“I have my own opinions about things in the Bible.” This was a statement my daughter noted to me...
“I have my own opinions about things in the Bible.” This was a statement my daughter noted to me...
In the book of Genesis, we find God as Creator. The first two chapters of Genesis outline God’s...
We spent some time last year engaging various issues I labeled as “Lesson from the Garden”. Why...
Another Super Bowl has come and gone. All the hype over the actual game and all the excitement over what company produced the most entertaining commercial will soon be a distant memory. What might remain somewhat vivid in our memories is the halftime show which again...
A trend I have noticed over the past several years since social media has taken hold of society is the tendency for vitriol and biting comments. The unfortunate reality is some of the worst offenders are Christians or those at least professing faith in Christ. Usually...
Over the past couple of weeks at a Bible Study I have been attending, we have been exploring some fundamental aspects of Scripture and theology in general. As a starting point, a necessary one I might add, the discussion has centered on Genesis 1-4 for it is in these...
The book of Genesis is the book of beginnings. It is stated to be that of course because it outlines the creation of the universe. Another reason it is labeled in that manner is because it is a book of foundations – skip this book and you truly will have a difficult...
It is that time of year again when people begin to think about their goals and aspirations for the upcoming year. A new year is a time of new beginnings and with it comes the so-called “New Year’s Resolutions”. For some their goal will be to lose weight (guilty). For...
Spiritual death has a physical component to it. The original curse issued by God in the Garden of Eden came with physical implications: hard labor, painful childbirth, and the promise of eventual “return to dust” (Gen. 3). Death, disease, and pain are reminders that...
1 John 2:12-14 gives us one of the most wonderful prose-like theological structures in Scripture. The Apostle, writing about the benefits that believers have in Christ casts it under the figure of little children, young men and fathers. His intention was to explain...
Many Protestants avoid fasting, thinking it to be a vestige of Medieval asceticism that is somehow alien to Reformed piety. The third example in this context concerns fasting that is not pretentious. A third time Jesus begins by denouncing the showy spirituality...
God often has a backwards way of dealing with brokenness in our world. Conquering, but not by the sword (Matthew 26:52). Defeating death with death (Hebrews 2:14). Preaching parables to bad listeners (Matthew 13:13). Fighting laziness with rest. Because of the...
Why are Christians so unkind to one another and the world? Why do we criticize, degrade, and dismiss? Why do we act like jerks? I have experienced the sting of Christian criticism many times as I’ve posted Scripture or encouragements online. I’m sure you’ve...
"I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me" (Psa 119:75) This is the Christian's acknowledgment-fully satisfied with the dispensation of God. This is his confidence; so invigorating to his own soul; so cheering to...
It’s pretty easy to worry when choices confront us. Worry can cripple, wound, or otherwise prevent us from experiencing the joy of our salvation. And sometimes there are no clear answers in the murky world in which we all live. In 1931, Montagu Norman, the head of the...
Many Christian commenters today are expressing concern about antinomian tendencies in the church. We are especially seeing attempts to downplay the role of God's law as a guide to Christian living (the so-called third use of the law). One question that comes into play...
Of the seven daily sins, wrath may be the most difficult to acknowledge as sin. We’re miserable in envy, depressed by sloth, and embarrassed by gluttony and lust. Those sins may be hard to admit to others, but not usually to ourselves. Wrath is different. We can be...
Not all sexual desire is lust. God made sexual desire. It has its good place and it can, in fact, become an act of worship in the temple of marriage. But lust is sexual desire gone wrong. Here’s my definition: Lust is a sexual desire that dishonors its object and...
Fifty Shades of Grey releases in major theaters this Friday, not surprisingly — and yet ironically — just a day before our annual celebration of love. The series of erotic novels exploring sexual domination and even violence has (tragically) sold over 100 million...
We’ve all been there. Sitting in a living room, having just finished a Bible study, your small group now turns to a time of prayer by soliciting requests. Sally shares about her cat Freckles. Freckles is old and has a bad hip—so she asks for healing for Freckles. You...
As the forty-second anniversary of Roe v. Wade draws near, we are reminded of how large and formidable the abortion industry has become in the United States. Planned Parenthood survives with a heavy dose of government funding, even as overall abortion numbers are down...
