Sharpen Your Axe!
Wisdom, rightly understood, is the acknowledgement of God’s existence and the willingness to cede to his authority.
The wise person is not the one who has accumulated lots of facts and can destroy everyone else at Jeopardy, but the one who has submitted himself to the will of God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” No wonder then that elsewhere Solomon says: “The beginning of wisdom is this:... Continue Reading
The Most Dangerous Place to Live
The Subtle Perils of the Past
God does not mean for our hearts to live in yesterday. He gives us fresh mercies each day to enjoy (Lamentations 3:22–23). But passing these, we can travel back in our minds to relive that season’s happiness. Yesterday, hopes were high and life was worth living. Today proves too disappointing. So, with glazed eyes and... Continue Reading
Jesus Is Lord. Period.
We’re rendering unto Caesar too much time and attention.
The apologetics potential in opposing Trump (or supporting him) is too easily exaggerated in our minds. Scripture promises that Christian unity will point the world to Jesus (John 17:21) and that good works will prompt non-Christians to glorify God (Matt. 5:16, 1 Pet. 2:12). It doesn’t indicate that our voting record can be the 21st-century... Continue Reading
The Hard Apprenticeship of Sorrow
Depression is a deeply damaging and oft times deadly malady.
I have never required hospitalization for depression or received a diagnosis. But most days I walk about with what I refer to as my dark or stubborn shadow. He sits on my shoulder and whispers destructive and damaging things in my ear. That is a typical day. And then there are the days when that... Continue Reading
How Should We Benefit From Communion?
In this brief article I would like to try and answer the question by highlighting an often-neglected aspect of the Lord's Supper: its corporate and covenantal character.
We too easily—and unbiblically—think of the Christian life in personal, singular categories. I do not mean for one moment that the Christian faith is not personal, or that there is no such thing as individual faith. Yet God’s people are one, and salvation brings us into the one Body of Christ, His Church (1 Cor.... Continue Reading
In Praise of Heavy Providences
The Bible is full of reminders about how, in the call of God, things will be difficult rather than easy, complex rather than simple, strenuous rather than leisurely.
God brings into our lives “heavy providences” as a means of nurturing in us “God remembrance.” I call these circumstances “providences” because it’s God who brings them. I call them “heavy” because, well, that’s what they are—circumstances that are not easy and call for a deep dependence on God for His strength to endure. It... Continue Reading
The Purest Act of Pleasure
Why God Delights in Election
God will set his unstoppable love on sin-blind sinners, and this was his plan from eternity past. Depraved souls stuck in the unceasing cycle of sin and death will be the objects of his boundless love (Ephesians 1:3–23), a reality that speaks not to the merit of the sinner but to the magnificence of God’s... Continue Reading
Jumping the Shark and the Trajectory of Sin
The slow, degradation of characters is actually a microcosm showing us the trajectory of sin.
Sin always promises to taste good, and there’s some truth in its promise. Eve saw that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil “was good for food . . . a delight to the eyes, and . . . to be desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6). Yet, what looked good and... Continue Reading
“For the Sake of the Gospel”—The Apologetic Speeches of the Apostle Paul in the Book of Acts (Part One)
I think it important to have a biblically based and carefully honed apologetic methodology in place before confronting both the learned and not so learned paganism of our age.
It is from Luke’s record of the ever-extending reign of the risen and exalted Christ, that we are given a clear picture of how the Apostle Paul sought both to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and defend the Christian truth claim (2). Paul does so not only in the synagogues of the major cities... Continue Reading
The Smallest Stage
The drums and trumpets resound in our hearts and the magnetic pull of the larger, public stage draws us away from the glory of God in the smaller, secret stage.
There is both fruitfulness and sinful desire in our engagement on the larger, public stage of vocation and opportunity. Some desires are driven by God-glorifying desire. Other passions are propelled by a vain attempt to soothe our souls with what will ultimately leave us unsatisfied. Therefore, if we are to navigate these various stages in... Continue Reading