You Must Disappoint Someone
How to Say No to Good Things
How other people perceive us — or how we think they’ll perceive us — has an extraordinary influence on how we choose to use our time. Coming to terms with ways we seek people’s approval or fear their disapproval will force us to face humbling truths about ourselves and may require repentance and uncomfortable change.... Continue Reading
3 Reasons to Study the Trinity
As we meditate on the reality that our God is triune, we should be moved to worship God for who he is, we should be encouraged by his love, and we should recognize the very practical implications God’s triune nature has for our lives!
As we try to wrap our minds around this revealed truth, we run up against the limits of our finite minds. Try as we might, the being of God is not something we can totally understand because we are made by God, we aren’t God. Every analogy we come up with ultimately falls short of... Continue Reading
Getting the Garden Right: Vice Regency
In this brief post, we want to consider one facet of what it means to be made in the image of God.
Genesis 1 and 2 establishes that God is the high king and sovereign who created all things. When the picture in these chapters is contrasted with Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) creation accounts there is a polemic against idolatry. There is no struggle on God’s part to create; there is no overcoming the forces a chaos, or... Continue Reading
Why People and Place Matter in the Kingdom of God
The mission of the church is to bring people in union with a real King and into a real kingdom.
Christians sometimes disparage the material world. Although alterations to this view are making progress, at times physicality is still belittled. Yet the kingdom is never presented as an immaterial entity in the Scriptures. Recognizing the importance of people and place brings a groundedness to kingdom language. What Is a Kingdom? Why is it imperative... Continue Reading
It’s Not the Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone that Saves—It’s Christ Who Saves
It’s not the doctrine that saves; it’s Christ who saves.
Because the doctrine of justification by faith alone precludes the idea that you could be saved by believing other than believing in Christ alone. It’s not the doctrine that saves; it’s Christ who saves. And what the church is trying to explain in terms of the doctrine of justification by faith alone is to explain... Continue Reading
The Holiness of God and the Sinfulness of Man
One word that crystallizes the essence of the Christian faith is the word grace
“If we understand who God is, and catch a glimpse of His majesty, purity, and holiness, then we are instantly aware of the extent of our own corruption. When that happens, we fly to grace—because we recognize that there’s no way that we could ever stand before God apart from grace.” One word that... Continue Reading
God Needs Nothing. That’s Why He Can Love You
God is so great that he can love those who show him only hatred, evil, and contempt
“In the God of Scripture we find a Lord who is all-powerful and supremely good! This is good news for us, because a God who is great but not good is an all-powerful monster. A God who is good but not great cannot save us. Sadly, many people think they have to choose either/or, but... Continue Reading
The Repentance of a Sinning Saint (Warfield)
Here’s a great snippet of a great sermon by B. B. Warfield on Psalm 51
“David knew sin because he had touched the unclean thing and sounded the depths of iniquity. He knew himself because he had gone his own way and had learned through what thickets and morasses that pathway led, and what was its end. And he knew God, because he had tasted and seen that the Lord... Continue Reading
The Puritans on the Lord’s Supper (Pt. 3)
Some scholars say the Puritans became overly scholastic in their view of the Lord’s Supper
Holifield, for example, says that Puritan pastors performed the sacramental actions, “hoping that the service would thus convey doctrinal information.”[11] Contrasting the Puritan approach with Calvin’s approach, he says, “Calvin had been wary of overemphasizing the merely didactic possibilities of sacramental worship, but in Puritan circles the Lord’s Supper was unreservedly a vivid spectacle calling... Continue Reading
Prayer: Powerful Weakness
The call of the Christian life is to embrace weakness to find strength
“I believe the epitome of this powerful weakness is prayer. We are told to pray without ceasing (1 Thes. 5:17); to constantly cry out for help. That expression of weakness (prayer) taps us into the greatest, most constant, and most benevolent source of strength – God Himself.” What does it say about you when... Continue Reading