As churches grow, the need for careful strategic planning becomes more important. Many things just happen in a small church; you notice when people are missing, you know each other well enough to understand the needs, and you can welcome any newcomers well. If God blesses a church with growth, it will become impossible for... Continue Reading

True biblical Christianity provides the clearest understanding, the strongest support, and the greatest assurance to get through this life and to prepare for eternity. We put ourselves at peril in this temporal earthly life and in the eternal life to come if we ignore the Bible’s Christian truths.   We hear a lot these days... Continue Reading

The resurrection points to the importance of our bodies. Gnosticism claims the body is bad, but Scripture says our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (6:19). We glorify God by taking care of our bodies, but we can go too far if we seek to glorify them now rather than waiting for God to... Continue Reading

Even though we may not know God’s particular reasons or motives for allowing hurricanes, floods, and wind-fueled fires, we know he rules over them. They do not occur by chance. The glory of God displayed in them can surely be terrifying. Our hearts feel like breaking when friends and families lose their homes and belongings. Yet, to... Continue Reading

There’s only one cornerstone of the church that the world is constantly trying to pull us away from—Jesus. I’m begging you not to forget your identity in Christ during this political season. Do the radical thing. Keep your eyes fixed on Christ, the author and perfecter of your faith.   Man, has that junk mail... Continue Reading

Our God will carry us, nurse us, and bind up our wounds, even as we feel the loss, and he will get us to where he has promised. Now is not the whole story. But he is with us now, taking care of what he knows we need. This is the kind of gospel that... Continue Reading

Be reminded that the Lord is good, and the Lord is sovereign. Because He rules and reigns, the Christian says with Job: “The Lord gives and takes away…” Because the world is subject to God’s providence, the Christian’s grumbling should be changed to Job’s good confession: “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we... Continue Reading

What are the limits of my faith? Where will I stop when God instructs me to take a hard step?…To even suffer so that His life and sufficiency in me can be more brilliantly displayed for all the world to see?   He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do... Continue Reading

We must not lay stress on our service, as if it deserved our hire. When we have done all, we are unprofitable servants. Indeed, though He say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” yet our reply ought to be, “When saw we thee hungry, and fed thee?”   Moses, the great leader of God’s people... Continue Reading

The gospel allows us to know the God of the universe because of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection—but it takes courage to explain. Specifically, courage to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins. The gospel must include the larger story of why we rebels need good news granted solely through Christ Jesus.   My dad left... Continue Reading