Borrowed, Not Possessed
How different would our parenting be if we sought to align ourselves with Hannah’s prayer and God’s desires?
Now of course, Samuel is a little bit different from Junior and Sally. He was one of God’s anointed prophets. He did some big stuff to move the Kingdom football down the field. However, the principle still remains—our covenant children are not ours, they are his. The best we might be able to say is... Continue Reading
Covenant, Free Will, and Apologetics
If there is to be any reconciliation with God, He must move towards us, before we could possibly think of moving towards Him.
Covenantally. if our righteousness originally required perfect and continuous obedience, then one offense shatters the whole, because there is no room, time, or act that can make up for the offense. If you are to always to be right with God, then there is no “down time” by which you could say you wanted to... Continue Reading
The Sovereign Regenerating Spirit
Who is the agent of regeneration who brings us from spiritual death to spiritual life?
“John 3:5–6 explains that the Holy Spirit does this work, but this does not mean that the Holy Spirit acts all by Himself in regeneration. The external acts of God—that which He does in and for creation—are undivided, so the Father and the Son are active in the regeneration of sinners as well.” “God,... Continue Reading
Stop Bowing to the God of Busyness
When people like me meet the God of rest, we have a problem
“To fall into the trap of perpetual busyness is to confuse the God of the Bible with the god of this world. They’re not the same. The story of the exodus and the triumph of the cross prove as much. The god of this world and the God of the Bible speak differently to our... Continue Reading
True Love: A Funeral Sermon for a Friend
Death does not stop God’s love for those who are in Christ Jesus
“Death fills us with tremendous sorrow and grief. And rightfully so, because death is our enemy (1 Cor. 15:26). We may try and convince ourselves that death is natural or just the way things are. But we know better, don’t we? The grief and sorrow tell us that this is not the way it is... Continue Reading
Are Claims of Supernatural Experience Really That Harmful?
In churches where these claims are celebrated, more people jump on the bandwagon
“When a person claims an experience—especially if they want me to act on it—they expect me to trust them, their honesty, their infallibility. This is an unreasonable expectation, which demands authentication. That’s why Jesus enabled his apostles to do miracles; their supernatural power provided credibility when they made claims of supernatural authority.” Previously I... Continue Reading
Be Content with What You Have
The seed of unnecessary fear in the heart of a Christian is forgetfulness — an inability to remember and trust what the God of the universe has said and done.
No one has ever had any grounds to accuse God of not following through on his word. Not even one phrase in any sentence in any statement he has ever made has failed (Joshua 21:45). We will only be truly content with what we have when we know that we have him. And we will... Continue Reading
The Theater of Glory
The signature of God’s creative genius is openly manifest from the Milky Way to the millipede.
Those who deny the existence of God on the basis of insufficient evidence should stop and look around. The fingerprints of God are everywhere. Only a fool denies it (see Ps. 14:1). Creation leaves mankind without excuse. In addition to holding mankind accountable, God’s creation stirs up wonder, love, and praise in the hearts of... Continue Reading
Clarifying Scripture’s Perspicuity: A Look at the New Testament
Jesus believed Scripture could be understood and that any misunderstanding on the part of the listener was not due to Scripture’s obscurity, but on some spiritual defect in the person or group.
Common to Jesus’s interaction with the religious leaders was his rebuke, “Have you not read?” (Mt 12:3, 5; 19:4; 22:31; Mk 12:10, 26). The effect of Jesus’ question is grounded in the understandability of Scripture. The New Testament attests to its own perspicuity, even in passages thought of as more difficult to interpret, like Matthew... Continue Reading
Transformed Somethin’…
God expects all of us, men and women alike, to use our talents for the kingdom of God, whatever those talents might be (Matthew 25).
I would like to remind you all that neither Jesus, nor Paul, nor any of the apostles thought that women couldn’t go to college or have a career. Very briefly, with little comment, here are some women who were educated beyond high school. It’s almost as if they are image bearers of God, and have... Continue Reading