An Open Letter To A Discouraged Saint
You are “in Christ.” Do you see how intimately connected you are with Jesus Christ even in a week filled with deep disappointment and discouragement?
Viewing yourself as a saint doesn’t negate the hardships and griefs of this life. Nor does it make obedience easy. But you face affliction with and in Jesus. You battle sin with and in Jesus. Let your status in Christ be the primary lens through which to view your life. Dearest Brother, I know... Continue Reading
Herods Will Build You Temples, But Here is What They Cannot Endure…
You’ll never have to fight demons to become more religious.
You want to see the forces of hell stirring then proclaim a gospel which cannot be hijacked but a gospel which bids us to come and die. The biblical gospel will always make Herod’s uncomfortable. If it doesn’t then it’s either not the biblical gospel or your Herod’s dragon scales are starting to peel. ... Continue Reading
The Leadership Limp
The effective and resilient leaders are those who walk with a visible limp.
Leadership brings with it long days and high levels of pressure. That is not going to change. But leaders who are deeply mindful of their dependence on God are far better equipped to make it in the long haul. That may mean being honest in a meeting about a pending decision and admitting to... Continue Reading
We Prophesy Grief, Not Grace
Much of our worry, fear, and anxiety, comes from predicting the future.
The ability to gaze forward in time is an essentially human trait. We have the ability to use our imaginations to see and to feel the future—to imagine that victory and feel the thrill of it, to visualize that loss and feel the sorrow of it. Our imaginations engage our emotions so we begin to... Continue Reading
Proclaim the Truth Regardless of How It Is Received
The world is starved for truth and is living on lies. We must respond.
Whether we have been involved in the culture wars for decades on end, with no one seeming to listen or take any heed, or whether we are on the mission field with little or no fruit in evidence, we keep speaking truth. Our job is to proclaim the truth, and we leave the rest up... Continue Reading
Unmasking Satan’s Motive
Where the real crisis lies: in the pulpits.
Satan’s tactics change. His motive never does: To cast doubt on the sufficiency of Scripture. He might mask it through allegory (the Patristics), intellectualism (the Enlightenment), secularism (the Modernists), or the all-out onslaught of multiple meanings (Post-modernism)—now mixed with racially charged innuendos and accusations. It won’t stop there. Do you believe in the sufficiency... Continue Reading
What’s an Exile to Do? Know that Your God Will Have the Last Word
Christ’s victory leaves all persecutors with nothing more to say.
If suffering for Christ is in God’s providential will for you, rest in His providential control of that suffering. After all, it is He who has made suffering for good better than committing evil. So, continue to do what is right (3:17) because neither your persecutors nor the suffering they inflict will have the last word. Dear... Continue Reading
Has God Withheld Good from Me?
The unfair, the unfixable, and the unfinished often mark the lives of God’s chosen.
We can be assured that, if troubles were not beneficial to us, God would neither allow them nor send them. Everything God gives us and withholds from us must be part of his good things. God wants to give us good things. Not only that, he promises good things to us and assures us... Continue Reading
Do Not Give Up
The true Christian will be persecuted in this world.
The World loves it own and hates the real Gospel because it condemns all that are of the World and not of Christ. Paul is challenging all of us to not faint, not to sink into despondency not to become so dispirited and cowardly that we just quit. ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν παρρησίαν καὶ... Continue Reading
The Silent Pain and Secret Shame in Our Churches
It’s sad, but true, that parents of prodigals usually suffer alone.
Parents of prodigals need to drink from the wellspring of gospel grace since they often have a real or perceived sense of unspoken judgment from others that they are at least partially to blame for their child’s waywardness. Whether you’re aware of it or not, there is silent pain and secret shame in your... Continue Reading
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