If you are a member of a congregation that is faithful to the sound preaching of the Gospel, the right administration of the sacraments, prayer, and the faithful practice of church discipline, you have every reason to be thankful and to give yourself diligently to developing your Christian life. God has appointed the means of... Continue Reading

You could argue that the reason God wants us to praise him is because it is right and fitting for us. We were made to worship him. But there’s another reason for God’s intent that every nation worship him. It’s because he is worth of our praise because of his love and faithfulness to his... Continue Reading

The family is the most foundational institution on earth. God established it before the church or civil government. The family is the mechanism through which God planned for humanity to continue beyond Adam and Eve. Headed by one man and one woman united to one another by the covenant of marriage, the family is the... Continue Reading

Rather than finding the vessel being cleansed by being washed from filth upon the vessel itself, its cleansing comes from being separated from the other vessels. Further support for this understanding is in 2 Tim 2:22 in which Timothy was to pursue good things “along with those who call on the Lord from a pure... Continue Reading

Far from undermining his sense of assurance, the doctrine of unconditional election brought Whitefield tremendous spiritual consolation. In his experience, the two doctrines were inextricably linked. He wrote to one correspondent, “Oh the excellency of the doctrine of election, and of the final perseverance of the saints, to those who are sealed by the Spirit... Continue Reading

Our culture presently denies the goodness of discipline and insists instead on a world without consequences: childhood without obedience, employment without diligence, crime without consequence, peace without truth. The thought of actually enforcing justice, whether in the family, the workplace, or the civil sphere, is perceived as unkind and unloving.   “When a scoffer is... Continue Reading

‘Uprooting Anger’ is a title that should be in every counselor’s toolkit. It covers ground familiar to most biblical counselors, but let me be clear: Unlike many of the counseling books published today, which are solid but tend to repeat the same information derived from Adams and Powlison and Mack, Jones communicates the basics of... Continue Reading

A callous heart prevents a person from experiencing the appropriate fear of paying the penalty for his sins in Hell. Many atheists laugh off the notion of an actual place called “Hell,” but their laughing is tragically misguided and uniformed.   Atheists choose to limit themselves to only one cosmological option. They hitch their wagon... Continue Reading

Many people preparing for the pastorate have preconceived notions of what it’s like to be a pastor. Many see pastors as the equivalent of local rock stars…Some want-to-be-pastors think pastors sit in their study, leave to speak to the masses, and after the applause return to their cloistered repose. Seminary often prepares pastors for the... Continue Reading

In Genesis 3 the cherubim appear as God’s heavenly bodyguards, whose task it is to protect God’s holiness. When the man and the woman are exiled from the garden of Eden, cherubim are appointed to bar the way back into God’s presence, preventing any intrusion of sinful mankind into the realm of God’s holiness (Gen.... Continue Reading