Lament: A Missing Practice
There is a practice of biblical praying that is missing, and without it, I believe Christian praying can become unreal and pastorally unhelpful
“What difference would it make to our own prayer life and our church life if we heard prayers of lament when something awful happens to a congregation member, or to the local community, or to the wider society? Christian realism requires no less.” Early in my Christian life I was taught an acronym to... Continue Reading
How To Sing Psalms That Are Not True for You
Here are six ways that we can sing psalms that do not reflect our present reality
Those of us who are psalm singers are often faced with the problem of singing worship songs which are not true to our own experience. For example, there are many psalms which speak of suffering, poverty, oppression, and persecution. How can we sing them when we are going through times of joy, peace, and even... Continue Reading
Confessional Boundary Stones
Consider these ways that the historic confessions that have endured through centuries can bring peace and prosperity to the church.
Confessions keep us from repeating mistakes. Many of the creeds of the church arise out of controversy. Erroneous preachers, heretics, and popes have declared teachings that simply are not true and, in response, the faithful met together to articulate truth to bring greater light to the gospel. So often theological controversies that arise in our day... Continue Reading
The Humbled Leader
Jesus sustains us through the difficulties and buffetings of sin and Satan.
In your dark saga there is good news. I overheard another conversation yesterday. It was between the Father and the Son. Jesus, the friend of sinners, the friend that sticks closer than a brother, your faithful high priest, he prayed for you. Though you were faithless, he remained faithful in his affection for you. And he boldly interceded that through it... Continue Reading
10 Things You Should Know About Union With Christ
Our union with Christ is profoundly real and intensely intimate
Union with Christ is not a sentiment, metaphor or illustration, or even primarily a “doctrine”. Nor is it a way of speaking about something else—whether justification, sanctification, or any other benefit of Christ (even if it includes all of these and more!). Our union with the living Christ is the essential truth of our new... Continue Reading
The Covenant With Abraham: Blessing The Nations
God’s promises to Abraham are inseparable from the biblical understanding of God’s mission for the church.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant. The Seed of Abraham delivers God’s grace and mercy to Israel and to the Gentiles, that is, the nations of the world. Jesus brings the blessings of the covenant to the family of nations through the global mandate given through the gospel to the Church. Following... Continue Reading
Jesus Loves Me, This I Know…
In recent years, myriads of books have been written to seek to convince men --and particularly women-- of the love of Christ. Jesus Calling is one such example.
The quest for a subjective experience of the love of Christ apart from Scripture also often comes in the form of superstitious readings of nature or providence. One sees a rainbow or a beautiful sunset and thinks, “This is a sign of God’s love for me.” Someone narrowly escapes a near-death incident and thinks, “Now... Continue Reading
Therapeutic Praise
The ancient Psalms are experiencing somewhat of a revival in various places. Why?
Some Christian songs are emotionally stirring, but have little theological content; the heart is engaged, but not the mind. Over-reacting to this, some have composed songs that are full of theological facts, but don’t engage the worshipper’s feelings. They are more like sung sermons. The Psalms strike an inspired balance of doxological theology and theological... Continue Reading
The Necessity of a Divine Mediator
Why is it important for Jesus to be God? Without this being his identity, you would have no Savior.
Finally, our mediator needs to be divine so “that he might…bring [us] to everlasting salvation” (Q&A 38). His divinity has sustained the wrath of God against him because of our sins. His divinity gave infinite value to his work on our behalf. His divinity has satisfied God’s eternal justice against our sins. His divinity has... Continue Reading
Prey to Being Positive?
At risk of being ‘jaundiced against joy’, I’ve often remarked how the ‘positivity police’ who cry ‘stop being negative’, are often among the most negative people I know.
If I’m now in danger of being too negative, never preach heaven if you do not warn of hell. Never preach blessing unless you threaten curse. Don’t omit wrath when you assure ‘no condemnation’. I hope I’m not guilty of overstating the case. If anything, I think, the opposite is true. The sparkling Gospel diamond... Continue Reading