Temptations Common to Marriage
Three common challenges that all marriages between sinners face, holding up Christ as the only reliable solution for each.
Our Lord taught us that a house divided against itself can’t stand. Satan’s strategy is to use friendly fire — spouses attacking each other — to defeat our marriages. It’s imperative, then, for couples to learn how to engage in spiritual (not spousal) warfare. And spiritual wars can be won only with spiritual weapons. I... Continue Reading
Walking in the Dark
Why does God withhold key information from His friends?
Knowledge of the facts beforehand would lessen the need, which in turn would lessen the meeting of that need. Gone would be that wonderous experience of God’s power in the extremity of your need. Gone would be the marvel of watching provision come in ways unforeseen, the thrill of receiving the delivery of the promise.... Continue Reading
Bernard of Clairvaux and Mysticism
As the pages of On Loving God unfold, Bernard fully endorses reflecting on and contemplating the love of God.
Bernard represents a refreshing spring in the arid environs of medieval theology. It would be a few centuries yet until the Reformers would come along and be used by God to help the church find its way. But we can, like those Reformers, be appreciative of this medieval monk and his writings. One has... Continue Reading
Was the Gospel Preached to the Dead? – Understanding 1 Peter 4:6
It seems most accurate to say this verse implies that the gospel was preached to people who believed it and had since died.
1 Peter 4:6 offers a profound reflection on the enduring power of the gospel in any situation. It challenges believers to set their minds on spiritual things, for the things of the world are passing away. The spiritual life we need can only be found in Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy... Continue Reading
A Case for Ruling Elder Prayer in Worship
Ruling elders are capable of public prayer, either through gifting, studied practice over years of service – or both.
There are some conservative Presbyterian churches that currently practice – with pleasing edification – ruling elder-led corporate prayer. In one such church, a ruling elder writes: “Prayer with and for the congregation is foundational for ministry, and corporate prayer led by the Ruling Elders who have come from among the congregation can help teach the... Continue Reading
Leading Like the Good Shepherd
In Psalm 23, we often have missed the leadership imagery that is latent in the concept of shepherding.
There will be times where we must lead our flocks through dark valleys and dangers. Perhaps that danger comes in the form of a cancer diagnosis. Maybe the dark, shadowed valley is the loss of a child – I have been through that valley. Perhaps leading the flock in dark valleys looks like (instead of... Continue Reading
The God Who Reaches Out
God has taken the initiative.
When we could not and would not reach out to him, he has reached out to us. “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly… God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6,8). There are no... Continue Reading
Alabama Supreme Court, Embryos, and the Confusing Ethics of IVF
Some moral clarity for an industry that has been an ethical Wild West.
In the Alabama case, the court established that the moral nature of an embryo gives it the same legal protections as a born human under the state’s “wrongful death” statute. Why, then, should the same embryos not be afforded protection from imprisonment, trafficking, experimentation, and eventual destruction? Strictly speaking, IVF can be done in a way... Continue Reading
Wordsmithing Versus Reality
Abortion Is a Death, Always, not a Birth
The University of Notre Dame—a “private research university inspired by its Catholic character to be a powerful force for good in the world”—invited an abortion doula to guest lecture. Never mind that doulas usually help women usher their children into the world, now they usher in death. It gets worse. The guest speaker referred to abortion as... Continue Reading
God’s Truth Versus “Your Truth”
These twin lies are the bedrock of the devil’s initial temptation: God is not good, and actually he is not God at all. This is what the devil has done from the beginning, and he has been doing it ever since (John 8:44).
Embracing the truth of God found in Jesus Christ sets us free from ourselves. We are the worst wardens of our soul. We choose paths that are bad for us and hurt us. When we buy the lie of the serpent, and think that God is not good, and that maybe he is not even... Continue Reading
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