While we live in the city of man, Revelation stirs in us a longing for the city of God. It exerts the gravitation pull of hope while we live in this world. But that longing is for more than relief from sin and suffering, more than delight in heavenly habitation; it is a longing for... Continue Reading

Do you trust God’s faithfulness to deliver again in the midst of your daily detours? Perhaps you feel it now each time you leave your home: the great unknown awaits out in public.    Traffic stood still. That’s never a good thing when you’re traversing the Pennsylvania Turnpike. After thirty minutes without moving, curiosity began... Continue Reading

The troubled days in which we live can easily depress or pollute and we need to renew our focus on righteousness and God our righteous judge—this will bring help, hope, and comfort to God’s church.   By any fair reckoning, this last year has been abnormal – yet the current covid-19 crisis was eclipsed momentarily,... Continue Reading

Christ did not die for Babylon, Rome, or Charlotte (where I live), he died for the City of God, the Church, and for that city alone. We are now citizens of this new city, this new kingdom, being built up as the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.   (Read Part 1) For here we... Continue Reading

When we are tempted to trust in some particular person or political party to provide deliverance and security, we have a vain hope. The God who made heaven, and earth, the sea and all that is in them, is the One who provides deliverence and security for His people. This God has secured a city... Continue Reading

Only the word of God and its faithful exposition—that is, exposition in line with the hermeneutical principles stated in The Arte of Prophecying—could accomplish the monumental tasks before sixteenth-century Puritans. Perkins in particular strove to transform an ignorant and immoral people, exhorting them to live up to the Reformation principles England had officially adopted. So, in... Continue Reading

Amid hardship, leaders can be tempted to withdraw into cynicism. It’s one thing to face challenges we knew were coming, to have seen the rough waves and sailed into them conscious of the threats. But what about when the storm comes in entirely unexpected or is far more severe than we anticipated? Suddenly we can... Continue Reading

At the beginning of Jesus’s public ministry, he walked into the Jordan River to be baptized by John. But why would the sinless Son participate in a baptism of repentance? This surprising start to Jesus’s ministry carries at least five meanings: he fulfilled old-covenant expectations, consecrated himself for his mission, represented those whom he came... Continue Reading

Often, images in apocalyptic literature are supplied by previous Scripture. Accordingly, to understand the meaning of an apocalyptic vision in the Bible, and especially in Revelation, one must know the many inspired passages that they draw upon. Likewise, when texts like Daniel 10 have a clear vision of Christ in places like Revelation 1 (i.e.,... Continue Reading

When we take Jer. 29:7 in the broader context of Jeremiah and the entire biblical canon, we quickly see that Babylon is not meant to present to the Christian today a warrant for loving the city, far from it. Rather, Babylon represents the City of Man, that is the world system, and we are not... Continue Reading