A Proverb for Social Media
Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips. Proverbs 27:2
“Self-seeking is a shameful blot upon Christian profession. Shall one that has said before God, ‘Behold, I am vile!’ be ready to say before his fellow-men, ‘Come, see my zeal for the Lord! Come, see how humble I am!’ Oh for the self-abased spirit of our glorious Master – ever ready to endure reproach, never... Continue Reading
Attending the School of God
We live in a culture that is a quick and dirty culture. We want to become mature Christians in five easy lessons.
Attending the school of God takes time and labor and energy and deeply committing oneself to prayer, to the study of Scripture, to fellowship with other believers, to ministry within the life of the church. We need to listen to Paul: “When I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in... Continue Reading
The Sweet Tea of Marriage
When you receive the fresh love of the Gospel from Christ and not your sinful spouse, you’re not angry when she can’t fulfill you.
At Texas Roadhouse, a shortage in sweet tea is a problem. Waiters or waitresses who would hoard the last pitcher of sweet tea for themselves were often despised, however, those who simply took the time to brew another pot were praised and respected. During a shortage of sweet tea, the ultimate problem wasn’t the empty... Continue Reading
What If God Takes It All Away? Trusting Him Through Financial Struggles
Although God commands us to live wisely with what he entrusts us with, he ultimately asks us to trust him above all else, no matter the cost.
God led us to a place where there was no other option but to let go of all we had saved, planned, and worked hard for. Within a few short months, my husband took a new job that brought significantly less income (but allowed him to be home more often). We sold our dream home,... Continue Reading
Doctrine Matters: Imputation
For decades as a Christian, I was taught and believed that Jesus got me in the door, but the rest was up to me. This was terrifying.
God takes my sin and places it on the righteous, holy, perfect Lamb of God and expends His wrath upon the Him. But if the story ended there, my sins would have been dealt with, but what about my life? What about God’s just requirement that we be holy as He is holy? He takes... Continue Reading
Sip It, Don’t Dip It
Rightly administering the Lord's Supper is one of the marks of a true church.
Some will no doubt believe I am spending too much time on too trivial a matter; but, in my estimation, this is an important matter to which we should give serious consideration. Should a church’s partaking of the bread and the cup in the Lord’s Supper keep the elements separate (eating and then drinking), or... Continue Reading
The One Genuine Cure for Legalism and Antinomianism
God’s grace in Christ in our union with Christ is the antidote to both legalism and antinomianism.
We are not related to the law directly as it were, or the law in isolation as bare commandments. The relationship is dependent on and the new fruit of our prior relationship to Christ. In simple terms, just as Adam received the law from the Father, from whose hand it should never have been abstracted... Continue Reading
Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged By Your Own Crippling Standard
It’s one of the most misused, misquoted, misunderstood verses in the Bible.
Compassionate judgment seeks to stay faithful to Scripture while also truly loving the person who struggles. It strives to identify the speck in someone else’s eye while simultaneously trying to rip the log out of my own. Jesus didn’t say, “Judge not lest ye be judged,” in order to make us meek and mild people who... Continue Reading
What Is Semi-Pelagianism?
Semi-Pelagianism results in a rejection of God’s grace in favor of man’s innate goodness, however small a spark of goodness it is.
Semi-Pelagianism took a middle-of-the-road approach to depravity; we are depraved, but not totally so. Semi-Pelagianism allows that humanity is tainted by sin, but not to the extent that we cannot cooperate with God’s grace on our own. Semi-Pelagianism is, in essence, partial depravity as opposed to total depravity. We are sinful, but we can still... Continue Reading
Glorification
The Bible looks to a final chapter in the story of redemption called "glorification"
“If you’re a Christian, your death won’t be the end of your story. You will pass into the presence of God, and you will know complete peace and joy, but that still will not be the end. The story only truly ends when Christ’s Easter resurrection victory is fully experienced by all of creation, both... Continue Reading