The Only Joy We Never Lose
If you rejoice in the Lord, you never have to be without real happiness again.
Paul didn’t choose joy in Christ because he couldn’t find joy anywhere else. He had tasted and enjoyed the glory of success and popularity — the Hebrew of Hebrews, the Pharisee of Pharisees, the most zealous, the most blameless, the most recognized (Philippians 3:5–6). When he chose to follow Jesus, he surrendered the kind of... Continue Reading
The Beautiful “Must” of Luke 19
We are sought. And because we are sought, we are found.
The beautiful “must” of Luke 19 reminds us that Jesus didn’t have any questions about what He was doing on the earth. He knew what He was sent here for, and He was perfectly willing to sully His reputation by hanging out with the likes of you and me and diminutive money-grabbers like Zacchaeus. Jesus... Continue Reading
Kids Know the Power of a Promise
In Jesus, God’s purposes for you never get rained out.
God’s surprising promises amaze us! You see, by standing on the promises, God’s people live out his purposes. By pointing to the promises given throughout the pages of the Bible, we can help our children to see how people like Noah and Esther bet their lives in hope that God would be true to his... Continue Reading
Tried with Fire: The Afflictions of Christ
Our hurts and distresses somehow continue the ministry of Christ to our brothers and sisters.
Jesus suffered in His human body when it was on earth. Because His spiritual body, the Church, is still on earth, its members continue to suffer. This affliction arises partly because these members are unglorified humans in an unglorified world. It also arises partly because the kind of people who hated Jesus and rejected Him... Continue Reading
Romans 11: The Sovereignty and Wisdom of God in Salvation
Whether you are Jew or Gentile, God takes all the glory in your salvation.
The Jews abandoned God, either to other gods or to seeking to earn their salvation. We Gentiles today are no different; we hated and rebelled against God just like they did. And yet, what has God done? He has shown grace, He has opened blind eyes, and He has set aside a remnant for Himself.... Continue Reading
Become a Grown-Up
There is a growing concern among some people that the younger generation, including our covenant youth, are putting off adulthood as long as possible.
There is a growing concern among some people that the younger generation, including our covenant youth, are putting off adulthood as long as possible. And perhaps that is partially due to what they see in the lives of those of us who are older. Leisure is all-consuming these days. The leisure economy is what makes... Continue Reading
Where Will its Stand on the Six Days of Creation Lead the PCA?
How did the PCA, with only 170 out of over 900 elders dissenting, decide that something other than the six 24 hour days of creation view was acceptable?
Throughout history, the church has read Scripture as reporting a God-created creation that occurred over six 24-hour days (or instantaneously, in at least one instance) within the last several thousand years. From the church fathers through Augustine (instantaneous creation), Aquinas, the Reformers (including Calvin), the Westminster Divines, and the post reformers, this has been the... Continue Reading
How to Discern Biblical Truth
As we spend more time in God’s word studying it, reading it, listening to it, and memorizing it, we fine-tune our discernment muscles.
Discernment is more complicated than simply checking out the endorsements or letting someone decide for us who is good and who isn’t. By discerning, we have the opportunity to grow. We have the opportunity to become more rooted in what we believe. This is the kind of noble discernment the Bereans had, and it is... Continue Reading
Sanctification: Besetting Sins
Sin is sin.
There are plenty of places in the New Testament that speak of sin as a “principle” operating within us or as a specific violation of the law of God, but we cannot find any other support for the idea that there is a unique sin in each believer’s life that is somehow more powerful than... Continue Reading
John Bunyan and Pastoral Calling
Bunyan and the Puritans understood the high calling of the pastorate and were eager to protect the office.
If God called a man into the pastorate, the Puritans believed his life would display certain characteristics that confirmed this calling. A survey of Puritan writings on the subject reveals that the Puritans did not elevate one aspect of calling above the rest but rather sought a confluence of characteristics that demonstrated God’s wise hand... Continue Reading
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