“Reading has always been at the core of human scholarly pursuits. Indeed, the ancient and long-standing view of a scholar has been one who has the ability to read (not necessarily speak) in multiple languages and synthesize this reading accurately. On more than one occasion Jesus criticized the official and unofficial leaders of God’s people... Continue Reading

“We need principles that are absolute and normative; otherwise, the decisions we make will be arbitrary, and we’ll have no basis for distinguishing right decisions from wrong decisions. Our human-enacted laws can be helpful, but they can never provide absolute norms.”   Every so often, I run across a news story that’s emblematic of our... Continue Reading

We are saved by Christ alone. We are saved by his faithfulness and not ours. Now, let us pray for more faith. Let us pray for more faithfulness. Let us grow in faith and faithfulness, for these are fruits of the Holy Spirit. But never let us confuse our faithfulness with the faithfulness of our... Continue Reading

Furthermore, grumblers are neither persuasive nor appealing when they share their faith. In fact, they rarely share their faith at all. It’s hard to joyfully and consistently proclaim the gospel when all you do is complain about your mission field. Murmuring does not further God’s mission. What if the biggest danger ahead for Christians today... Continue Reading

“It is imperative that we realize our complete dependence upon the Holy Spirit.  We must not forget, of course, that our activity is enlisted to the fullest extent in the process of sanctification.  But we must not rely upon our own strength of resolution or purpose.  It is when we are weak that we are... Continue Reading

“Peace” is just one of the options by which we may translate the term shalom when we encounter it.  Sometimes, it is entirely a matter of opinion whether peace, wholeness, welfare, well-being, or all of the above are being conveyed in any instance where the word is used.  And yes, some of the extended meanings of the shalom root... Continue Reading

“We have been adopted by the Lord as children with this understanding—that in our lives we should mirror Christ who is the bond of our adoption. And truly, unless we are devoted—even addicted—to righteousness, we will faithlessly abandon our Creator and disown Him as our Savior.”   There are two main parts to the instruction from... Continue Reading

One such area where it is crucial to spot and deal with spin is how we talk and think about sin. Sometimes we think and speak of sin in relativized terms. For example, we may speak of our bad attitudes, selfishness or anger as personal defects that are expected and even accepted. We spin sin by saying or thinking things like, “I am a sinner” or “I’m not perfect” or “I know I really should do (fill in the blank)…” These are all true but they are often relativized and therefore declawed. And, to make matters worse, when we do say things like this often our Christian brothers and sisters affirm us with nods. The danger of this is it produces a culture where sin is not really a big deal.

Second, the preacher only has the authority to bind the conscience where Scripture binds the conscience. Not only must the preacher stick to the Word of God, he cannot go beyond what is written when he corrects, reproves, and rebukes. The preacher must draw conclusions that are both good and necessary. For example, he can say with Biblical authority that it is sin to look at internet pornography even when there is no concept of the internet in Scripture. However, he cannot say with Biblical authority that one should never go to movies even if some movies are questionable or sinful. The authority from the pulpit must be tied to the Scriptures.

Come what may, your identity is secure in Christ. And so is your child’s. When I say your identity, I’m talking about the qualities that distinguish your value as a person. What makes you valuable? What makes your child valuable? How do you define your own worth to humanity? How do you define your child’s? The world projects onto us the need as parents to give our children every opportunity to be great in all of the things. But when we take that responsibility on ourselves, we project it onto our children as well. In that paradigm, their self-worth and self-identity will come from how well they measure up and move past classmates and peers. Trained by the pressures from their parents, they find their identity by how they COMPARE to others. But the Bible gives a sobering assessment of that mentality – “they that compare themselves among themselves, are not wise” (2 Cor. 10:12).