The Great Commission in the Old Testament
The commission was given to man as bearer of the image of God, created both to fellowship with God and to mediate the blessed reign of God over all the earth.
Once we understand the Great Commission as a function of kingship, we are in a better place to assess this agenda throughout the rest of the Old Testament. God’s reign is universal, and from the beginning, His plan of salvation aimed at all the families of the earth, never overlooking the fact that He “shall... Continue Reading
Gifting for Service: How the Spirit Gifts Today
The Spirit’s work in every believer’s life is to sanctify him through his Word and equip him for service.
Our response to this work of the Spirit should be clear: serve the church. Don’t worry about trying to figure out what your “spiritual gifts” are. Simply serve the church in any way you can. The Spirit has providentially gifted you to do so, so serve, and marvel at the ways the Spirit of God has... Continue Reading
Winsomeness in the Negative World
Christians should be kind, but also realize that kindness won’t stop accusations of hate.
If we assume that being winsome will win a favorable hearing, then heated opposition will tempt us to doubt Christian moral teaching. Most people are not ready to be perceived as unloving, hateful, and a menace to society. But that is what, in many circles, publicly affirming traditional moral teaching will get you. It looked... Continue Reading
Something Must Be Done Syndrome
Elders are not the trouble shooters who come in to resolve the sticky issues nobody wants to touch.
Churches cannot have it both ways. They cannot simultaneously wash their hands of all responsibility, piling it onto their pastor and/or elders, whilst at the same time having strong and vociferous views about whatever they do. One of the many terrific things I have discovered since being a pastor is that everything one does... Continue Reading
The Same Person in Every Room
I know who I am. I am the creation of God himself.
I have been rebellious and sinful, absolutely, but I have been forgiven and adopted into God’s own family through Jesus Christ. Whatever I’m wearing, wherever I am, this is my identity. Whatever I’m wearing, whoever I’m with, I want to live this identity out faithfully in every word and every action. I was sitting... Continue Reading
How Is the Trinity Involved in Our Prayers?
Each member of the Trinity gives himself to us in the work of prayer.
In prayer the Spirit perfects our requests, petitions, and praises and brings them to the Son, who in his authority as the righteous Son of God has access to the throne of the Father, where he makes our prayers his own. Prayer is an essential means by which we can commune (fellowship) with God—and... Continue Reading
Gen Z and the Draw to Serious Faith
When young people accept the invitation to visit a church, they’ve already committed to experiencing something unusual.
In a world marked by coddling and canceling, let’s call up the next generation. The gospel is true. God is real. The church that reaches the next generation will not be riddled with insecurity but will hold out, with confidence and humility, a serious faith. Not long ago, I sat across from a pastor of a... Continue Reading
Escaping Justice?
There may be those who escape an earthly court, but they will not escape the heavenly one.
Injustice can consume us; it can corrode us, our character, our trust, our very soul. It can dominate our thinking. It can sabotage our ability to trust God. And so in his kindness God offers more than binding up our hurt. He offers to take that awful pain, that deep injustice, and use it for... Continue Reading
Free Speech Ain’t What It Used to Be
NatCon Brussels and Authoritarian Liberalism
The abandonment of the freedom to engage in political speech against those currently in power leaves one of two options, neither of them conducive to national stability and flourishing. Those not currently in power will either become politically powerless forever or they will seek that political power non-peacefully. There is no alternative. As I... Continue Reading
God’s Purposes from Genesis to Revelation
God’s goal has always been to be in unbroken fellowship with us and with his creation.
The redemption of the world through Christ and His Church isn’t a new idea. It’s simply the fulfillment of God’s original plan. God’s redeeming work does not scrap creation but restores and renews it. Remember that it is not only God’s people who are longing for Christ’s return, but it’s creation itself as in Romans... Continue Reading
On Conscience, Christian Liberty, and Preferences
No amount of right living gives us a clear conscience. It can only be obtained by the precious blood of Christ.
