These risks reveal that we never misplace trust when we trust God. These risks were not like betting your salary on the underdog and praying for a lucky break. Behind these risks was the confidence that God would be faithful to his word, whether they lived or died. A wise risk is God-centered and God-trusting.... Continue Reading

When you open God’s word you can’t lie to yourself anymore. Because the Bible is constantly emphasizing how sinful, how broken and how unworthy you are of salvation. It is impossible to believe in works-based righteousness if someone solely believes and reads the Bible.    I’m a big proponent of using the Bible in evangelism.... Continue Reading

Joyful, loving, humble, and jealous for God, the right fear of God makes the difference between hollow, devilish religiosity and beautiful, Christlike believers. It also makes the difference between hollow, grasping, professionalized ministries and life-giving ministries of delighted and satisfied integrity.   Becoming like God The knowledge of God that the fear of the Lord... Continue Reading

When church leaders express concern about an important matter in society, local and national leaders tend to listen. This means that the church is able to speak into the moral issues of the day and gain a hearing. This is one reason why the leaders of African nations have been able to withstand the pressure... Continue Reading

“Was the rise of the buzz, a genuine work of God?”  Based upon the fruit of so many people coming to faith in Jesus Christ, that answer can only be an unqualified “yes” (especially early-on).  But did the buzz go off the rails and end up doing great damage to the cause of Christ?  The... Continue Reading

Revelation speaks of the warfare of God against apostate Judaism, the first persecutor of the church, and Rome, the second persecutor, and predicts the fall. It also mentions cults like the Nicolatians.   Sometimes it may seem that we spend too much time refuting falsehood.  All of us are chagrined at the preponderance of error both... Continue Reading

Many weary Christians will begin to seek rest by spending hours watching Netflix, others make social media their default retreat whenever the burden of work seems too much. Since none of these substitutes can provide what is truly needed, much like alcohol and drugs, all we are doing is exhausting ourselves further. Lloyd Jones puts... Continue Reading

One of the reasons we feel stuck in our evangelism may be that we’ve wrongly narrowed down our task to sharing a message about how to be saved. That message is crucial and central, but if it’s all we have to share, and we’ve already shared it, and it’s already been rejected, we might feel... Continue Reading

Sometimes in the church we are quick to emphasize the particularly intimate friendships that grow in small groups, mentoring relationships, or accountability partnerships. These are vital connections indeed. But it would be a mistake to also conclude that just because a relationship isn’t close it isn’t important.   I have a friend at church whom... Continue Reading

Who can be against freedom and choice? No one, unless you ask them to complete the sentence. Freedom to choose what, murder? Should we have the freedom to rape and choose slaves too? And why does a woman have the freedom to choose to kill her children, but not the freedom to choose where she... Continue Reading