I think she’s absolutely and utterly wrong. What she says here is completely at odds with the doctrine of God’s sovereignty. While it’s true that many have abused passages like Jeremiah 29:11 and Psalm 37:4, there is actually a biblical basis for believing in God’s providence for your life, even in who you marry.  ... Continue Reading

The Christian faith engages our minds. This is something that we ought to keep reminding ourselves of, so that we don’t allow our minds to fossilize, and that we continue to be sharpened and to make progress.   “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed we have a building from God,... Continue Reading

But all this stress on covenant, what we might call “pervasive covenantalism,” raises the question of whether prominence has turned into overemphasis and imbalance.  Are we dealing, as OT scholar John Stek has argued in a fine but somewhat overlooked article (“Covenant Overload in Reformed Theology,” Calvin Theological Journal 29 (1994): 12-41), with a case of “covenant... Continue Reading

The church’s worship is never about me, or my generation, or even about what one writer called “something bigger than me.” It’s about God. And only in thoughtful reference to his word can we have a church for all generations. [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been... Continue Reading

It’s not as though your Father doesn’t care about the things you worry about: your friends, your health, your money, your children, and so forth. Your Father knows what you need. You can go to Him with the things that concern you. Cast your cares on Him, because He cares for you. You’ll have to leave your... Continue Reading

Out of this spiritual inventory should flow a second area of preparation. Are there any areas in your Christian experience with which you are having problems? In James 5:16 we are called to confess our sins to one another. The pastoral visit is the perfect time to be honest and open about your problems. Are you having... Continue Reading

“Don’t focus on the value your work offers you,” Newport says. “That’s the passion mindset. Instead focus on the value you produce through your work: how your actions are important, how you’re good at what you do, and how you’re connected to other people.” When you do, the passion will follow–and if you work hard... Continue Reading

So, once we get over all the emotion, hand-wringing, and fear of bigotry, the question is merely this:  Does human reproduction serve the public good? By the government’s own calculations, it cost my wife and I $225,000 to rear each of our two daughters until they were 21, nearly half a million dollars total. The... Continue Reading

For the record, I do recall the brother’s keeper reference. It’s in Genesis Four, which recounts the first murder based on human jealously. In fact, it’s right after Genesis Three, which accurately portrays human nature and explains why utopia can’t work. If two people can’t follow one rule in order to sustain paradise, then we’re... Continue Reading

 The struggles we sometimes experience in prayer, then, are often part of the process by which God gradually brings us to ask for only what He has promised to give. The struggle is not our wrestling to bring Him to give us what we desire, but our wrestling with His Word until we are illuminated... Continue Reading