Parents are to guide and love their children in God’s ways, not in any self-serving ways. Parents who faithfully discharge this calling are promised that such parental investments will result in fruit that bears out as the child grows old. Faithful, believing parents can have confidence in their parenting as they entrust the long-term results... Continue Reading

“Everyone knows John 3:16, but nobody talks about the next two verses. Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn the world, he came to save it. But verse 18 says, if anyone doesn’t believe in Christ, he’s already condemned, because he hasn’t believed in God’s one and only Son…If you don’t believe in that,... Continue Reading

When we come face to face with our own mortality, our own failures, our deepest fears and regrets, the resurrection declares that nothing ultimately has the final word except life in Christ. We do not have an abstract hope. Easter hope is a living, breathing reality that Jesus extends to each of us individually—offering forgiveness,... Continue Reading

The Presbyterian Church has historically understood the diaconate to be an ordained office instituted by Christ through His apostles, situated within the ordered household of God, and qualified according to the pastoral epistles. To depart from that understanding requires not appeal to contemporary social norms, but sustained exegetical and theological demonstration that the covenantal and... Continue Reading

People can often make a good guess about what close family members or long-time friends are thinking. Similarly, the devil watches patterns, notes habits, and listens to what we say. He sees how we respond under pressure. And over time, he learns. He doesn’t need to read minds to recognize familiar weaknesses—how pride follows praise,... Continue Reading

Color-blind justice—treating every citizen as an image-bearer of God, equal before the law—best honors Scripture and the Constitution. It also equips and encourages the church to carry out Christ’s ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-19) rather than spending time and energy seeking out often imaginary hidden racial sins or lecturing congregations about the bitter fruit... Continue Reading

We must wage war against the bitterness and unforgiveness growing in the crevices of our broken hearts. There is also the battle to love difficult people, and the battle to surrender something good that God has asked you to release.  In every battle we win through God’s power, we must battle against pride. Victorious people... Continue Reading

Just as Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6), so also every believer is saved through faith, which is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). Abraham wasn’t saved by his own obedience, but instead by the obedience of the Savior, Christ Jesus, who would be the perfect once-for-all sacrifice for sin.  ... Continue Reading

What does change is that we do the same thing with creativity and energy. I picked up this nuance from a Paul Graham post called “The Right Kind of Stubborn.” He isn’t a church leader and isn’t writing for church leaders, but he explores the difference between stubbornness and persistence.     Someone asked me... Continue Reading

When trying to understand 1 John 5:16-17, imagine someone coming to their pastor for assurance of salvation. Hopefully, that’s a conversation we will treat with seriousness and care, lest we grant assurance of salvation to someone who is unconverted. Praying for someone who has committed “sin that leads to death” would be giving them a... Continue Reading