“Take, eat, this is My body. Take, drink, this is My blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” You are not alone. Your Lord does not abandon you.   The other day, as I walked through the church, I paused for a moment, standing in the center aisle, contemplating the nature of this... Continue Reading

Ever since the Fall (Gen.3), this world has had ‘tribulation’ written all over it. When Amy Carmichael was included in the Royal Birthday Honours List, she was horrified, and wondered what she had done wrong: ‘It troubles me to have an experience so different from His Who was despised and rejected, not kindly honoured.’ We... Continue Reading

Jesus wept over the sins of others, over their bitter consequences in judgement and death, and over the impenitent city which would not receive him. We, too, should weep over the evil in the world, as did the godly men of biblical times. “My eyes shed streams of tears,” the psalmist could say to God,... Continue Reading

True peacemaking eludes the unconverted, who are “hateful, and hating one another” (Titus 3:3). Sinners may have a sense of peace, but it is the false peace of Satan’s undisturbed reign over their lives (Luke 11:20-21), the peace of a graveyard. True peace is from the Lord, but sinners are at war with him… True... Continue Reading

We note Paul’s three purposes of prophesy, that it speak to edify, exhort, and comfort men (1 Cor. 14:3). All good preaching does at least one of these. It forth-tells God’s Word today, even without prophetic revelation, by accurately interpreting Scripture and applying it to a given situation. Even saints who do not preach, however,... Continue Reading

Bartimaeus is sitting by the dusty roadside outside Jericho when he hears the crowd approaching. It’s the man he has heard so much about: Jesus! The promised Messiah has come to “proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind” (Lk. 4:18). He has come traveled south from his hometown in Galilee... Continue Reading

A shepherd carried a staff with both ends necessary for his job. The top end was that of a hook. This end was designed to grab around the neck of a wandering sheep and pull it back into the fold. So much of pastoral ministry and the work of the ministry among fellow church members... Continue Reading

Those who repent and trust in Christ can be forgiven because their sin has been dealt with on the cross. When the wrath of God is poured out at the return of Christ, those who are shielded by the cross will be spared.   On two different occasions, Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” Both... Continue Reading

The New Testament corrects our misunderstandings and our propensity to curve inward on ourselves. Peter instructed his readers in 1 Peter 4:10: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace”   I loved watching the Chicago Bulls in the 90s because Michael Jordan was... Continue Reading

God’s silence is often misunderstood. We wonder if he has abandoned us, is punishing us, or doesn’t care. When we have no answers, we might fill in the gaps ourselves, assigning motives to God based on what we see. David felt abandoned as he fled from his enemies, crying out, “My God, my God, why... Continue Reading