Dwelling on Death
The promise of Christ about death is the resurrection.
Run hard in this life. As it did for Paul, life now means the continuing opportunities of fruitful labor for the joy and progress in the faith of others to the glory of God (Phil. 1:22, 25-26). The worldly view would have you toiling now to enjoy only this life because if this is all... Continue Reading
Dying Is Gain
In death, we’re home, so it’s gain.
Our hope as we anticipate old age or sickness is not mainly a hope for healing (though God can and does decide to physically heal), but it’s a superior hope: a hope that this is the very verb, the very action, the very sovereign doing of God, which leads us home. “To depart and be with... Continue Reading
Gratefulness and God’s Sovereign Goodness
Ingratitude is not just a failure in manners. It is a sin against the God who did not spare even His own Son but delivered Him up for us all.
As we grow in Christian experience and in our knowledge of Scripture, we discover that God’s nature and daily practice are to lavish His goodness on His people, covering every area of life. His grace and power are more than sufficient to supply what is good for us, both spiritually and materially. No wonder we... Continue Reading
How Jesus’ Parables Expose Our Self-Centeredness
If we look back at Luke 15, the greater focus is not necessarily on the objects, but on the one seeking those objects.
Here was a young man who disrespected and dishonored his father only to have his father joyously welcome him back into the family when he came home. It is a good point. These objects – be they a sheep, a coin, or even a son – are valuable because of the value placed on them... Continue Reading
The Importance of Doctrine
the Bible is the tangible result of the "Meaning Giver" explaining foundational truths to the "meaning makers" he created.
Every person who has ever lived exists in desperate need of the unfolded mysteries that make up the content of Scripture. Without it, we wouldn’t know how to think about life. We wouldn’t know for sure if what we knew was true, and we wouldn’t know if what we thought we knew was good and... Continue Reading
10 Things We Learn from the Ten Commandments
Scripture assures us with the gospel that God has sent his one and only Son to keep the Ten Commandments for us.
Even though we can’t keep all of these rules, Jesus has kept the law—all of it—for us by living a perfect, holy, righteous, obedient life. He never broke a commandment—not for a second—not even once. The root of true spirituality lies not in our keeping of these commandments but rather in putting our trust, our faith,... Continue Reading
The Happiest Saints in History
Augustine, Calvin, Edwards, and You
The story of the saints down through history is a story of joy lost and found, of glory smothered and shining. From the church fathers to the Reformation to our own century, we learn that true and deep joy grows dim whenever God’s glory is eclipsed. But when God’s glory shines, then the saints sing... Continue Reading
Listening to His Law
When pastors, elders, family-fathers, teachers, and city-fathers abdicate their paternal responsibility, a culture declines to emotionalism, chaos, and banality.
The aim of this three-part series has been to outline biblical education as enculturation, with a focus on the role of fathers. To succeed in shaping a culture and impressing it on future generations, education as paideia requires the attentive, firm, imaginative presence of fathers. As subcreators, tasked with extending dominion in the form... Continue Reading
Millennials, Gen Xers to baby boomers: Can you retire so I can get a job promotion?
There’s a multigenerational traffic jam on the upper rungs of America’s career ladder.
Forty-one percent of millennials—and 30% of all adults—said they’ve found it difficult to move up in their fields because boomers are waiting longer to retire, according to a USA TODAY/LinkedIn survey of 1,019 working professionals in September. As more baby boomers put off retirement, millennials and Gen Xers are finding it harder to move up... Continue Reading
Saint Augustine on Kanye West
Augustine explains why we rejoice differently at the conversion of a celebrity.
We rejoice at the conversion of a Kanye or any celebrity because it is a particular manifestation of God’s mercy. Hollywood seems impregnable to the gospel. These conversions remind us that it isn’t. Kanye West says he’s a born again Christian. He says he’s going to be spreading the gospel. His Sunday Service concerts feature... Continue Reading