Sadly, most Christians in the United States, when it comes to recognizing the dangers to their civil and religious liberties, sleep the sleep of ignorance that the disciples slept at Gethsemane before the arrest of Jesus. It ought to be obvious by now how “sexual...
Predestination conquers pornography. Or, as I heard John Piper once say, “Theology can conquer biology.” Because we know God, we can “abstain from sexual immorality,” and we can “know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like...
What happens when you study Leviticus for more than 10 years? I know the types of answers many people would provide: “You get to know your psychotherapist really well.” “People stop inviting you to dinner parties.” Or perhaps the most common: “Is this a serious...
The guy sitting across from me is a professing and practicing Christian. He drops by my office unannounced today to talk to me about his new online-dating life. Specifically, he wants to talk about the overwillingness of Christian women he has encountered on several...
This is probably one of the most common questions I hear from parents wanting to establish Christian disciplines in their kids. Every Christian parent deals with this at some point. They struggle with what they should mandate vs just encourage their kids to do. And...
Often we will read in the newspaper or see on the TV news about a road-rage killing or some other situation in which anger gets out of control and leads to a homicide. For example, a woman is attacked, her attacker was consumed with anger or lust, and then her...
It sounds so simple and straightforward, perhaps even commonplace. It’s not a flashy concept or an especially attractive idea. It doesn’t turn heads or grab headlines. It can be as seemingly small as saying no to another Oreo, French fry, or milkshake — or another...
When someone orders us to do something, or imposes an obligation, it is natural for us to ask two questions. The first question is, “Why should I?” and the second is, “Who says so?” The why and the authority behind the mandate are very important to the question of...
It is surely an indictment of the Church today that in dealing with the subject of catechizing we have to begin by explaining the very meaning of the term. What was looked on as a necessary and beneficial practice by the early church and by the Reformers has now...
In 2005 the American Film Institute voted that the best movie line of all time was the one that Clarke Gable deftly delivered as the character Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. If you endured all four hours of melodrama you’ll certainly recall his parting dismissal...
1. The Problems of Doubt Instinctively, we are accustomed to the concept of doubt. Living after the Fall, doubts are the struggles Christians have to believe, or trust, the promises of God in Christ. Doubt is uncertainty – or a struggle to believe – in the heart of...
When we say that the Bible is ‘the Word of God’, what we are actually claiming about it? It is to answer this question, which is both theological and also deeply practical and vital, that the branch of theology called ‘the doctrine of Scripture’ has been developed....
In the previous chapter we discussed the nature of the church, as well as the obligation to join and remain with her. We shall now speak of the communion true members of the church have with their Head Jesus Christ and each other, and also how they must exercise this....
Syllabus for Lec. 51: 1. By what similitudes is the union of Christ with His people set forth in the Scripture? 2. What are the several results to believers, of this union? 3. What is the essential, and what the instrumental bond of this union? 4. Show the...
One of the most breath-taking passages of Scripture appears in the opening of Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians, where the Apostle literally starts at the very beginning when he writes, “In love he [that is, God] predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ”...
2 Tim. 2:11-13 — "Faithful is the saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with him: if we endure we shall also reign with him: if we shall deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he abideth faithful; for he cannot deny himself." The words...
You can never just read the Bible. There is something deep happening. It’s something more glorious than the universe. Whether you open these pages before dawn, over midmorning coffee, or at the dinner table with family, whenever you read the Bible something miraculous...
What does the church most need today? In answering this important but rather general question, Psalm 81 is uniquely important and helpful. This psalm obviously contains beautiful promises and clear directions to help the people of God. But careful study of this psalm...
A friend sent a text to share with me about an amazing restaurant she went to. She described the wonderful meal she enjoyed and included a photo. I began to text back, “I’m so jealous!” but paused, then hit delete and changed it to “I’m so envious!” before hitting...
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His...
Among many other largesses and rich endowments, bestowed by the Creator's bounty upon the soul of man, the sentiments and impressions of the world to come, and the ability of reflection and self-intuition, are peculiar, invaluable, and heavenly gifts. By the former,...