The Most Dangerous Person at Your Church – “Sure, we all can spot the unbeliever who doesn’t fluently speak the language of Zion, we can identify the person from doctrinally anemic backgrounds because they keep cutting themselves with the sharp knives in the theology drawer, and of course any Calvinist can sniff out an Arminian…
In the last couple of years, as I’ve read blogs and other web sites, I have often come across the term “spiritual abuse.” It is a term that seems to be gaining a little bit of traction with whole blogs dedicated to it. It describes a clear reality–that where there is spiritual authority in a…
6 Reasons to Be a Faithful Member of a Local Church – “It is our conviction that every Christian should be an active member of a Bible-teaching local church. As believers in Christ, we are members of His body and must discipline ourselves to be actively involved in ministry as a way of life. Here…
I’m pretty sure I can still remember the day my friend John fell in love. A young woman named Danielle showed up at our church and John was utterly captivated. Over time he worked up the nerve to ask her out and for a while they dated, seeing if there was that spark between them—that…
Saved Sex – “Make each other wait. That phrase, which concedes that discipline will be required, brings me back to Jeannie’s question, Do you really think teens will practice abstinence? This question implies that young people are incapable of self-control, and I disagree with that premise. Making each other wait may mean going against the…
This topic has been much on my mind lately–possessions, stuff and contentment. Not too long ago I found a prayer by Scotty Smith that did a great job of asking God for contentment admist all the stuff we do have and amidst all the stuff we could have. He looks to these two Scripture passages:…
In reading In Light of Eternity, a biography of Leonard Ravenhill, I came across the name Samuel Chadwick. Chadwick was a Wesleyan minister who did the bulk of his ministry in the early 20th century. He was a mentor to Ravenhill and had a deep impact on his life. I found a couple of his…
If you keep up with this blog, you know that I’ve been trying to learn how other people–pastors in particular–organize their prayer life. The fact is that I am a forgetful person and, at heart, a selfish one. Yet I want to pray for the things that I ought to pray for–the things that are…
This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by CBDReformed.com. They are offering up 5 prizes, each of which contains 3 books. So that means that 5 people will each win: Here’s a description of Slave: “Throughout the Bible, followers of Jesus are commanded to submit to Him as their King. They are told to obey…
Failed Humblebrag? – Jim Hamilton: “Some people think it ironic that Moses purportedly wrote Numbers 12:3, ‘Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth’ (NAS). The irony is obvious, right? It’s hardly humble to declare yourself the most humble man in the world. Unless…
This morning brings us to our next reading in John Stott’s classic work The Cross of Christ. We are now in chapter 5 which is titled “Satisfaction for Sin.” In this chapter Stott argues that the cross was necessary because God “must ‘satisfy himself’ in the way of salvation he devises; he cannot save us…
The Daily Exhort – This is something I’ve thought about quite a bit. “I got thinking the other day—can we imagine a time before Bibles? That is, a time before the widespread availability of cheap, accessible Bible translations in the common language of our culture? A time when literacy was not as universal as it…
I spent a lot of time pondering the first few verses of Romans 13 last week, verses that speak about authority. Paul is writing to the church at Rome and telling them that each one of them is to actively obey the governing authorities in every situation. He makes no exceptions; he simply commands them…
The Happiest Jobs – “In my article on the Ten Most Hated Jobs, there were some surprises. There are also some surprises in the 10 happiest jobs, as reported a General Social Survey by the National Organization for Research at the University of Chicago.” Isn’t it interesting what tops the list… U.S. Financial Position –…
A few days ago I shared some wisdom from my friend Tim Kerr who told me how he organizes his prayer life. Obviously the most important part of a prayer life is just praying–I’m sure it’s very easy to get hung up on questions of procedure while forgetting to actually just pray–but I am also…
I recently received a copy of In Light of Eternity, Mack Tomlinson’s new biography of Leonard Ravenhill. My interest in Ravenhill was directed primarily toward two areas of his life and ministry: preaching and prayer. And of these two, prayer was the one I wanted to learn about most. What little I did know of…
The End of Men – “Earlier this year, women became the majority of the workforce for the first time in U.S. history. Most managers are now women too. And for every two men who get a college degree this year, three women will do the same. For years, women’s progress has been cast as a…
Read an outside view on Calvinists or Calvinism, and you are sure to read something about God’s wrath. Every time. The God of Calvinism is a wrathful, vengeful God, boiling over in anger against any part of creation that has turned against him. He is no God of love, this. Sure, he may have some…
Suspicious Minds – Nancy Pearcey: “Republican presidential candidates have been put on notice: Your theological convictions are fair game in the upcoming election. Bill Keller, executive editor at the New York Times, fired the first shot in a fiercely debated column and blog in which he proposed ‘Tougher Questions for the Candidates.’” Nancy answers critcisms…
Yesterday I came across a quote by Richard Ganz that really jumped out to me. He is dealing with the frustration we often feel when we read the gospels. We read of Jesus’ disciples and see how time after time they just completely failed to understand who Jesus was and what he was up to.…