You are not the sum of your traumas, feelings, and perceptions of reality. You are who God says you are. This means you are either a rebel against God & reality, or you are owned as a beloved child of a loving Father, who through Christ has adopted you into the warmth of His Heavenly... Continue Reading

The gospel of Christ might be summarized like this: “He was bound, so that we might be loosed from our sins.” And this salvation profoundly affects our calling. “You were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Gal. 5:13). Part of... Continue Reading

The life that produces divisions because of bitterness, jealousy, selfishness, and ambition is not merely unwise, it is from the devil himself. Beware of bitterness; even it’s root “defiles many” (Heb 12:15). Beware of covetousness; it is idolatry (Col 3:5). Beware of the schemes of the devil, and don’t be ignorant of his schemes (2... Continue Reading

The commission grounded its petition in the teaching that God has special care for children, noting when Jesus Christ warned strongly against scandalizing children when he urged his disciples in Mark 10:14: “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” Petitioning the government is an... Continue Reading

The distinctive contribution of ‘Pity For Evil’, however, is that feminism need not be understood as synonymous with pro-abortion politics. A more historically rooted feminism grounds the value and dignity of women in their capacity for virtue and care, not in their ability to mimic male sexual appetites. In spite of the lip service paid to... Continue Reading

Pastoral care means caring for people in difficult circumstances. It’s critical that the minister carry himself with humility. Without humility, we may speak the truth – but if we speak without love, we risk reducing our ministry to nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). When we speak hard truths, we must speak with firmness and a spirit of... Continue Reading

“Only the fact that Christ stands out in history as surety of the gracious will of God, that in God’s name he punishes sin and calls the sinner to himself, that in holy suffering he endures the lot of sinners in order to convict them of their sin and free them from it, that as... Continue Reading

Social media self-validation enshrines bad behavior as a sign of goodness. The very attitude or action that may be your problem, something to work on or try to modify, gets turned into proof of your goodness. Are you stubborn and obstinate? No, you’re standing strong when everyone else is trying to take you down. Are... Continue Reading

With both the challenges and prerequisites to preaching persuasively in mind, we would do well to heed a biblical example. The apostle Paul was not merely a theoretician when it came to preaching; he was a practitioner—and we see his philosophy of preaching, so to speak, tested in Acts 25:23–26:32, as he is on trial... Continue Reading

We desperately want to believe the best about ourselves. And with effort we can shrug off inner conviction. But it is harder to ignore God’s written word. Young King Josiah is an example for us. When he heard the words of the law “he tore his clothes” in humility; his “heart was penitent” (2 Kings... Continue Reading