God wants you to build your identity on the essentials of his identity and his Word. If you try to use your experience to start digging up that foundation, you’ll be destroying your identity, not building it. When you begin to see certain essentials (such as your sex, gender, ethnicity, and dependence on God) as... Continue Reading

Matthew’s Gospel shows us how Jesus wielded the Spirit’s sword against Satan….Jesus deftly sliced through the mass of falsehood. In every temptation, He responded with, “It is written.”   Every day we are faced with attacks that come in the form of bamboozling tangles of truth and lies. Statements from the Bible serve like a... Continue Reading

We must pursue a renewed understanding of clothing. We should feel shame in revealing our nakedness outside the marriage bed. We should not shy away from the daily reminder of sin and refuse to follow the world’s attempt to rebelliously get rid of it.   “When I see what you’re wearing, your theology is showing.”[1]... Continue Reading

In all of life, we are not building our own kingdoms but are seeking to be faithful in God’s. We serve at the pleasure of our God and King; He makes our labors fruitful, and thanks to the resurrection of Jesus, nothing we do in His service will be in vain (Psalm 127:1; 1 Corinthians 15:58).  ... Continue Reading

“For you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and hills before you will break forth in singing, and the trees of the of the field shall clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12).”  These words were originally spoken to a nation whose guilt had led them into exile in Babylon.  But God had... Continue Reading

There’s a joy buried in every season of uncertainty, even on battlefields. That’s why Paul can say “Rejoice in the Lord always” — and then repeat himself: “again I will say, rejoice.”   To commemorate the republication of John Piper’s book Desiring God, we are releasing eight articles under the theme “Desiring God in the... Continue Reading

Think of this! All the impurity and sin that clings to us in this life, that we despise and detest, that hurts us and our families and those around us … all will be gone. We will be completely pure and holy. But we will take no personal pride in this holiness because it has... Continue Reading

We are quick to obsess over temporal safety and slow to cling to eternal security. We cheer political leaders who protect our borders, but yawn at the Christ who secured our eternity. We demand security on earth but neglect the security of heaven. That imbalance reveals our idolatry.   The phone buzzes at midnight. It’s... Continue Reading

For many centuries, children have been trained in voice and instruments through religious music. If a child is learning an instrument or singing, use hymns of the faith as their learning material. The more folk-like melodies of hymns are great to learn on piano or violin, for example. Both Keith and I developed our musical... Continue Reading

The Apostle Paul instructs us, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). We can glorify God in the smallest of actions—nothing is too insignificant. The big question we should ask ourselves is, Will we wait to live out our chief end?   Glory... Continue Reading