You may not always feel close to God. Seasons of dryness, grief, or confusion may cloud your awareness of him. God’s presence is constant, whether or not you perceive it. Feelings do not determine reality.     The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1) In times of fear and danger—when we... Continue Reading

Preparation involves prayer before the service, attentiveness during the preaching, and meditation afterward. It assumes that hearing the Word is one of the most important spiritual activities of the Christian life. In other words, the catechism assumes a responsibility of the hearer. Preaching matters greatly, but so does listening.     For many Christians, the... Continue Reading

Even someone as truly loved and esteemed as the great Augustine of Hippo can leave me saying: “There has to be more than that. If I was to present this (perspective) to a person in the world, as I was seeking to evangelize him–I would not be surprised if he would have no interest in... Continue Reading

If perseverance depended on our free will, we would fall every hour. Our wills are fickle; God’s will is rock-solid.     We have traced the golden chain of salvation from God’s eternal election, through His effectual calling, to justification, adoption, and the ongoing work of sanctification. But a terrifying question often haunts the sensitive... Continue Reading

The “road” to this joy may be “rocky,” (as via repentance); or it may seem “smooth,” (via sweet visitations of the Holy Spirit)–but it ends in and with the Person of Joy, (our Lord Jesus).     The Joy of the Christian Life, in four words, is, our Lord Jesus Christ.  No one or nothing... Continue Reading

Before Jesus healed Lazarus, He lifted his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me” (John 11:41-42). Jesus had absolute confidence that God the Father... Continue Reading

Shallow work may end up being in meetings that require your presence because it’s part of your job, but as to production on a scale of 1 to 10, it seems like a 2.     Having discussed the importance of deep work ​yesterday​, what shall we say of shallow work? If deep work is... Continue Reading

Instead of asking, “Where will I live?” we should ask, “Who will be my community?” Believers are given a community in the spiritual brothers and sisters found in their local church. To be connected to that community in a healthy way, it needs to be local.     I recently had to make a decision—a... Continue Reading

I’ll never tire of saying it: productivity doesn’t mean doing more things; it means completing them. Busyness is doing things. Productivity is getting things done. Jesus said a healthy tree is known by its fruit (Matthew 7:17). Lots of leaves, no fruit? That’s a problem. When we don’t discipline ourselves to see things through, we... Continue Reading

We are the Church; we are not a business. Our unity is found in Christ and under the authority of His Word. We seek the wisdom of the church of all times and ages. Various pastors and ministries are able to assist in that, but no one pastor will be able to do that in... Continue Reading