Coveting and Contentment
The Secret of Contentment
Contentment is about resisting the temptation to play the “comparison game” and refusing to define my satisfaction by any measure other than Christ. My happiness is not tied to the material possessions or circumstances I have received, my pleasure and joy are bound up in a person, the triune God, who is sovereign, who has... Continue Reading
What Can You Do As One Single Person in This Massive World?
Learn three lessons from a single verse in Hebrews about Noah for the saving of your soul and your family.
You can do some very significant things. You can be conscious of the judgment to come, and you can live in the light of that reality. Secondly, you can build an ark for the saving of your family. You can set a priority on bringing your children, your grandchildren, your great grandchildren to Jesus Christ.... Continue Reading
In Appreciation of Reformed Theology
3 Elements of Reformed Theology
Reformed theologians embrace the tensions and difficulties in Scripture, digging deeper to understand it. The rigor of Reformed theologians to argue from Scripture alone has always struck me as their greatest strength and is far and away the most compelling piece for believing the doctrines of Reformed theology. On this Reformation Day, I’m reflecting... Continue Reading
The Mystery of Godliness
God himself was manifest in the flesh.
For if the Son of God be man, then he understands me and will have a fellow feeling for me. He knows my unfitness to worship sometimes—he knows my tendencies to grow weary and dull my pains, my trials, and my griefs: He knows what fierce temptations mean, For he has felt the same. Man,... Continue Reading
Praying the Imprecatory Psalms: The Case for Christian Curses
The persecuted church needs all the help she can get in the face of violent evil, and the imprecatory Psalms are a gift to her from our Heavenly Father.
Christians can sing a re-formatted version Psalm 139:19 by using the NT expression of justice, judgment, and vengeance in this way: “Lord, destroy the enemies of your church, either in your wrath or in the waters of baptism.” Like the saints of Revelation 6, Christians today are free to desire and invite the vengeance of God. Contrary to... Continue Reading
Why WWJD Isn’t that Helpful
WWJD tends to let us write ourselves into the role of Jesus and encourages us to act accordingly.
Jesus doesn’t ask us to change our behaviour, he promises to give us a new heart and that will cause us to change. WWJD puts the emphasis on our doing and changing to copy Jesus whereas scripture puts the emphasis squarely on Jesus changing us so that we might be more like him. In the end,... Continue Reading
Pray and Do
Prayer in Nehemiah (10)
Prayer does not preclude action, but often includes it. Indeed, prayer is the first action, and that first action sets the tone and establishes the direction for what follows. In the model prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He has us ask God for our daily bread. Yet, to the church at Thessalonica Paul writes:... Continue Reading
On the Other Side of the Wall
I should turn my lamentation into praise, my grief into hope, my sorrow into expectation, confident that Nick has gone where he can thrive, where he can flourish, where his every dream can be made good?
I cannot now see him, I can be certain that he is blooming there, on the other side of the wall, where the sun is brighter, where all shadows are gone. And I can anticipate the day when, I, too, will pass through the garden gate to finally see him in that place where he... Continue Reading
What Wondrous Love Is This?
The Heart of Christ for Sinners
Our tragic mortality never feels so real as when a parent or spouse or child dies. Losing my father left me feeling untethered….And nothing can fix this untethered-ness. Nothing can repair the loss that death deals out in cruel doses. Nothing, that is, except resurrection and the death-defeating love of Christ. In the summer... Continue Reading
What Does It Mean That God Is Omniscient?
God willed the existence of all that is and has decreed the unfolding history of all things great and small, from the beginning to the end.
God’s knowledge reaches to our thoughts, desires, intents, and inclinations….The God “who knows the heart” (Acts 15:8) knows the sin of all people, and they will give an account for their disobedience to Him. But there is hope and comfort for all who believe in Jesus Christ because God’s covenant promise is to “remember their sin... Continue Reading
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