth about God, the mind is engaged in the worship of who God is, how God saved us, and why our lives should be consistently reflecting the glory of God. When Jesus passed... Continue Reading
You Don’t Know How You’ll Influence Someone
We can be unknown heroes, unsung influencers, for the glory of God.
We don’t know the myriads of causes and effects that will come from what we say and do. We don’t know the chains we’re linking in others. And even for us personally, we don’t know how our actions are forming ourselves to be different people a decade from now. Johann von Staupitz. Have you... Continue Reading
Canons Of Dort (29): The Reality Of Sin And Grace In The Christian Life
Even the elect are utterly dependent upon the grace of Christ (sola gratia) for our perseverance and for our preservation.
Our sins never turn the covenant of grace into a covenant of works. This is perhaps the greatest truth to learn here because this is the very lie that The Accuser uses to try to trap us in our sins, to try to convince us that God cannot and will not save such great sinners.... Continue Reading
Humble Confidence, Not Self-Love
Self-love over the love of God and neighbor is the problem both Moses and Jesus were correcting.
God’s love for us, and our reciprocal love for Him, should produce humble confidence in our lives. True humility produces security and courage, not insecurity and fearfulness. The preoccupation of self-love is a problem, not a solution. The solution is to humbly focus on loving God and neighbor, knowing you can do so because God... Continue Reading
The Faithfulness of God in Science
Modern deistic views differ radically from what the Bible depicts about God’s involvement.
Deism is built into the implicit framework that people assume and use when thinking about science. They interpret the process of causation as self-sufficient, ignoring the presence of God working all things according to his will (Eph. 1:11). They assume self-sufficiency rather than demonstrate it. By contrast, the person who genuinely believes that God is... Continue Reading
Do You Love the Lord or Are You Simply Being Religious?
Those who claim to be Christians, but exclude the brethren who are not ecumenical, political, or liberal enough fail this test.
With whom do we fellowship here? Is it all professing believers? No, it is those who are born of the same spirit as us. We can discern the apostasy and the disingenuousness in those who refuse to repent when they are confronted. No, that is not who John is talking about. We are to love... Continue Reading
How Does God’s Law Apply to Me?
We should ask why Christians don’t have a greater appreciation for God’s law.
For a Christian to say, “I once loved the law, but now I love Christ and ignore the law,” is simply not to love Christ, because Christ loved the law. His meat and His drink, the Scriptures tell us, was to do the will of the Father (John 4:34). Jesus viewed His entire life as... Continue Reading
Living on the Brink of Eternity: The Life of David Brainerd
God used David Brainerd’s diary to fan the flames of what we know today as the Modern Missions Movement.
Jonathan Edwards was impacted by the life and ministry of this young man who had only been a believer for eight years prior to his death. He took Brainerd’s diary and other personal writings and added his own commentary that he gleaned from his friendship with Brainerd. An Account of the life of the late... Continue Reading