Two Things Pastors Must Do Before Leading
Sheep will let you lead them if you first love and feed them.
Hungry sheep are never happy sheep, so make sure their souls are full from your preaching or teaching. Soon after his restoration, Peter and his comrades would face the challenge of prioritizing their prayer and preaching ministry (Acts 6:4 ). Immediate ministry demands distracted them from their preparations which led to the spiritual and numerical... Continue Reading
Should I Rejoice When My Enemy Falls, Or Not?
In every instance where we have examples of rejoicing over the downfall of an enemy what you see is actually more of a rejoicing in God’s deliverance than exulting in the fall of the enemy.
The human heart is a slippery thing. Our rejoicing over the deliverance of God and the display of God’s character and justice can so quickly morph into something unbecoming a saint of God. We can start rejoicing at their fall instead of rejoicing in God’s deliverance and His character being displayed. And we can think... Continue Reading
The Big Picture Jesus
Four reasons to study the Big Picture of both Testaments.
Third, the Big Picture builds confidence in God’s Sovereignty. The more you see the big all-encompassing and unchanging redemptive plan of God, the more you will trust in God’s sovereignty. When you see that no event was accidental, that every event was planned and part of the preparation for the Christ, that God has only... Continue Reading
Encourage One Another
Our words to one another about one another not only describe reality. They also create reality.
Why do you speak the way you do? What is the aroma of your words? Are you spraying bullets, forgetting God has set down the gun rightly aimed at you? Do you speak to others the way you wish to be spoken to? What kind of speech has given you life as you consider meaningful... Continue Reading
Lot’s Wife—a Woman to Be Remembered
Who was this woman who lived nearly 2,000 years before Christ and why does He want us to remember her?
“Remember Lot’s wife”. The Bible warns that Christ will return when we least expect it. And even if He doesn’t return in our lifetime, we could die before the day is over. (Luke 12:20). Lest we find ourselves among the self-deceived who are banking on our religiosity to save us, we must consider the gravity... Continue Reading
A Case for Christian Magnanimity
Pastors, parents, politicians, pundits, internet pugilists–where can we show the sort of Christian magnanimity our world needs but rarely displays?
The magnanimous person is the one who does not bear petty grudges, does not wallow in self-pity, does not demand penance, does not advertise his suffering, and does not stoop to settle every score. In an age where everyone is scrambling to be more aggrieved than everyone else, where we think nothing of retweeting praise... Continue Reading
The Worth of the Weak
A few brief thoughts on why God has designed the church with the strong & the weak.
It is in having to reconcile our difficulties, agree to disagree, refuse to insist on our own way, attempt to create space for brothers to breathe, determinedly insist upon others right to conscientiously object, that we learn the true value of brothers & sisters for whom the Father gave His Son, and for whom Jesus... Continue Reading
Real Evangelism Is Trinitarian
The Trinity is the doctrine you get when you come to know God in the face of Christ
“In Trinitarian evangelism, then, the God we proclaim is the Father of Jesus who has eternally loved his Son (John 17:24). And this eternal Son is filled with the very life and love of God—the eternal Spirit (John 3:34ff). He joins the children of Adam in his incarnation and, through his cross, reconciles hell-bound sinners to his... Continue Reading
I Believe in the (Cryogenic) Resurrection of the Dead
Isn’t it tragic that the very thing this girl was longing for was exactly what is being held out in the gospel?
Why pin your hopes of life on the remote possibility of resuscitation in a world changed out of all recognition hundreds of years from now, when all the people and things you know and love are gone, to stumble on for a few more years before eventually succumbing to death in the end, when the... Continue Reading
The Eat, Pray, Love Life Isn’t the Fulfilling Life
Jesus claims sole rights over fulfillment and he offers it on his own terms.
Whether it was your dream to have children or not, when you find yourself wiping bottoms and losing sleep and drying tears and skipping showers and meals, you don’t feel personally fulfilled. That would be crazy. From a strictly “fulfillment” perspective, there are plenty of things I’d rather do than raise these 4 little people... Continue Reading