Jesus in the Gospel of John – the Resurrection and the Life
This 7-part series explores John’s Gospel descriptors of Jesus as the Word, the Lamb of God, the Bread of life, the Light of the world, the good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, and the true Vine.
With everyone staring death in the face and smitten with grief, Jesus turns their eyes to Him and declares Himself to be death’s remedy. To validate His claim, almost as an object lesson, Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead, calling him by name to come to Him. With that call Jesus gave Lazarus the... Continue Reading
The State of Innocence
The image of God gives us a dignity that the animals do not have because we are a reflection of God.
We are uniquely made in God’s creation. We are able to have a personal relationship with God through communication and fellowship with Him. We are created to worship Him and to find our highest purpose in living our lives for His glory. It is important to understand that the world as it was first... Continue Reading
The Rationale for Wrath
Can you say that it is unjust for God to be angry with you?
Are you sure God loves everybody? John the Baptist didn’t think so. He said, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (Jn. 3:36). Why is God justified in having wrath toward you if... Continue Reading
5 Important Things We Can Learn about Repentance from Psalm 51
David felt the pain of his sins against Uriah and Bathsheba.
Psalm 51 is a psalm of repentance and one from which we can learn and even use to model our own confessions. When we feel the pain of conviction—a crushing weight that feels like broken bones—we can run to our Father and cry out to him in repentance. I broke my arm two years... Continue Reading
Word and Deed: The Church’s Mission
Just as loving words are to be found on the lips of God’s people, so too are loving deeds to be found in their hands.
God’s glory is displayed when the good news of His salvation is proclaimed and the good works of His people are carried out. Though they must never be confused with each other, ministries of both word and deed are essential to the ongoing work of God’s kingdom. Jesus announced the purpose of His incarnational... Continue Reading
What do we Fight in the Fight of Faith?
True Christianity is a struggle, a fight, and a warfare.
The principal fight of the Christian is with the world, the flesh, and the devil. These are his never-dying foes. These are the three chief enemies against whom he must wage war. Unless he gets the victory over these three, all other victories are useless and vain. The true Christian is called to be... Continue Reading
Polite Villains of the Universe
False teachers play the fiddles and songs the culture is already humming.
Nice blasphemy, spoken between stories of one’s family, is more popular and better received by some professed Christians than plainly spoken Christian truth about sin and unbelief. For some reason I always assumed false teaching would be unsophisticated, even crude. This speaker’s message, however, sounded like a skillfully painted sunny day at the ocean.... Continue Reading
The attractional church problem is nothing new, and neither is the solution.
We fool ourselves if we think the schism between ecclesiological models is somehow a uniquely modern dilemma.
the faithful preacher’s fight manifests in the temptation to add a dash of the sensational in his presentation of the gospel. To compromise his commitment to proclaiming Christ crucified by making it more fashionable. To jettison his engagement with the Infinite by settling on entertaining and enticing his congregants. In The Gospel-Driven Church, and... Continue Reading
From the Head to the Heart: The Motivation Behind Obedience
The doing of the Word completes the hearing of the Word.
In order to be faithful doers of the Word, we need to think more deeply about the biblical nature of ethical instruction and how to cross the bridge from hearing to doing. Recognizing the bridge that connects our listening and acting will help those of us who read the Bible daily, listen to sermons weekly... Continue Reading
Why Did Jesus Use Animal Metaphors to Prepare His Disciples for the Mission of God?
Jesus spent much time reading the book of nature.
Jesus could point to a simple flower in order to explain to his disciples the mystery of God’s providential care and provision for them (Luke 12:27). Some of Christ’s most impactful illustrations came from the agrarian culture in which he lived and traveled. He expended prolonged periods of mental energy meditating on the birds of... Continue Reading