When Christ is our greatest treasure, our hearts rest content in Him. By loving Christ above all, our other loves become appropriately ordered. Wealth becomes a mere tool in service to His will.   One time early in our marriage, I, exasperated by yet another unexpected bill, voiced the following sentiment to my wife: “Wouldn’t... Continue Reading

Luke 16:19-31 quickly engages our emotions with its portrayal of Lazarus’s pitiable condition in life and the rich man’s anguish in Hades.  Now that we’ve met Lazarus and the rich man and witnessed the outcomes of their lives, we must reflect on what’s going to be different for our own lives with respect to possessions,... Continue Reading

Forget all this AI nonsense and connect with the living God and with the people He has created to have fellowship with Himself. Save the machines for mowing your lawn or making your coffee.   Recall in the 1999 film The Matrix how one character in league with the dark side is discussing the benefits... Continue Reading

We use our Presbyterian polity to establish a process for nominating and electing people to serve the church, which is not an office but appears to be one. Substitute the title deacon for deaconess, substitute ordination for commissioning, and substitute the name diaconate for deacon team (or another name). Is this a distinction without a... Continue Reading

Humanity’s capacity to desire is not necessarily sinful. If we succeed in eliminating the wrong desire without giving the heart a better desire, we are setting ourselves up for failure. Pointing out the vanity of alcohol, pornography, gambling, etc., is not enough.    I began a book study on Thomas Chalmers’ excellent sermon, “The Expulsive... Continue Reading

Every great city—every flourishing society, every lasting culture—begins the same way it always has: With leaders who have learned how to cultivate gardens again. For in the end, the future does not belong to those who build the biggest towers, but to those who remember how to grow gardens.   We are living through a... Continue Reading

The Christian should be like an old pilgrim, with his gown and staff, and if he didn’t get a bed, he would lie on the ground like old Jacob did, with a stone under his head. Instead, your accommodations for back and belly, bed and board, all that Sodom can afford, are the means of... Continue Reading

The computer was sold to us as a “bicycle for the mind”: something to help us get more done and become more fit in the process, a productivity enhancer that also made us work harder. And perhaps it was for a short sweet spot in the 80s and 90s. But successive waves of digitization have given us... Continue Reading

Here is my simple encouragement for the new year: read the great books. They require effort (I’ll give some brief advice below) but they are great precisely because they repay that effort. You might read War and Peace and decide never to read it again, but the point is not that every great book will become your favorite. The point is... Continue Reading

Our Rwandan brothers and sisters are not asking for political advocacy. They are not calling for international outrage. They are asking us to pray.   Across Africa today, the gospel is advancing with a quiet, steady strength. Churches are being planted, leaders are being trained, and communities are being transformed by the Word of God.... Continue Reading