You Are Not That Special
The glory of ordinary Christianity.
Consider Jesus. He is indeed the Father’s special Son. If anyone could plead special privilege, it would be the divine Son. And yet. And yet! He did not cling to his equality with God as a self-serving privilege or ask to be excused from the mission. He did not request a pass from poverty, suffering,... Continue Reading
The Gospel Matters
I am urging ministers and Christians alike to once again understand how much the Gospel Matters in our present circumstances and to proclaim it without reservation.
The Gospel Matters because without it no one is saved…neither Thomas Auld nor Frederick Douglass because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.[8] All need the sin forgiving God. But what does this mean for today? It means, the Gospel Matters. What is more, if the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of... Continue Reading
A Jeremiad
His providence is still at work, even when around us all we seem to see is evil. Evil will not have the last word. God will.
Must we not weep for the veil Satan has drawn over so many people’s eyes so they cannot see the spiritual warfare? What hope have we? We have the hope God gives us. God gives us hope that silenced voices are only silent on earth. They are not silent to God. The America... Continue Reading
The Priesthood of All Believers in the Face of Racism
We need the priestly intercession of our brothers and sisters in the household of God to boldly call out our sin and to graciously preach us the gospel.
Conditioned as we are by our culture, the desire for individualism is strong. We do not want to be responsible for anyone but ourselves, particularly not when it comes to sin. Yet, God clearly deals with people as nations in the Old Testament, as we see from the conquest of Canaan, the judgment of Edom... Continue Reading
Has Moral Fortitude Gone the Way of the Dinosaur?
Being prepared for challenging decisions.
We don’t automatically choose faithfulness to God in the face of insurmountable temptation simply because we are Christians. I suspect making the difficult choice is possible after a lifelong habit of yielding to the Spirit in smaller decisions. Then, when more challenging decisions come our way, we are prepared. Would you say you are... Continue Reading
Deepfaking DARVO
Deny, Attack, Reverse the Victim and the Offender
A man is revealed by the way he responds when the receipts are handed to him. These Christian leaders should be ashamed. They should be modeling repentance to us. Instead, they put the shame on the victims. Well, I’m not going to stay a victim. Steven Wedgeworth has posted an article claiming he has... Continue Reading
Tend Your Own Garden
Before I can hope to impact the world beyond my own front door, I have to impact the people under my own roof.
We live in a culture that seems to believe that tweets and hashtags will revolutionize society. I’m just old fashioned enough to believe that it may come a little differently. In fact, it in an age of social unrest and societal upheaval, the most revolutionary thing we can do might be to tend our own... Continue Reading
The One About Calvinism and Evangelism
Let’s prove through our own lives that our Calvinism gives us motive, gives us zeal, gives us passion for the salvation of the lost.
There is a difference between saying “Calvinist theology promotes evangelism” and “Calvinists actually evangelize.” There is a difference between saying “Calvinists have historically evangelized” and “Calvinists do evangelize right now.” After all, isn’t it possible that we may fail to live up to our theology? If you read enough blogs over a long enough... Continue Reading
Racism & Redemption
Racism is contrary to redemption.
The Father has children, beloved in elect Christ before the foundation of the world, who speak with different sounds from ours: if God-blood marks their forehead, then, on our part, it is ignorance and shame which leads us to despise them. Humility before men is the vocation to which we’ve been called – not to... Continue Reading
When Our Own Understanding Fails
Desperation to understand how and why God can bring good for His children out of loss and heartache is what made reading Psalm 131 so uncomfortable.
I don’t understand a lot of things. Some mornings I still wake up with a defensive spirit and an arrogant heart, but then I recall the words of Psalm 131, and rather than praying for immediate answers, I pray for a soul like that of the Psalmist. A heart not lifted up. Eyes not raised... Continue Reading