Christians should rejoice when God brings a sexually immoral sinner from death to new life. They should encourage and build up such people in the church, and they should never blanketly bar another person from entering into relationships with them.   Recently, there was a something of a dust-up in Christian circles on the social... Continue Reading

As pastors, we labor week in and week out to get people to take their sin more seriously, to see what they don’t want to see. The scrupulous see it all too well, and then some. But that’s all they see. And yet, as Richard Sibbes so famously put it, “There is more grace in... Continue Reading

This discussion is not about whether God is able to communicate in unusual ways. He is. People may have impressions, dreams, or strong convictions. God is sovereign and free to act as He pleases. The real issue is whether those experiences carry authority for the church. Scripture alone does. When someone claims to speak for... Continue Reading

While the authorities go out of their way to accommodate Islam, they have no hesitation about attacking Christianity or being lenient with those who criticize it…The question is, will enough Westerners wake from their slumber, or will they sleep through their own demise? Time will tell.   All around the world we are witnessing the... Continue Reading

Passion and white-knuckling our way through ministry can be fun, but it is often not wise. Like the church in early Acts and Moses coming out of Egypt, we often do what we think is best in our own eyes, not what is best for the whole.   I spent a decade in youth ministry,... Continue Reading

While my earthly father often seemed impossible to please, my heavenly Father seems eager to say to me, “Well done.” Not only is He willing to spend time with me, He’s also eager to do so, and went to incredible lengths that I might spend eternity living with Him in His place, with Him always... Continue Reading

In Mark 14:3-9, another woman gave what she had, that which was most precious to her, in service to the Lord. She denied herself and gave her very own costly ointment to prepare for the burial of Jesus. Even though the disciples scolded her (another opportunity lost!), Jesus protects her and puts her before them... Continue Reading

A man can be fearless in public and undisciplined in private. He can speak with clarity online and avoid responsibility in real life. When that gap widens, boldness stops being a virtue and becomes a performance, and performance cannot sustain a life. This is where the consequences begin to surface. Many of these young men... Continue Reading

[Brauns] argues that repentance is not only the way into the Christian life but the ongoing way of the Christian life. Progressive sanctification requires daily, specific repentance, not merely general confession. He introduces the ordinary means of grace as the God-ordained channels through which repentance is worked out. He teaches us how to evaluate repentance,... Continue Reading

Knowing God is costly. Don’t fool yourself. If you want to know Him, you will have to lay all that you are, all that you plan to be, and all that you have on the table. If, at any moment, you pull it back, the process of getting to know God comes to a halt.... Continue Reading