Christian Life

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...

"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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...