Christians will disagree about preferences. Romans 14, 1 Corinthians 8, and 1 Corinthians 10 are passages that deal with this exact issue. Preferences of application cannot be sin. This would exclude it from the category of Christian liberty. If your application of the word leads to breaking of a direct command or prohibition, then it... Continue Reading
Looking Heavenward Transforms Our Sorrow
The heavenward journey begins with knowing the present and future eternal realities of your salvation. They will bring you such life, hope, and joy!
The Lord blesses us with particular blessings of the future heavenly life during our time on earth. We come into union with Christ, which will be the bedrock of our heavenly joy. He declares the current, heavenly blessing of union with Christ in Colossians by saying, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).... Continue Reading
Doing More vs. Doing Better
Let’s also look for ways to improve our shared life so that more outreach can happen – not by doing more – but by doing better.
If we are going to make the effort of organizing a day of food and games, why not be creative to think of ways of inviting the wider community to take part in the fun? We need to remember that much of our salt and light is the shared life that we enjoy together. The... Continue Reading
Saying It Out Loud
Elites finally admit abortion is murder—and they do not care.
When it comes down to it, it’s the “absolutist” position (i.e., the truly pro-life position) that gets Maher’s “respect.” Maher and the absolutist understand each other, he thinks, because both of them understand exactly what abortion is. “They think it’s murder. And … it kind of is.” The difference between them, as he succinctly follows... Continue Reading
Unbroken Bones Signal Unbroken Faithfulness: The Paschal Pointers of the Passion Narrative in John’s Gospel
John’s Passover theme teaches us that God does not simply pass over sin as though his name and glory were worthless. Jesus continued to reveal God’s glory and name on the cross.
The Jewish leaders wish to keep the Law’s requirement that corpses of the condemned not remain overnight, so that the land won’t be defiled during Passover (Deut. 21:22–23). The irony is that they are unintentionally obeying Exodus 12:10 (cf. Num. 9:12), which states concerning the Passover lamb, “You shall let none of it remain until... Continue Reading
It’s Okay to Be a Two-Talent Christian
You can faithfully, diligently, and confidently steward your one talent or two and know that God is well pleased.
There is no need to compare yourself unfavorably to those who have achieved more success on the basis of their greater gifts. And that’s because God’s assessment of you is made on the basis of what you did with what he gave you. Even though the five-talent servant and the two-talent servant generated different results... Continue Reading
How Plain-Spoken Courage Can Move the Overton Window
The time for Christians to control public discourse is now.
It will take great courage to break the left’s cultural taboos and take the heat for it. A society conditioned by Newspeak will be scandalized by the thoughtcrime of plain-spoken truth. The man who says things outside the Overton window will take the first arrows. He may sacrifice his reputation on the altar of honesty... Continue Reading
The Futureproof Leader
We were used to being almost liked by the culture.
Poor leaders with too much time and too much money on their hands who have no idea how to reach a current lost generation, and no idea how to train their people to live in the Babylon of our big cities, and disciple them beyond an events-based ministry, won’t last. Not that they see it yet... Continue Reading
The Church Should Mind Its Spiritual Business
The call of the Lord to the church, the mission that he has given to the church, is an essentially spiritual one.
The gospel is a spiritual message for a world whose greatest need is spiritual: redemption from sin and new life in Christ. This is not to say, however, that the effects of the gospel do not have consequences for the world in which we live. Indeed, the effects of the gospel, when the church obeys... Continue Reading
Learning from The Exvangelicals
'The Exvangelicals' is worth reading in order to sympathetically understand many of those who have deconstructed.
Contextualization and winsomeness are about presenting the gospel and biblical message in the language and forms that are intelligible and compelling to people in our cultural moment. But successful and faithful presentations do not mean that arguments understood will be accepted. Sometimes they will be rejected, not out of intellectual ignorance or obstinance, but reasoned... Continue Reading
Do Not Deprive One Another
Mallard’s razor applied to the marriage discourse.
