Tried With Fire: On the Shelf
"They also serve who only stand and wait.”
No one looks forward to body and mind decaying. Nobody wishes for a falsely-ruined reputation. No believer wants to be useless to God. Some have even preferred to take their own lives rather than to submit to what they viewed as a futile existence. All of which raises an important question: is it even possible... Continue Reading
When We Shop to Find Fulfillment
If we shop to fill an emptiness in our lives, when we consume, we are the ones being consumed.
It is no wonder people are empty. Even Christians swimming in these waters are bound to take their eyes off Jesus and put them on the waves from time to time. When we do that, we know what happens; we start to sink. There is so much emptiness to go around that many marketers appeal... Continue Reading
Let’s Stop Giving Gospel-Less Counsel
The law and behavior modification can’t save us from sin. We need the gospel for true change.
What kind of counselors will we be? Will we only give law and behavior modification in an attempt to uproot bad propensities? Will we send our brothers and sisters in Christ into deep self-examination to dwell on their wretchedness and dig up all their sins on their own? Or will we point our friends to... Continue Reading
Personal Holiness
Only the Spirit-led are seeking to live holy lives.
Holiness is the hallmark of the Spirit-led believer. This attribute will lead to persecution. Why? The holy believer is in the World, but is not part of it. They do not conform to it in any way. The holy believer’s righteousness confronts the lost with the uncompromising message of the Gospel. It also flies in... Continue Reading
Is It True That God Blesses Those Who Bless Israel and Curses Those Who Curse Israel?
Who is the Israel of God?
God is going to bless those who bless Abraham, which means He is going to bless those who bless Israel. And this promise was never withdrawn. It must come to pass, which means it is still in force today. But does the Israel of God exist today? One of the first promises in the... Continue Reading
Five Encouraging Truths Regarding Predestination
Why is it that so many professing Christians and church leaders approach predestination from a negative perspective?
To connect the inability of man with the predetermined plan of God found in texts like Ephesians 1 and Romans 8, points to the fact that Jesus’ death was successful from eternity past to eternity future and that every last one of his people would be saved. That’s why the angel said to Joseph in... Continue Reading
Men: Pursue Others Like Jesus Pursues You
Too often we are silent when we know of someone’s trouble. Silence is the same as turning away.
The extroverts among us seem to make it look easy. The more shy might be intimidated by potential awkwardness or silence. But loving pursuit is neither easy nor natural to anyone. All of us need both humility and help from Scripture in order to navigate the early stages of a helpful conversation. Following Jesus’s... Continue Reading
The Gospel Is The Power Of God For Salvation Conforming the Hearts of Believers To Christ
The power of God for salvation: Christ not only propitiates the wrath of God in our justification but He shattered the power of sin and death to enslave us.
The operative pattern for the Christian is to understand that corruption still exists but that we are now united to Christ. We have died with Christ and risen again in new life. The flesh still operates and entices us but we need to be on-guard and hate it. We need to be killing it. It... Continue Reading
Should Christians Practice Lent?
The tradition of Lent grew out of a fundamental misunderstanding and misapplication of Christ’s forty-day fast in the wilderness before being tempted by the devil.
Lent as we know it today did not arise out of this biblical understanding of fasting. Rather, Lent came about as a superstitious misunderstanding both of the purpose of fasting in general and the purpose of Christ’s forty-day fast in the wilderness in particular. As a result, Calvin correctly summarizes, “the superstitious observance of Lent... Continue Reading
Cessationism in a Nutshell
This particular issue is not insignificant, which is why it provokes so much debate.
The term cessationism is typically used in theology with reference to the belief that the practice of miraculous spiritual gifts ceased at the end of the time of the apostles. In contrast, the term continuationism is used with reference to the belief that the practice of miraculous spiritual gifts continue to be practiced today. Of all the posts that I’ve put on... Continue Reading