Pain is God’s reminder to men who are under original sin, the sin & misery of Adam, and of their own responsibility have participated in it, that Christ has come to deal with the fundamental problem of evil, which is sin. He has overcome the Evil One, the Devil, in His victory on the cross... Continue Reading

The most significant danger in evangelical churches is not ritualism but sentimentality. When Advent devolves into warm feelings, nostalgic stories, and cultural coziness, it loses its theological weight. The biblical themes of longing, judgment, promise, and hope are replaced with the generic “holiday spirit.” A biblical Advent draws from books such as Isaiah, Micah, Luke,... Continue Reading

They called Him Savior. Lord. Christ. And down on earth, an unborn prophet leaped in the womb. Old men and old women prophesied again. Magi set out from foreign lands, reading the sky like Scripture. Heaven and earth both testified: God had arrived. In flesh.   1 Timothy 3:16 — “And without controversy, great is... Continue Reading

When justification is confused with sanctification, assurance dies. The believer will always wonder whether they have “done enough,” repented enough, changed enough, or felt enough. When the gospel becomes a treadmill instead of a foundation, the soul collapses into exhaustion and despair. But when justification is seen as complete in Christ, assurance returns. The ground... Continue Reading

The Church doesn’t survive by being pleasant. It doesn’t grow by being inoffensive. It doesn’t faithfully represent Christ by avoiding controversy. Throughout church history, the moments of greatest faithfulness have been the moments of greatest testing: When courage was demanded, Christians stood firmly on Scripture at the exact time when culture demanded compromise or death.... Continue Reading

To name someone – or even an animal – is close to what we mean by acknowledging them as a person. Naming is an ethical thing, that is to say. To reduce someone to merely a number is deeply dehumanising of them. A noun can also be a common or generic noun. A noun like... Continue Reading

When Christ came, the soil of history burst open. The Father planted His Word in the world and let that Word walk dusty roads, bear our sorrows, and carry our sins. The seed of heaven went down into death and rose in power, and every believer grows from that same life.   Galatians 4:4-5 Time... Continue Reading

“Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another” (Rom. 15:14).   “warn… comfort… uphold… be patient” (1 Thess. 5:14, NKJV) In some churches it seems like the pastor is the doer of ministry, at least the important... Continue Reading

This calling requires a combat mindset. We are at war, not chiefly with flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers and deceit that oppose Christ (Eph 6:10–13; 2 Cor 10:3–5; 1 Pet 5:8–9). If a man forgets that life is fought on a battlefield, he will drop his guard and fall hard.   It certainly... Continue Reading

When you are presented with the truth of Christ’s birth, God’s declaration of who he is, the testimony of his miracles and ministry, and his own self-testimony, you cannot be neutral about Jesus. The Fault Line of Jesus When Mary and Joseph took young Jesus to the temple, they didn’t know that Simeon, a righteous... Continue Reading