To read the Bible publicly is to stand before other people and read aloud words that God himself has written. This is a tremendous honor and a weighty privilege, and it deserves to be taken seriously.   There are some elements of public worship that receive a great deal of attention. These elements are taught,... Continue Reading

God proclaimed about Himself: “Even from eternity, I am He” (Isaiah 43.13).  Therefore, this eternity of God means that He is the sure and steadfast dwelling place for all His creatures (Deuteronomy 33.27). He is Lord over time, existing both above time and within time for His own glory and purposes. He is totally free... Continue Reading

God is sovereign; humans are responsible; he gets all the glory. We don’t understand how this all works together, and that’s okay. He’s God and we’re not. The challenge is to remember that we’re not God, to refuse to stand in judgment over him, and to thank him for his mercy as we plead for... Continue Reading

Witherspoon observed that Divine Providence can at times be obvious but that it can also be subtle and almost hidden. Then, people must pause and ponder to discern God’s work. Sometimes this work comes through favorable circumstances and other times through challenges, but God is accomplishing His aims. Serious minds he concludes benefit greatly from... Continue Reading

God preserved the name David tried to bury. Every Memorial Day, I think about that. Uriah has now been remembered for nearly three thousand years, not because kings honored him properly. His own king had him killed. But God refused to let him disappear. And Uriah was not even an Israelite by birth. He was... Continue Reading

Some hear cessationism as a quenching of the Spirit. Far from it. The Reformed answer is the reverse. The Spirit is no less present today, only present differently. At Pentecost he worked extraordinarily, inaugurating the Gentile mission and laying the foundation of the church. With the foundation laid and the canon complete, he now works... Continue Reading

When the church turns its attention to skin color or ethnic distinctions, it shifts from Christ-centeredness to man-centeredness, and, in doing so, it becomes weak. This is not a small or secondary matter. If left unchecked, such a focus does not merely distract—it can eclipse the gospel itself.    Kinism has recently impacted the Reformed... Continue Reading

Jesus didn’t stuff his anger, and on several occasions in the Gospels, he allowed his anger to become observable. He was noticeably angry. And he made use of that anger: He took its prompting, and energy, to move into justice-remedying action.   Have you been caught off guard by the anger of Jesus? There you... Continue Reading

There is no shame in your suffering. It does not mean your faith is small or your righteousness is lacking. For the righteousness that you have, the righteousness that gains you eternal life, which gives you the promise of glory, is not your righteousness. It is Christ’s. It is a gift given freely to you... Continue Reading

If we want to ensure that autistic people don’t fall through the cracks, apostatize, or reject the messages we try to deliver, we need to take seriously the work of contextualization for the autistic population. The good news is that Christianity has been doing this for a long time. We don’t need to reinvent anything.... Continue Reading