Remember that every funeral is a loss for someone and a sacred moment entrusted to you. You are caring for souls at their most fragile moment and commending a believer to the promises of God. Few acts in ministry are heavier. Few feel more holy.   In almost seven years as a lead pastor, I... Continue Reading

The Holy Spirit is not waiting for you to develop a dramatic spiritual crisis before He does His deepest work. He is at work right now…and He is patient, and He is extraordinarily thorough, and the question pressing against every self-aware, spiritually serious person reading these words is simply this: are you paying attention to... Continue Reading

There has only ever been one God. And He has loved you with an everlasting love, and given Himself to you as your cheleq [portion], the slice of the field that is yours forever, and that no thief can carry off, and no market can devalue, and no fire can burn, and no grave can... Continue Reading

The theology of the Westminster Larger Catechism is antithetical to antisemitism.  It reflects a profound and hope-filled Christian view of history.  It is potent with hermeneutical and missiological significance.  It is critical for our present moment.  Taking an exception to Larger Catechism 191 on this point does not mean that a candidate is antisemitic.  But... Continue Reading

While Abraham stood on a hill pleading for a wicked city, Jesus Christ hung on a cross, interceding for a wicked world. Abraham asked God to spare the guilty for the sake of ten righteous men. On the cross, God spared the guilty for the sake of One Righteous Man—Jesus Christ, whose perfect righteousness covers our sin... Continue Reading

In an age of confusion, pressure, and overreach, this doctrine calls us back to a simple, liberating truth that the conscience is bound where God binds it, and free where God has left it free. And that is not a weakening of authority. It is the rightful exaltation of the only King and Head of the... Continue Reading

The Son who left His Father’s side in the Incarnation, and who is now at the right hand of His Father, has sprinkled clean our consciences and poured out His Spirit upon our lives, to set us apart as His holy priesthood. Christ cleanses you. Now baptism saves you, beloved.   All of Leviticus applies... Continue Reading

God is not put off by our sin. He is not intimidated by our seeming objections. His grace is more than powerful enough to turn the heart of stone to flesh.   Most people are familiar with John Newton, even if they don’t know they are. The reason they know him is because he penned... Continue Reading

If your understanding is the standard, truth will always shift. It will expand or contract based on your perspective, your experiences, and your preferences. But if God’s Word is the standard, truth remains fixed. It doesn’t bend. It doesn’t adjust. It stands. And that’s exactly what we need.     As believers, there’s a subtle... Continue Reading

We don’t expect God to appear to us in a burning bush today, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be times that we are called to do things. What does it take? A need and a dream.   A little over 500 years before Christ was born, there was a man named Zerubbabel who was... Continue Reading