Traditional marriage is a covenant where parties pledge to give to the other what is needed. We’ve lost the idea of marriage as two people working for the common purpose of building a family and a home, furthering the life of their people another generation, exhausting themselves, laughing, crying, and enjoying each other in every way,... Continue Reading
Consider the Lovingkindness of the Lord
Why would you continue in your dilemma on your own? Cry out to Him.
Everyone who cried out was lifted by God’s lovingkindness. None deserved it. None knew how to receive it. None could have done it themselves. They simply, humbly cried out, and God lovingly, kindly helped them. One of the richest words used in the Old Testament Hebrew is “hesed” or “chesed,” often translated “lovingkindness.” It... Continue Reading
Satan Hates Your Pastor
Ministry is spiritual warfare, and the God-hating devil takes aim at the leaders of Christ’s churches.
In 1 Timothy 3:7, the potential pastor must be well thought of by outsiders. This requirement is “so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.” Looking at this purpose statement, we can see that “disgrace” is the devil’s snare that’s in view. If people outside the church could make... Continue Reading
God Can Work through Anyone and Everything—Even You and Your Sin
If you can truly grasp the idea that God has fully conquered all sin in this way—that his power and glory are undefeatable no matter how it looks at any one moment—then you will finally have rest from regret and discouragement.
Do you regret your sin? Ask forgiveness because you have truly done something wrong that deserves punishment (just as Pilate and Judas did), but do not wallow in despair. Instead, receive your forgiveness—paid for in full by Jesus—and then rest in God’s sovereignty, knowing that even that sin you regret will, in the end, bring... Continue Reading
Kidneys Don’t See Color
Meritocratic medicine scores another triumph with a genetically modified pig kidney—but the STEM diversity crusade threatens to replace discovery with identity-driven mediocrity.
Programming on “structural racism” and the “need for a diversified workforce” is now part of a core content area, according to the academic head of the American Medical Association. A mandatory three-semester course at the University of Pennsylvania medical school, Doctoring I, looks at such topics as “race/racism in medicine,” “narratives,” and “structural competency” (the... Continue Reading
Why Should I Go to Church?
When we meet together on the Lord’s Day with our brothers and sisters, it is a foretaste of that great day.
When you come to church, you receive blessings from the Lord that you cannot get anywhere else. God has promised that as His church gathers together, He will bless them in a way that is distinct from when they are on their own. Jesus promises that when two or three are gathered in His name, He... Continue Reading
Who Created God? Two Answers and an Application
He always existed. He’ll exist forever.
We’ll never understand fully God here, on earth. In fact, being finite we won’t fully comprehend God then, in glory. The reasons are simple: God is spirit (John 4:24); His thoughts aren’t ours (Isaiah 55:8); We’re are finite, with a beginning and an end, thus our minds are limited (Deuteronomy 29:29). As those whom God created,... Continue Reading
Meet My Friend: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
"Friendship with God" by Mike McKinley
McKinley is an engaging narrator who is conscious he’s standing on the shoulder of a giant. He’s crafted a book that is faithful, revitalising and, thankfully, trimmed of Ye Olde English. Occasionally, his preacher’s socks are showing when he drifts into overly formulaic three- and four-point chapters, but sometimes we all need little steps before... Continue Reading
Cultivating Godly Desires
The living Lord calls us to actively craft new desires.
As we delight ourselves in the Lord, He reshapes the desires of our wandering hearts. As we seek Him, our appetites will be transformed, and our disordered longings will be replaced by cravings for Christ’s supremacy. The very dreams we once directed toward earthly idols get mercifully re-centered on the only reality that can truly... Continue Reading
One Flock
Jesus had told them that they were to preach the good news to all creation.
Praise God for His expansive vision of the covenant of grace. Praise God there is one hope, one faith, one baptism, one Lord and Savior of all – Jesus Christ. There is one flock and one shepherd. One pasture and one Pastor. The gospel is highly offensive but broadly applicable to all people everywhere. And... Continue Reading