A few days ago Randy Alcorn posted a quote from a book I’ve often recommended–William Farley’s Gospel-Powered Parenting. In this brief excerpt Farley says that your marriage preaches, that it exists to declare something. And here is what he says: “This mystery [marriage] is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and…
It’s Friday, again and already. Is it just me, or does the pace of life increase close to the end of the year? I know that if I stop to blink it will be December. This week’s sponsor is already thinking about Christmas. Here is what The Good Book Company says… In the rush of…
The other day I noticed that a box of granola bars, the kind we always buy, mentioned that they now have fewer calories. I thought that was cool. But then I compared the new box to the old and saw how they had lowered the calories–they had simply made the granola bars 10% smaller. I…
Have you ever seen someone become a Christian and found yourself wondering how you can best serve him as he grows in his new-found faith? It’s something I’ve wondered often. “Now that he’s a Christian, what can I give him to help him learn the basics?” In those early days a person is best-served by…
If I were to tell someone to read just a single chapter of “The Holiness of God” I would probably recommend chapter 6, “Holy Justice.” More than any other, I think, this chapter displays the holiness of God using the testimony of Scripture. In this chapter Sproul looks to the Word and draws from it…
This airport security situation continues to fascinate me. After I wrote my article yesterday someone asked, “If you were traveling with your family, would you have your children go through the body scanner or would you have the TSA pat them down?” And to be honest, I just don’t know. I hate the very idea…
I have always enjoyed studying history and, over the years, have read several church history texts. One thing I’ve noticed just about every time is that many of these church histories fail to make real distinctions between true gospel-centered Christianity and a kind of inculturated or tradition-based Christianity. That has always been disappointing to me.…
With the year’s biggest travel day fast approaching and with new airport security regulations in place, the media is buzzing about measures the TSA is imposing upon travelers in order to keep the skies safe. Popular news aggregators like Drudge Report are giving this extra attention, perhaps making it seem a bigger story than it…
Yesterday Apple made their earth-shaking announcement: the Beatles are now available in iTunes. And the world reacted with a collective yawn. I would imagine most iTunes users have some level of respect for the Beatles, but at the same time, I can’t help but think that the iTunes demographic tends to be far more interested…
One of the benefits of working with Ligonier Ministries over the past months has been reading, watching or listening to many of R.C. Sproul’s books and teaching series. Having done so, I thought I’d provide a roundup of some of his best DVDs, most of which are teaching series in which he provides lectures on…
The headlines this morning declare that Prince William is engaged to be married. It’s amazing to think how far the royalty has fallen since his father got engaged and married–an event that was celebrated the world over, not just because of its paparazzi value, but because people were genuinely interested and genuinely excited. I get…
We are all looking for the perfect Christmas gift for our loved ones, right? Well let me suggest a unique one that I’m sure they’ll love. Why don’t you consider giving them a gift subscription to Friends of the Blog? Check out this list of great items they would receive with that gift subscription: How…
Earlier today I posted an article dealing with one of the popular misconceptions people have with knowing the will of God or hearing the voice of God as it pertains to guidance. This is an area in which there is a lot of misunderstanding among Christians. Thankfully there are all kinds of great books written…
I dedicate this post to you, the person reading it. Before you were even born, God planned this very moment, the moment you would type the address of this site into your browser or the moment you would click a link from another site to arrive right here, right now. It is no accident that…
One of my favorite Aussies of all-time has arrived in Toronto for a couple of months. He’s a reader of this site who, a couple of years ago, sent an email saying, “I’m coming to Toronto. Can we meet up when I’m in town?” We met for lunch and hit it off. He ended up…
I very much appreciated this prayer written by Pastor Scotty Smith. It’s a prayer that teaches theology in an area where there is great confusion–the will of God. I won’t introduce it any further than that. In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9 Sovereign Father, this…
Rummaging through old files this week I came across a strange one. Back in April of 2007 I submitted the final manuscript for The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment and my friend/pastor Paul Martin decided to commemorate the occasion with a song (which he came to my home to perform). And quite a ridiculous song at…
A few weeks ago I blogged a short series that told of how I came to know the Lord and, from there, how I became Reformed. Part of my background is being raised by Christian parents. A little while ago my mother wrote out her testimony and shared it with the family and it struck…
You know the way it goes by now: Every Friday I work with a sponsor to give away some great stuff to the readers of this site. And today’s giveaway is a particularly exciting one. It is sponsored by Ligonier Ministries, a name that’s well familiar to just about every reader of this site, I’m…
Matt Drudge and others have been writing a lot about the TSA’s new search procedures–procedures that seem designed on driving all of us through the full-body scanners (since, if you opt-out, you’ll be subjected to an invasive full-body pat down). I got patted down like this last time I went through security and it really…